This year’s federal budget has evoked cautious optimism from an industry turned cynical by the current financial climate. Greg Pollock, CEO and president of Advocis, doesn’t remember seeing such a broad-based budget in a long time. Given the tough economic conditions, not just nationally but globally, he thinks the budget takes a rather balanced approach. […]
The verdict is out. While Ontario, Nova Scotia and British Columbia have expressed support for Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s plan for a national securities regulator, Alberta and Quebec have outright balked at the recommendations, threatening legal action in a bid to keep jurisdiction over regulation. Flaherty said in a statement that the seriousness of the […]
The federally commissioned Expert Panel on Securities Regulation, headed by former Cabinet minister Tom Hockin, proposed today the creation of a national securities regulator, which would allow Canadian companies to file a single set of documents directly with the federal body, without getting entangled with provincial regulators. “Our central recommendation is that Canadians need a […]
While its southern neighbour teeters on the verge of collapse, Canada’s resale real estate market should see only modest price and unit sales corrections throughout 2009, predicts Royal LePage. The real estate company’s 2009 Market Survey forecasts that average house prices will dip by 3% from last year to $295,000, while transactions are projected to […]
Times are tough. And they’re going to get tougher. And in these desperate times, some will turn to desperate measures. Identity theft, already an established criminal enterprise thanks to the placing of so much customer data on hard drives and the ability to use the Internet and search for people’s particulars, is bound to increase […]
They come to Canada with jumbo dreams—bigger homes, better education, improved lifestyles for their kids, and ample dough. Gradually, reality dribbles in—steep real estate prices, soaring education costs, complex estate planning issues, and stringent tax laws. For some the dream turns nightmarish when they stumble upon a financial regime irreconcilably different from the one they […]
Let’s face it. Your older clients are some of your best clients — they have all the wealth — but they also present unique challenges that come with old age. Dealing with these aging clients could often entail getting sucked into the affairs of litigious relatives and disputing with families who have an eye on […]
If you happen to be in Windsor and run into Jeff Pocock, consultant with the Investors Group, beware he might be armed. His shootin’ irons hang from his belt loop but never actually go bang—they’re little cue cards crisscrossed with red, orange and yellow highlighters, and replete with industry acronyms that he jokingly calls his […]
Off-book products might occasionally generate windfalls for investors or commissions for brokers, but when it comes to dealers, they’re nothing but a liability, according to litigators speaking at the Advisor Group’s Fall Compliance Conference. “Such products tend to thrive when the markets are down,” says Jim Douglas, partner, Borden Ladner Gervais, “as retail brokers desperately […]
(September 2008) Have you dealt with clients who, riddled with bullish bravado, forced you to buy when the market spikes, and sell when the bear turns on them? Terrance Odean, professor of banking and finance at the University of California at Berkeley, says the best way to deal with such fidgety clients is to use […]