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Due Diligence Can Distinguish Good from Bad Money Managers

By Dan Hallett on April 25th, 2018

Securities regulators have recently sanctioned a few mutual fund companies for spending excessively on promotional events and gifts to financial advisors who sell their funds. This is harmful to investors since it really treats the advisor – not...

Recap of the OSC Roundtable Discussion on Discontinuing Embedded Commissions

By Dan Hallett on October 4th, 2017

I recently participated in a roundtable discussion hosted by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). The purpose was to delve more deeply into the industry’s response to regulators’ proposal to eliminate commissions embedded in investment...

The Investment Industry Owes Its Clients Better Treatment

By Dan Hallett on July 28th, 2017

The Canadian Securities Administrators launched a lengthy consultation period in January on their proposal to eliminate embedded commissions – i.e. commissions paid to those selling investment products that are built into the product’s price or...

Firing Your Underperforming Money Manager

By Dan Hallett on July 5th, 2017

Over the past two decades, investors have had seemingly little patience for an underperforming investment or money manager. Investors tend to dump the laggard for “something that’s doing better”. But an understanding of market...

Think Twice before Replacing Your “Risky” Bonds with “Safe” Stocks

By Dan Hallett on April 11th, 2017

For virtually my entire career, bond yields have been characterized as “historically low” – yet have fallen with few interruptions. Since the Financial Crisis, however, yields have been super skinny and have continued falling. Razor...

Concerns with “Fund Facts” and “ETF Facts” Risk Ratings

By Dan Hallett on January 6th, 2017

“Fund Facts” is a 2 to 4 page regulatory summary document designed to inform investors on a mutual fund’s salient features. A version for exchange-traded funds – i.e. ETF Facts – will be required starting next September. One of the most...

Regulations Will Create Scalability Challenges for Canadian Robo-advisors

By Dan Hallett on November 18th, 2016

Robo-advisors offer investment advice through websites and mobile applications. In the U.S. this segment – which was born after the Financial Crisis – manages tens of billions of dollars for clients. American robo-advisors can provide investment...

Making Sense of Your New CRM2 Performance Report

By Dan Hallett on September 14th, 2016

On July 15, 2016 the second phase of Client Relationship Management (CRM2) became official. CRM2 is a new set of rules requiring most “financial advisors” to provide two new annual reports to each client – one detailing amounts paid to...

Self-Inflicted Problems: Mutual Fund Industry Has Fought Investor-Friendly Reforms

By Dan Hallett on July 21st, 2016

As seen in the May 2016 edition of Investment Executive. Recently published research on mutual fund commissions’ influence on fund flows led by Douglas Cumming, finance professor at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto...

Beware of Advertisements for F-series Investment Funds

By Dan Hallett on May 27th, 2016

Marketing is a critical component of every business, and the investment industry is no different.  But an industry trusted with the management of individuals’ life savings should be held to a higher standard. To an extent, it is.  Regulators...

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