This Advisor.ca Special Report is sponsored by: Frontier markets are like promising athletes: catch them young and watch them grow. Glibness aside, these investment options are increasingly attracting forward-thinking managers and investors looking for new opportunities. There is no clear definition of a “frontier” market, but they are widely classified as a sub-set of emerging […]
Precious metal funds posted best returns in April as markets see-sawed over the Greek debt crisis, according to preliminary performance data released by Morningstar Canada. “Government debt and related currency concerns helped boost the price of gold and other commodities,” said Esko Mickels, fund analyst for Morningstar Canada. With 12.2% return, Morningstar Precious Metals Equity […]
As a financial advisor with RBC, I am able to take a holistic approach with clients. I work on both sides of the balance sheet, assisting with investment and savings needs and credit/debit management. This enables me to better understand all the complexities of a client's financial picture. My goal is to help set up […]
Advisors do a great deal more than media gives them credit for. Regulators don’t understand the consequences of their decisions. Canadians would suffer if it wasn’t for the value of advice. These and many other views were expressed on the final day of the recently concluded 2010 Distributors’ Summit. “The value of advice is important […]
The end is nigh, at least for smaller managing general agencies, as consolidation within the insurance distribution industry appears set to ramp up. Owners might be well advised to sell now while they can, according to the president of one advisory firm. “Smaller MGAs and Associate General Agency (AGAs) are becoming endangered species,” says John […]
If the insurance distribution sector is worried it will end up resembling the MFDA channel, the industry has the word of at least one regulator that it will not. “That’s not our intention. That’s not where we are going to go,” says Doug McLean, executive director, insurance department, Financial Institution Commission, a regulatory agency of […]
Canaccord Financial has announced the closing of its purchase of Genuity Capital Markets, after shareholders gave the deal a ringing endorsement on Friday. “We are very pleased that 99.8% of votes cast were in support of Canaccord’s acquisition of Genuity,” says Paul Reynolds, CEO and president of Canaccord. “This acquisition is a significant milestone in […]
It’s been a year since BMO acquired AIG Life of Canada and going by what Peter McCarthy, president and CEO, BMO Life Assurance Company, has to say, it is a marriage made in heaven. “It’s been a very good acquisition both for the bank and for those of us at the insurance company,” says McCarthy. […]
Eyjafjallajökull is not just a word people can’t pronounce. It is the picture of a global crisis smeared with plumes of ash and dire financial repercussions. First the airline industry, then tourism, and now cargo – industry after industry is falling prey to the knock-on effects of the current volcanic eruptions in Iceland. These eruptions […]
From coast-to-coast, advocates of investor education have sharply reacted to the discontent shown by the mutual funds sector over the proposed POS disclosure obligations. “Investors want to be able to make informed decisions and require information before they buy, like every other product,” says Ken Kivenko, president of Kenmar Associates in Toronto. “These investments are […]