Archive for the ‘Competitive Intelligence’ Category

My article in this morning’s Globe & Mail offers tips to help investors retain more of the performance available to them.  As I jotted down the first tip – write down your investment goals – I found myself writing down...

Many financial advisors say that I harp too much on fees.  Many investors (and investor advocates) say that I’m not tough enough on fund fees.  Sometimes, I just can’t win.  But nowhere are fees more important than in the selection...

In a recent Globe & Mail article, I was quoted as saying that I was amazed that real estate mutual and segregated funds still existed.  I was surprised at the extent of feedback I received on this seemingly innocent quote.  But clearly, the...

It’s been almost three years now since the initial cracks in the global capital markets were first experienced back in 2007. At that time, it seemed like the term, “Hedge Fund” was on the lips of so many investors who were seeking...

In recent months, we’ve been introduced to several Financial Advisory Firms (ie: Insurance Advisors, Financial Planners, Accountants, etc.) who refer client business to various Investment Management firms.  Given the growing need for high...

While they’ve long existed in the U.S., Canadian investors have had access to Target Date Funds (TDFs) for less than a decade.  Those TDFs reporting to the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) had assets of $4.1 billion at the end of...

Advisor.ca reported on my talk at the Strategy Institute Mutual Fund Point-of-Sale (POS) Summit.  The panel in which I participated focused on Product Arbitrage – the situation that results when similar products are not treated the same by...

For years now, the fees that mutual fund investors pay, have been primarily integrated fee structures that cover three components: 1.       Investment Management – the fees to the money managers who select the underlying securities...

Investors would rather invest in something that distributes a regular amount of cash than sell their shares to generate cash flow.  This psychological phenomenon seems to hold no matter what the source of cash distributions.  Add perceived...

In our years of experience overseeing the management of client wealth, we’ve learned that successful investment management is more about managing risks than it is about managing returns. The rationale for this is simple: An investor who...