Cutting Through the Noise
March 13, 2014
In the Report on Business on Monday, there was an article on a case playing out in the U.S. courts that involved RBC. It reinforces my previous comments with regard to the sliding standards of conduct that exist in the investment banking arena ...
Read MoreMarch 6, 2014
Timing the market is a mug’s game. You might get it right once or twice, but over the long term, switching in and out of funds based on recent returns and ‘expert’ forecasts will likely do your portfolio more harm than good. The proof? Look no further than Morningstar's ...
Read MoreFebruary 18, 2014
Morningstar recently updated our Stewardship Grade for 2013. Once again, we scored an ‘A’, and were one of only three firms to receive the top grade. Morningstar is a leading provider of independent investment research. They first introduced Stewardship ...
Read MoreFebruary 13, 2014
From a post I did in October: Whenever I go through a government budget document, I’m always struck by how similar governments are to low (profit) margin, debt burdened companies. Small changes to the inputs into the budget calculations can have ...
Read MoreFebruary 12, 2014
It’s a great time to be a homer. Who isn’t pulling for Canada to do well in Sochi – Alex and Mik, the sisters, 3-2 over the Americans this morning ... Canadians have lots of experience being homers, because they’ve done it for a decade now in their investment portfolios. Even though Canada accounts for only 4-5% of the value of the world’s stock markets, it makes up the vast majority of individuals’ portfolios ...
Read MoreFebruary 4, 2014
I’ve been remiss in doing a follow-up to an article I wrote for the Globe and Mail a few weeks ago (clients come first). In it I made the point that ETF sales in Canada have been disappointing, despite all the hype and favourable press. As it turns out, the piece ...
Read MoreJanuary 23, 2014
The improvement in the financial position of our defined benefit pension plans was the biggest economic highlight of last year. As we pointed out in a post two weeks ago, the change has been dramatic. Higher bond yields, healthy stock returns and increased ...
Read MoreJanuary 22, 2014
Don Tapscott, the highly-regarded business thinker and writer wrote an article for Monday’s Report on Business (Note: David is taking me to hear him speak at University of Toronto next week). In it he previewed the annual mixer for the world’s business ...
Read MoreJanuary 14, 2014
JP Morgan Chase reported its earnings yesterday. The company had a good quarter (US$5.3 billion), although it was down a little from last year due to charges related to legal and regulatory settlements. The Financial Times reported that JPM, "took another ...
Read MoreJanuary 10, 2014
The Canadian economy is a real conundrum to me. Clink - Real estate sales have returned to previously robust levels and prices have recovered nicely from the lull in 2012 (if you can call it that). Clink - Canadians bought 1.7 million new cars last year, which ...
Read MoreJanuary 9, 2014
If 2013 was a great year for the markets, it was a stupendous year for pensions. Aon Hewitt published a report last week that shows the progress pension funds made in 2013 in resolving their funding issues. “The latest quarterly survey of more than 275 Aon Hewitt administered pension plans from the public, semi-public and private sectors ...
Read MoreJanuary 3, 2014
Bill Gross doesn’t need my help. The PIMCO Founder and Co-Chief Investment Officer is the undisputed bond king. He oversees a $2 trillion company and has been right many more times than he’s been wrong. But an article in today’s Financial Times on the ...
Read MoreDecember 23, 2013
We hear it all the time in conversation with our partners and friends: “They say the market is going higher … they say Regina house prices are going down next year … or they say the Canucks have a shot at the Cup.” When you hear “they say”, it’s a signal that ...
Read MoreDecember 18, 2013
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has recently mandated that performance reporting on client statements use dollar-weighted returns, to be implemented by 2016. Most firms, including Steadyhand, currently report client account performance using ...
Read MoreDecember 12, 2013
With the release of Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, David and Goliath, there’s been lots of talk about big versus small. In the Money Managers edition of Benefits and Pensions Monitor, Jeff Brown wrote an article pointing out that in the asset management business ...
Read MoreDecember 3, 2013
In this space, we talk often about how sensitive the housing market is to interest rates. In Tara Perkins’ article on real estate in the Report on Business the other week, there was a story about a young woman who was buying her first home. It was very revealing...
Read MoreNovember 26, 2013
There was a telling chart in last weekend’s Wall Street Journal. It showed the market predictions of Wall Street strategists for each year going back to 2000. The chart shows no discernable pattern or trend that would imply that the predictions are in any way useful. There...
Read MoreNovember 20, 2013
By 2016, mutual fund firms and investment dealers will be required to tell their clients what they’re paying and how they’re doing. Our country’s provincial regulators have also initiated discussions as to whether investment advisors should be held to a higher...
Read MoreNovember 14, 2013
Over the last year or so, there’s been a growing trend towards combining indexing with paid advice. It’s coming up more in the media, and is a common solution in the financial advice columns – ‘hire an advisor to manage an ETF portfolio’. The well-followed...
Read MoreNovember 12, 2013
“In the 1960s and 1970s, mid-western American states fell victim to scores of wildfires. Constant interventions by the US Forest Service appeared to have little positive impact – if anything, the problems seemed to worsen. Over time, foresters came to appreciate...
Read MoreOctober 29, 2013
I had a nightmare last night. I dreamed that I was on the board of JP Morgan. It was no fun. For those of you who aren’t familiar, JPM is a huge multinational bank. For decades, it was revered as one of the leading institutions in the world, but it’s now in high...
Read MoreOctober 24, 2013
The world’s largest provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is launching its first mutual funds in Canada. BlackRock (the parent of iShares) announced this month a suite of seven balanced funds, the BlackRock Strategic Portfolio Series, which will be built...
Read MoreOctober 18, 2013
A lot of the writing Scott and I do is aimed at breaking down common perceptions about economics and investing that are out of date or inaccurate. On that note, my friend Bing Monahan sent me an article from The Atlantic that outlines 10 economic trends...
Read MoreOctober 16, 2013
While the Republicans and Democrats are duking it out in Washington over the debt ceiling, it’s ironic that the Congressional Budget Office is unable to report the fiscal year-end budget numbers (it’s not deemed an essential service and is shut down...
Read MoreOctober 2, 2013
Toronto Stock Exchange runs print ads every six months to celebrate/welcome their new listings. I find it informative to see the mix of businesses that are going public. Certainly, it’s changed significantly from the early days of my career. This month’s...
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