Archive for the ‘Competitive Intelligence’ Category

In the May 2011 issue of Investment Executive, I wrote about how I approach the analysis of complex products.  In short, when analyzing products – particularly complex offerings – the most insight is often obtained via the simplest...

I recently received an e-mail about a blog post questioning the validity of DALBAR’s annual study of investor returns – Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behaviour.  The blog post – DALBAR study overstates investors’ bad...

Unfortunately, most of the global investment industry is centred on “benchmark risk” or whether or not a manager “beats the market”.  Instead, at HighView Financial Group, we believe that wealth managers should focus on “goals-based...

Last fall, GrowthWorks launched a very public campaign to win the takeover battle for the VenGrowth family of labour sponsored investment funds (LSIFs).  VenGrowth’s preferred offer was from Covington II Fund but I thought that...

At HighView Financial Group, we believe that while the attainment of wealth provides investors with freedom, the accumulation of wealth requires patience, perseverance and hard work.  Because of this, investors don’t want to create their wealth...

Powers of Attorney are key legal documents that are part of an effective overall wealth & estate plan. Lisa Toner, an Estate & Trust lawyer, with Sorbara Law in Kitchener has written two articles that do a great job of explaining the two...

In a Financial Post interview with Andrew Allentuck, Dan Hallett (VP & Director, HighView Financial Group), provides an overview of the pros and cons of investing in Sector Funds. At HighView Financial Group, we’re against buying sector...

In the December issue of Investment Executive, I wrote about synthetic bond funds.  I couldn’t mention them by name in that article, but I used a couple of new Franklin Templeton synthetic bond funds to illustrate that not all new products of...

One of the Financial Planners that we work with recently highlighted to me that in the September 2010 issue of Forbes magazine, there’s an article by David Dreman of Dreman Value Management, in which he makes the case that it’s time to...

Many subscribe to the buy local = save jobs mantra as a solution to the prevailing economic malaise.  While it’s intuitive, this notion that we only buy from our own city, province or country breaks down under closer inspection.  This was...