In September 2010, members of the Institute of Advanced Financial Planners met in Banff, Alberta to consider the organization’s annual case study. This year’s case involved a client everyone could identify with: a fellow CFP.
A pair of high profile deals in the mutual fund industry closed today, with Scotiabank finalizing its acquisition of DundeeWealth, and AGF closing its deal to buy Acuity. Scotiabank announced that 118 million common shares – as well as all special shares, series C and first preference shares, series X – had been tendered to […]
It’s no secret that gold prices have been rising steadily over the past decade and Canadians have been increasingly attracted to the precious metal. Holdings of bullion in registered accounts are now on track to break records, according to one gold investment provider. In 2007, discount online brokerage Questrade teamed up with Kitco Metals to […]
It may come as no surprise, but 2010 was a very strong year for commodity prices. How strong? The Scotiabank Commodity Price Index, which tracks the price of 32 commodities, surged 17.8% on the year. The index capped the year with a hefty month-over-month gain of 5.5% in December. Since the cyclical low, reached in […]
The U.S. economy is strengthening and will set the tone for the global investment landscape in 2011, according to the chief economist of Laurentian Bank. “Two significant events occurred at the end of 2010 that generated significant momentum for the American economy,” says Carlos Leitao, pointing to the second wave of quantitative easing and the […]
If you needed reassurance that Canadians do, in fact, need financial advice, it’s here. Despite a dominant belief that now is a good time to invest, Canadians are wary of entering the market. A new survey commissioned by Franklin Templeton Investments finds that bullish sentiment outweighs bearish sentiment by a ratio of 4-to-1. Yet more […]
It may be too early to tell, but Canadians may be taking the Bank of Canada’s warnings on household debt to heart, according to a report from CIBC World Markets. In November – the latest month for which data is available – household credit expanded at its slowest rate since 2001, growing by just 0.27% […]
A large number of Canadian investors appear oblivious to the costs associated with their mutual funds, according to a survey commissioned by ING DIRECT. The poll found that 45% of Canadians were unsure about the annual management expense they are pay on mutual funds. It should be noted, of course, that ING is a purveyor […]
While Canadians bask in the praise of foreign policymakers who laud our prudent financial regulation, we should probably also take note of international criticism, according to the Canadian representative to the International Monetary Fund. The IMF has repeatedly expressed concern over Canada’s apparent refusal to adopt a single national securities regulator, according to Tom Hockin, […]
The Bank of Canada has held the line on interest rates, maintaining the trendsetting Bank Rate at 1.25%. “The global economic recovery is proceeding at a somewhat faster pace than the Bank had anticipated, although risks remain elevated,” the Bank said in a statement. Both the U.S. and Europe are recovering, while some emerging markets […]