(May 20, 2005) With the first summer holiday weekend upon us, many clients will be thinking about how to spend their vacation dollars. Travelling and buying vacation properties are two popular considerations that come up with the temperature. In both cases, there is a list of unique details to think about that will affect the […]
(May 18, 2005) Outspoken forensic accountant Al Rosen has a bit of a reputation in the industry. And it’s no wonder. Rosen claims cooking the books is practically a national sport in Canada, laws make it impossible for investors to seek redress and because there are no big lawsuits, the issues are largely ignored by […]
(May 10, 2005) Eng Hock Ong admits he has his work cut out for him. The Asian equity manager is charged with improving performance on the AGF Asian Growth Class fund in markets that are not wildly popular with Canadian investors these days. One of his key strategies is to position the fund to benefit […]
(May 5, 2005) Financial planning competition in the country just got a little bit more intense with BMO Harris Private Banking publicly launching their new lineup of services for affluent seniors. Known as enCircle, the wealth management program aims to help seniors and their adult children cope with lifestyle changes that inevitably come with aging. […]
(May 4, 2005) Disability insurance sales are on the decline, in part because many advisors are not well prepared to talk about health with their clients. Insurance companies however say the latest rise in awareness of products like critical illness insurance are bringing health and disability matters back into advisor/client discussions. “Now with critical illness […]
(April 27, 2005) The housing market is on its way to experiencing one of the longest cyclical booms in recent history and the high levels of activity are prompting many to believe the sector is inflated and house prices are on the verge of collapse. Not true, say economists at the TD Bank Financial Group. […]
(April 26, 2005) Human error is likely behind the most recent privacy faux pas in the Canadian banking sector. In the past two years, four branches of the Bank of Montreal misdialed phone numbers and sent personal client information to a home business in Montreal. Even with automatic dialers in place and ongoing internal awareness […]
(April 25, 2005) China’s competitiveness on the world stage is well known and beginning to irk members of the international trading community. The United States particularly is speaking out more aggressively against China’s currency policies that keep the renminbi pegged to the U.S. dollar, and considering moves to impose trade sanctions. Although some reports from […]
(April 22, 2005) More Canadians are e-filing their tax returns than ever before. The benefits are obvious to those who use the system and the pitfalls are negligible, but there are certain details to keep track of if you want to make your electronically enhanced relationship with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) relatively glitch free. […]
(April 20, 2005) There’s an increase in the number of companies seeking help finding managers for their pension and investment funds. Going forward, Mercer Investment Consulting expects more funds in Canada to add to their international mandates and currency hedging strategies. Although U.S. equity manager searches were most popular in 2004, followed closely by global […]