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LSIFs and hedge funds with training wheels
I was recently asked to comment on Labour Sponsored Investment Funds (LSIFs) by the Canadian Press. The words attributed to me in this article may give readers the wrong impression. The article says, in part: Hallett said these funds are most...
The Pros & Cons of Sector Funds
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...
R.I.P. Peter Cundill
I had received a couple of calls this week telling me that Peter Cundill had passed away. This was confirmed today when another contact today sent me his online obituary. Peter suffered from a debilitating disease called Fragile X, the symptoms...
Cross-Border Estate & Tax Planning Seminar
Many Canadians own assets, especially real estate, that are located in the United States. There have been recent changes to the U.S. Estate Tax Laws that will have signficant impacts on Canadians with US assets. To educate investors, two law firms...
Putting monthly distributions to the test
I don’t make many bold predictions. But nearly a decade ago I did just that in this article. I challenged the most popular monthly income mutual fund of the day, now known as IA Clarington Canadian Income (now called IA Clarington...
Facebook’s quasi-IPO raises regulatory & valuation concerns
The financial media are abuzz about Goldman Sachs’ $450 million common share investment in Facebook for a tiny piece of the popular company. As I read a few reports of this latest round of financing, it occurred to me that Goldman bought...
A sense of history helps to assess past performance
In the Globe and Mail recently, Shirley Won screened for the best and the worst among U.S. equity funds for the decade through November 30, 2010. A couple of funds on the list struck me as worthy of further comment, which point to the need to...
Adding value to ETF portfolios
In an April 2010 post, I wrote of the challenges advisors face when using ETFs as the product solution for constructing client portfolios. In the May 2010 issue of Investment Executive, I turned around and touched on advisors’ potential...
Don’t get too cozy with your investments
Various media ran an article today proclaiming that investors are more confident in 2010 compared to a year ago. While I always scratch my head at such articles, I can also understand that investors feel better when the investments they’re...
Do financial advisors add value?
In the November 2010 issue of Investment Executive I reviewed a few different academic papers that attempted to answer the question gracing the title of this blog post. Unfortunately, space constraints precluded me from detailing the titles of the...
