The final quarter of 2009 brought terrific returns to institutional pooled fund investors, according to Morningstar Research. For the third consecutive quarter, an overwhelming majority of the pooled funds in the company’s Canadian database had positive returns — 906 out of 1,033 (88%) posted gains for the quarter, including 535 of 574 (93%) of equity-focused […]
The majority of money managers strive to make the right call on the direction of the markets. Keith Balmer, a portfolio manager at U.K-based AHL says there is a case to be made in reacting to, rather than predicting, markets. AHL manages more than $22 billion in managed futures assets. The AHL Diversified Programme, a […]
Women view wealth and retirement quite differently than men, a new study finds. A survey of 1,200 Canadians, undertaken by Fleishman-Hillard on behalf of Sun Life Financial, finds women more committed to retirement, but far less willing to work past the age of 65. Twice as many men (32%) than women surveyed say they want […]
The current issue of Advisor’s Edge Report has an exclusive feature with Michael Lee-Chin. For Advisor.ca readers, we’ve included additional content not covered in the print publication. Lee-Chin, the founder and CEO of Portland Holdings, recently sold his privately held mutual fund company AIC Limited to Manulife Financial. He says the sale hinged on him […]
The worst of the financial meltdown may be over but it appears to have had a big impact on affluent investors in the U.S. According to Merrill Lynch’s ‘Insights Quarterly’, a survey of the values, financial priorities and concerns of affluent Americans, that group is rethinking and reworking their vision of retirement. The study also […]
• Visit the Advisor.ca ETF Centre One of the world’s largest exchange traded fund providers, PowerShares has launched in Canada — not as an ETF, but as a suite of corporate class mutual funds wrapped around an underlying ETF. Advisors are clearly the target market for the new product launch by Invesco Trimark, which brings […]
If exchange traded funds are to capture more market share from traditional mutual fund trusts, they will need to make inroads with institutional money managers, according to a report on the U.S. market by State Street. The firm’s VisonFocus report says a higher adoption of ETFs by funds and institutions will go along way to […]
The indexing trend has pushed down another product barrier, with the launch of a new line of segregated index funds and guaranteed minimum withdrawal products by Pro-Financial. With a growing number of boomer clients nearing retirement, segregated funds have grown in popularity, thanks to their capital guarantees. The biggest complaint they draw from advisors is […]
Howard Fergusson, has more hot prospects to grow his individual business than he can possibly serve, thanks to building up a solid group benefits and retirement planning practice. Fergusson, a CFP and Toronto-based advisor affiliated with Sun Life, is one of the dealer’s top producers, and he credits a large part of his success to […]
Bonds are boring, but they also may be the single most important asset class in the coming year, according to two seasoned strategists. The Empire Club of Canada, held its annual outlook luncheon in Toronto on Thursday. Despite a massive rally in stock markets, the tone was quite bearish. Peter Gibson, managing director of portfolio […]