Blog: Cutting Through the Noise
Postings
Morningstar Stewardship Grades
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on June 17, 2010
Morningstar Canada, a mutual fund research firm, recently introduced Stewardship Grades for over 25 fund companies. In their words, the Stewardship Grade “goes beyond the usual analysis of strategy, risk and return. It is intended to assess...Read More
TFSA Over-contribution Nightmares
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on June 16, 2010
The Globe and Mail recently reported on an issue that all investors who own a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) should be aware of – over-contribution penalties. Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has informed 70,000 investors that they may have to...Read More
Small is the New Beautiful
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on June 14, 2010
Small funds produce better returns. This is the conclusion of a recent study, titled Pension Fund Performance and Costs: Small is Beautiful, which looked at the performance of U.S. pension funds from 1990-2006. Published by a trio of...Read More
Know Your Advisor
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on June 2, 2010
Preet Banerjee is an industry insider who runs a blog titled Where Does All My Money Go? (his blog was ranked Canada’s #1 investing blog by the Globe and Mail last month). Preet recently developed a resource for investors called the Know Your...Read More
Bad Habits
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on June 1, 2010
I was having dinner with my dad the other night and we got on the topic of credit cards. We both have cards that reward us with air miles (in one form or another) for all our purchases. And importantly, we both pay our cards off each month. Somewhat proudly...Read More
Podcast: Visit to Edinburgh
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on May 27, 2010
Tom met with Edinburgh Partners Limited (EPL) on their home turf last week for an annual update on their firm and global equity portfolio. It was also an opportune time to discuss some of the issues currently impacting Europe and get the CEO’s (Sandy Nairn) thoughts on the debt crisis that is overhanging Greece...
Read More
Sugar-Free Economic Lunch
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on May 25, 2010
I recently attended a luncheon hosted by Connor, Clark & Lunn, the manager of our Savings Fund and Income Fund. The session focused on the economy. Larry Lunn, the firm’s chairman and co-founder, was the keynote speaker. Larry is an experienced...Read More
Submission to the Task Force on Financial Literacy
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on May 17, 2010
The Task Force on Financial Literacy is a federal government initiative aimed at strengthening the financial literacy of Canadians. The Task Force, which is comprised of 13 members, was appointed in June 2009 (as part of the federal budget), and will...Read More
Questions about Europe?
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on May 12, 2010
First it was swine flu. Now it’s fragile economies. Seems like pigs can’t catch a break these days. The southern European nations of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain (PIGS) are garnering plenty of attention in the media, as investors fear these countries may...Read More
A Step in the Right Direction
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on April 29, 2010
There’s an old saying that mutual funds are sold, not bought. Canada’s mutual fund industry is a perfect example. The majority of financial advisors are paid commissions by fund companies for selling their funds and keeping clients invested in them. Up...Read More
Bad Math
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on April 28, 2010
Rob Carrick’s column in today’s Globe and Mail looks at big, expensive mutual funds. He identifies the funds with the most assets under management and the highest management expense ratios (MERs). The 23 funds on his list all have more than...Read More
Book Review: The Big Short
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on April 27, 2010
Michael Lewis has a talent for writing about financial issues in a provocative and colorful manner. Having worked as a bond salesman for Salomon Brothers in the 1980s, he leans on his experiences and lessons learned on Wall Street to bring his readers...Read More
