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The upside of manager turnover
When key people leave a money management firm, it is often cause for concern – particularly when key personnel leave in packs. While one of my older blog posts laid out a framework for dealing with changes in lead managers, it’s also...
Want to scratch your market timing itch? Try some disciplined rebalancing
Many investors feel better about their investments when their advisor is fine-tuning their portfolios. The persistence of global macroeconomic challenges has strengthened this long-standing desire among many clients. While so few are skilled...
"The End of Fear"
The headline on the front page of the Globe and Mail today reads “Get Back in the Market…Now!” The lead article in the Report on Business is entitled “The End of Fear”. Wow! Isn’t it so often the way? The Dow closed yesterday through...
Biggest controversy with financial advisor commissions has nothing to do with advisors
Type the phrase “financial advisor commissions” into Google and the results will be less than flattering to the financial advice industry. Understandably, regulators and the media are focused on full service brokers or financial...
Low bond yields make for tough decisions
I have been involved in several client proposals and meetings over the past several weeks. A common thread continues to emerge in most cases. Since bonds are needed to limit total portfolio risk, they also limit potential total returns. And...
Bond bears’ growl is all noise
Type the phrase “bond bear market” into Google and you’ll see a long list of articles proclaiming the certainty of the oncoming bear market in bonds. I agree that bond yields are artificially low and that bonds are expensive...
Private REITs require careful due diligence
The Globe and Mail shed a bit of light on the small universe of private real estate investment trusts (REITs) in Canada. The article touches on both the benefits and perils of this emerging product segment. I recently reviewed a Canadian...
50 may be the new 40 but ETFs are the new Mutual Funds
For years I’ve been hearing from individual investors and financial advisors who are disappointed with their meagre long-term performance. This jibes with calculations I completed four years ago, which showed that Canadian mutual fund...
A simple but successful actively managed portfolio
Fifteen years ago, writer and broadcaster Alison Griffiths asked University of Toronto professor Eric Kirzner to create what was named the ‘Easy Chair Portfolio’. The goal was to create a simple portfolio structure that provided...
Covered-call funds haven’t delivered the goods
Covered-call writing is an investment strategy that promises significantly lower risk with little or no give-up in return potential. But I argued in a recent post that the odds were fundamentally against investors realizing this potential since I...
