HighView Blog

Go global instead of slicing & dicing your stocks by region

By Dan Hallett on December 23rd, 2014

In a recent article, Globe and Mail columnist Rob Carrick tackled the important issue of global stock diversification.  He surveyed several investment advisors and portfolio managers for their recommended allocations between Canadian and...

Why Engage The Services Of An Investment Fiduciary?

By Mark Barnicutt on November 30th, 2014

As the concept of fiduciary is being discussed more in the media and among Canadian securities regulators, we believe it is important to address this concept as it’s all about putting the investor-client interests first! We view...

It is time to prepare for the bear

By Dan Hallett on November 26th, 2014

All year I’ve been wanting to write an article urging advisors and individual investors to prepare for the next bear market.  When stock markets hit a pothole in late summer and early fall, it struck me as an opportune time to refresh this...

Do-it-yourself investors must plan for investments after death

By Dan Hallett on October 31st, 2014

Many DIY investors act as ‘family money managers’.  Most that I’ve met are men married to spouses with little or no interest in investing.  These DIY investors often risk predeceasing their novice-investor partners.  So with...

Are you chasing an investment celebrity or the superior money manager?

By Dan Hallett on October 17th, 2014

So-called ‘Bond King’ Bill Gross made headlines with his recent decision to leave PIMCO – the firm he founded more than 40 years ago – to join Janus Capital Group.  How best to deal with manager changes and whether investors...

CalPERS’ hedge fund decision offers important lessons

By Dan Hallett on September 26th, 2014

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System – aka CalPERS – announced plans to liquidate its $4 billion hedge fund portfolio.  It’s big news because CalPERS is considered a well-run pension plan.  It’s huge...

Beware of aggressive investment product marketing

By Dan Hallett on August 18th, 2014

Aggressive marketing of investment products is nothing new.  Throughout my career I have expended plenty of energy pointing out what I believe to be misleading or overly aggressive marketing initiatives and advertisements.  More than four years...

Market-linked GIC looks good on surface but fails scrutiny

By Dan Hallett on August 8th, 2014

A prospective client recently brought an index-linked guaranteed investment certificate (GIC) to our attention – an investment that he found very attractive.  He asked for our thoughts on this product.  This GIC that pays interest linked to...

Illiquidity may be floating rate funds’ biggest risk

By Dan Hallett on July 30th, 2014

Floating Rate Debt (FRD) is getting an increasing amount of attention.  Over the past year, several new products have been launched focusing on floating rate debt such as leveraged loans and so-called senior loans.  All pay floating rates of...

Expect more distribution cuts from monthly income funds

By Dan Hallett on July 9th, 2014

I have been writing about Monthly Income funds for more than a dozen years.  In my 20-year career, none of my articles or comments have generated as much feedback (or as much anger) as my critiques of Monthly Income funds.  Capital market activity...

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