Investments

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Market Insights

Funds shrug off tax

(November 2006) The federal government’s surprise announcement that it would level the playing field between income trust distributions and dividend payments has had a sudden and massive impact on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Announced on Hallowe’en, whether the move is a trick or a treat depends on what’s in a portfolio. Canadian bonds, for example, […]

By Steven Lamb |November 1, 2006

4 min read

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Feds hit trusts in surprise mini-budget

The federal government has announced a new plan to tax the distributions of income trusts, among other measures, in what amounts to a mini-budget released late Tuesday night.

By Steven Lamb and Kate McCaffery |November 1, 2006

3 min read

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Lifting the hood

(November 2006) You invest in mutual funds, good, solid, long-only investments that everyone can understand. No surprises, no mystery. Market goes up — money is made. Market goes down — well, the fund’s active manager has presumably preserved wealth through defensive (tactical) positioning. Plain and simple. Not so fast! Did you know that your plain-vanilla, […]

By Pierre Saint-Laurent |October 31, 2006

5 min read

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Market Insights

Currency risk and mega-cap investing

(October 2006) Market commentators have been calling for a U.S.-led economic downturn for nearly the entire length of the current recovery. The fact that it has not yet materialized should not be taken as a sign it won’t, but rather as a sign of the futility of timing the markets. Whether it’s next month, next […]

By Steven Lamb |October 20, 2006

6 min read

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5th Annual Dollars and Sense: Managed money gains traction

(October 2006) It appears the popularity of outsourcing investment decisions has surged. In our 2005 Dollars & Sense Survey, 28% of respondents said they were selling or recommending managed products. This year, the number has climbed to 43%. “I am a big proponent of asset management programs — 90% of my book is in them,” […]

By Steven Lamb |October 12, 2006

5 min read

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Market Insights

Investors find alternative to money markets

(September 2006) By now, the history of the bursting stock market bubble and the ensuing flight to safety has been well documented. Suddenly risk-averse investors went hunting for yield at the same time that central bankers were slashing interest rates, killing the appeal of some traditional safe-havens. But money market holdings have been consistently on […]

By Staff |September 26, 2006

2 min read

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Market Insights

Currency hedging on the rise

(September 2006) Since the elimination of the foreign property rule, Canadian investors have been increasingly interested in holding foreign investments. Sure, there have always been ways around the 30% limit, but few retail clients were reaching that threshold. First to take advantage of the change were pension funds, which served to convince retail investors that […]

By Steven Lamb |September 8, 2006

5 min read

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Market Insights

1990s Redux: Volatility may be back

(September 2006) In the 1990s, investors and advisors, out of necessity, learned to be Fedwatchers. The unexpected rise in interest rates in 1994 hammered bond funds. An observation on “irrational exuberance” by U.S. Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan in 1995 precipitated a market pullback. Currency shocks in 1997 and 1998 made U.S. Treasury bills a […]

By Scot Blythe |September 1, 2006

3 min read

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Norshield report to come in September

(August 2006) The potential recoveries aren’t looking any better for Olympus hedge fund investors, nor is the principal cooperating quite as much as he has privately told investors, says RSM Richter in its latest update. Richter is the receiver for the whole Norshield complex of hedge funds and private equity investments. Canadian retail investors put […]

By Scot Blythe |August 8, 2006

8 min read

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Market Insights

Retention proves trickier than sales

Despite strong gross sales performance across the industry, many mutual fund manufacturers are facing an uphill struggle in retaining assets, according to the July edition of Investor Economics Insight. In some years, strong sales have helped to mask the problem. While redemptions have been increasing in dollar terms, inflows have been growing at a faster […]

By Steven Lamb |August 1, 2006

5 min read

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