It was just three weeks ago that the financial industry was abuzz at the possibility of CI buying Scotiabank’s mutual fund operation, and now the Toronto-based fund manager is stirring things up again. Rumours are running rampant that CI Investments is set to sell Blackmont Capital, its investment banking division, to Canaccord Capital for a […]
The mergers and acquisitions market has had a tough go of things since the credit crunch sent the financial industry into a tailspin, and that didn’t change in Q2. According to a new Crosbie & Company report, the M&A space saw the lowest level of aggregate deal value in almost five years, with transactions worth […]
(September 2008) Thanks to quarter-to-quarter volatility, active managers, once again, failed to beat the benchmark in Q2. Standard & Poor’s Indices Versus Active (SPIVA) Funds Scorecard reports that just 31.2% of Canadian equity active fund managers outperformed the S&P/TSX Composite Index. While that might seem low, compared to long-term numbers, that result is actually pretty […]
Advisors who are banned by their securities commission better not set up shop somewhere else, as the number of reciprocal orders has shot up over the past year. Since 2006, securities commissions across the country have been using reciprocal orders in order to sanction people in one province after they were sanctioned in another. If […]
Developing the right asset mix for your client can be tricky business. Advisors have to determine their clients’ risk tolerance, closely watch the markets, and there’s the not-so-small matter of making money. So what’s an advisor to do when clients’ portfolios are more volatile than an active volcano? Nothing. “I focus on the plans we […]
Just when it was becoming cheaper for Canadians to fill up their cars, comes word from one CIBC economist that Hurricane Gustav will push gas prices up to $1.75 a litre. Jeff Rubin, CIBC’s chief economist, says the storm, which is bearing down on the oil-rig-littered Gulf of Mexico, could force production to shut down […]
For years Russia has been a boon to energy-centric investors and emerging market nuts, but with the Kremlin’s increasingly belligerent attitude toward western investors, is it time to take the R out of BRIC? “I would be very hesitant to adopt new positions in the Russian market,” says Bob Gorman, TD Waterhouse’s chief portfolio strategist. […]
Despite a possible election announcement next week, some Canadian institutions are already submitting their federal budget wish lists to the Conservative government. The Investment Funds Institute of Canada, which sent its submission off Wednesday, chose to focus its letter on retirement issues. “Canada’s demographic is changing and so are financial products to reflect that,” says […]
For more than a century now, Canada’s credit unions have been geared toward local markets, but that could soon change. In a few months members of First Calgary Savings will be able to access their accounts from any Envision Financial branch in British Columbia, essentially circumventing the rules against mergers and setting up shop in […]
Imagine getting bestselling finance author Diane Francis to speak at a client appreciation night, or taking your top four clients out to lunch with CTV’s Lloyd Robertson. Well, thanks to an advisor-specific online charity auction, now you can. The auction, which started Monday morning, was dreamed up by Dan Richards, president of Strategic Imperatives Ltd., […]