It’s not easy being green, especially when it comes to building an investment portfolio, but it is getting simpler. The timing couldn’t be better as environmental risks become less theoretical and more concrete — in our lives and in our investments. Environmental risk isn’t something that makes it into the usual list of variables investors […]
If your favourite funds didn’t do well at the Canadian Investment Awards this year, don’t despair. Mutual funds will get a second kick at the can next month when Lipper, the U.S.-based mutual fund rating service, hosts its first annual awards gala in Toronto. Bragging rights — and a small trophy — will be up […]
After months of speculation, Great-West Lifeco has come out on top of a long list of suitors to purchase the recovering Boston-based Putnam Investments Trust for $3.9 billion US. Great-West Lifeco is a subsidiary of Power Financial Corp., which also controls London Life, Canada Life, Investors Group and Mackenzie Financial. The deal allows Power Financial […]
Just as Canadians are being asked to take more responsibility for saving for their retirement, employees are being asked to make more decisions regarding their employer-sponsored pension plans. The problem is no one is helping them make the right decisions, which is why T. E. Wealth is sitting down with human resources professionals from across […]
With the U.S. economy apparently holding up against downward pressure on the housing and automotive sectors and financial markets showing the resolve to address global imbalances in a smooth manner, the Bank of Canada is predicting inflation will settle at just above 1% for the first half of 2007. Bank of Canada governor David Dodge […]
(January 2007) Everyone talks about the weather, and now people say they want to do something about it. In Canada, environmental issues top health care as our number-one worry. CEOs are getting into the scene by saying it’s time to do more to protect against climate change. Even U.S. President George W. Bush is pushing […]
Industry experts are scrambling to minimize confusion over the way mutual funds calculate their daily net asset value. Investors, mutual funds and advisors want NAV calculated the way it has been — based on daily closing prices — while accountants want NAV calculated based on bid/ask prices. Changing the way NAVs are calculated creates a […]
The future is low tech, or so says Scotia McLeod, which has been experimenting with a new way to streamline routine administrative and compliance tasks within its branches. Adding staff, not technology, is the simplest and surest way to improve branches’ efficiency, say those involved in the program, which involves downloading and centralizing all of […]
The Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada could be on a path to becoming a self-regulatory organization without any members to oversee. The number of MFDA member firms is dropping at a rate of approximately 10% a year, down from a high of about 220 firms in 2002 to its current level of 170. And […]
Late Friday, hours after markets had closed and after many advisors had gone home for the weekend, the federal finance minister provided guidance on what he construes as “normal growth” for income trusts. The new guidelines are expected to result in a sizable increase in the number of new financings and mergers within this space. […]