Investments

Stability ratings useful if used correctly

(January 2006) As the hurdles to income trust investment have fallen, more and more cash has flowed into the structures, driving a demand for research. Unfortunately, the majority of income trusts represent operations that can only be considered small- or even micro-cap businesses, resulting in limited analyst coverage. This is slowly changing, with more institutional […]

By Staff |January 13, 2006

5 min read

Market Insights

Life-cycle funds may be ideal for bank channel

(December 2005) This past year may be best remembered for the continued rally in resources, or the various developments in the income trust sector, but it also marked the launch of a new product line that has quietly gathered significant assets for the fund companies behind them. Life-cycle funds aim to reduce the workload of […]

By Gavin Adamson |December 22, 2005

6 min read

Market Insights

Saxon manager vows to stick with value

(December 2005) Ever since the collapse of the technology bubble, value investing has enjoyed a renaissance, as investors rediscover the beauty of companies that have earnings and are trading at a discount. Knowing the fickle nature of the investing public, some have suggested that value investing may once again fall out of favour, ushering in […]

By Steven Lamb |December 22, 2005

4 min read

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

Are GICs securities?

(November 2005) Regulatory worries about the proliferation of principal protected notes (PPNs) may well spill over into the Guaranteed Investment Certificate market, at least index or market-linked ones, which have hitherto been exempt from securities rules. At issue is what might be called a series of “K’s” that follow from the Know Your Client imperative […]

By Scot Blythe |November 28, 2005

6 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