Market Insights

Foreign revelations

(December 2005) Federal government policy is not usually known for being well timed, but the recent lifting of the foreign property rule (FPR) for RRSPs marks a departure from this truism. Just as our currency and stock markets are approaching three years of strong appreciation, the government has opened the door to unlimited foreign content […]

By Dan Hallett |December 9, 2005

5 min read

Global funds suffer from Canadian optimism

(November 14, 2005) While the mutual fund industry has enjoyed strong sales throughout 2005, Canadian investors have consistently demonstrated a preference for domestic equity, preferably with an income component. To date, such a strategy has proven quite profitable for investors and managers of these favoured funds. Foreign equity…not so much. “The whole global species is […]

By Steven Lamb |November 14, 2005

3 min read

Beyond 60/40: Pension plans rethink their asset mix

(October 2005) For many years during the 1990s it was conventional wisdom for plan sponsors, big and small, to follow a certain pattern for investing. Generally, plans took a traditional approach whereby 60% of investments went into stocks and 40% went into bonds. But the times are changing for pension plans and they are increasingly […]

By Scot Blythe |November 1, 2005

8 min read

Going with the flow

(September 2005) While income trusts have dominated the headlines for the past three years, a more obscure resource play has been performing quite well throughout the commodities rally: flow-through shares. It’s a vehicle that allows investors to convert regular income into capital gains, using a perfectly legal strategy. Moreover, it’s a tax break the government […]

By Steven Lamb |September 20, 2005

6 min read