4 threats to your clients’ nest eggs

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It has been a tough year for Canadian investors. Plunging oil prices, having among the developed world’s worst stock market (only Greece and Singapore fared more poorly) and continuing low interest rates have put pressure on returns. Clients can be forgiven for burying their heads in the sand, or worse, taking a chance on a risky strategy. But being blind to the following investment dangers might just plunge them from the frying pan into the fire.

• The lure of easy money. Scam artists are finding new ways to draw in victims, particularly older people with time on their hands and a yen to boost investment returns. Kira Vermond’s Globe and Mail story offers a heads up and a grocery list of telltale signs.
• The impact of climate change on investment. In this Hong Kong Free Press article, the World Wildlife Fund’s climate finance advisor for Hong Kong, Jean-Marc Champagne, weighs in on the risks to companies and to investors after the Paris climate negotiations. Think he’s being alarmist? Read Mark Schapiro’s article in Newsweek about the push to quantify the risk to banks, mutual funds and investment vehicles associated with fossil fuel investments and climate change.
• Chasing yield at the expense of safety. Christine Giordano takes a look at the risks and rewards of some of the investment products seniors have turned to in an attempt to generate income in a low interest rate environment in this article for U.S. News & World Report.
• Taxation’s role in eroding returns. This CBC News article by Craig Wong details the new tax rates and changes for Canadians to watch for in 2016.