Cutting Through the Noise
November 17, 2006
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published November 17, 2006 "It's like a spotlight in the darkness... it focuses on what's moving and everything else is blotted in the darkness." Those words came from Eric Sevareid in a PBS ...
Read MoreNovember 8, 2006
My colleague, Scott Ronalds (last seen on the beach in Hawaii), has written some comments on the tax changes of last week. Here they are: Finance Minister Flaherty's Halloween announcement that income trusts will lose their tax advantaged status by ...
Read MoreNovember 6, 2006
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published November 3, 2006 Until recently, I'd never heard of Alex Becks. I thought it was because I lived on the left coast and wasn't plugged in enough to the Toronto investment network, ...
Read MoreNovember 3, 2006
Here's a picture of our Manager of Research & Communications, Scott Ronalds, reading David Swensen's Unconventional Success while on holiday in Hawaii.We're hoping all of our future employees are as dedicated as Scott. ...
Read MoreNovember 2, 2006
The attention will be focused on the government's tax announcement for a while to come, but we shouldn't forget that there are other things to think about with regard to the income trust market. The tax changes have certainly shaken ...
Read MoreNovember 1, 2006
Last week I praised Finance Minister Flaherty with regard to his comments on the fiscal surplus. There aren't many people praising him today. The changes to the taxation of income trusts have, and will continue to, generate lots of commentary ...
Read MoreOctober 26, 2006
The lead story in yesterday's paper was "Ottawa Awash with Surplus Cash." Five months into this fiscal year, the Federal government is $6.7 billion into the black and they only forecast a surplus for the year of $3.6 billion. The ...
Read MoreOctober 21, 2006
We're looking for some good people to fill out our team in Vancouver, specifically an Investor Specialist and an Administrative and Marketing Associate. If you know of anyone, please let them know. ...
Read MoreOctober 21, 2006
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published October 21st, 2006 There are plenty of sports analogies that are appropriate to investing, but I find golf provides the most fertile ground. With both golf and investing, it takes only a ...
Read MoreOctober 18, 2006
Every few weeks there is news of a takeover in the Canadian market. Increasingly, the buyers are private equity firms rather than other industry players. Of course, this is just part of a worldwide phenomenon. Private equity firms are hungry ...
Read MoreOctober 9, 2006
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published October 6, 2006 This column represents an anniversary of sorts. It's the tenth column of my burgeoning writing career with the Report on Business. Of the previous nine, the best reaction I've ...
Read MoreOctober 6, 2006
I promised myself that I wouldn't do any more postings on structured products for at least a few weeks, but I can't resist this one. The Financial Post had a small item on Monday about CIBC coming out with a ...
Read MoreOctober 6, 2006
I thought that Rob Carrick's article in the Saturday Report on Business was excellent. It did a side by side comparison of the Saxon Balanced Fund and the BMO Saxon Balanced Protected Deposit Notes (another new PPN with a brutal ...
Read MoreSeptember 27, 2006
This is just a quick update to let people know where we're at on the startup of Steadyhand Investment Funds. First of all, I want to thank those who sent us their best wishes and encouragement after our initial announcement. ...
Read MoreSeptember 22, 2006
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published September 22nd, 2006 Because I'm starting a new mutual fund company, I've had the opportunity to sit down and talk to a lot of money managers over the last few months. I've ...
Read MoreSeptember 21, 2006
I woke up way too early this morning (against my will). I decided not to fight it and instead used it as a chance to catch up on the reading that has been piling up. Part of the pile was ...
Read MoreSeptember 15, 2006
I went to a seminar yesterday sponsored by the law firm, Borden Ladner Gervais (BLG). It was about setting up an "Independent Review Committee" (IRC) for a mutual fund company. Going forward, each company must have a committee of independent ...
Read MoreSeptember 5, 2006
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business, Guest Column Published September 2nd, 2006 If I had to choose one word to describe the investment industry, I'd pick ‘perverse’. It is like no other industry I know. That word came to ...
Read MoreAugust 30, 2006
Since my column on principal-protected notes was published in the Globe & Mail on August 1st, I've had lots of e-mails. Almost without exception, they've been supportive of my view. Stuff like: "right on" ... someone needs to take a ...
Read MoreAugust 23, 2006
Jonathan Chevreau of the National Post is known for continually pounding away on the fee issue. He had lots of ammunition this week when he got his hands on a U.S. academic study called "Mutual Fund Fees Around the World". ...
Read MoreAugust 17, 2006
I was golfing with a friend of mine a couple of Friday's ago. At the 19th hole, we got talking investments, which led us to the PH&N Bond Fund. He's owned the fund for years and has been very happy ...
Read MoreAugust 16, 2006
Originally published: October, 2004 (Phillips, Hager & North Investment Funds Quarterly Report). Context of the article: There's more investment information on the Internet and in the press than ever before. It's overwhelming. This article tries to help the individual investor ...
Read MoreAugust 16, 2006
Originally published: January, 2005 (Phillips, Hager & North Investment Funds Quarterly Report) Context of the article: In 2005, Principal Protected Notes (PPN's) were again big sellers during RRSP season and were garnering a lot of attention amongst individual investors. The ...
Read MoreAugust 16, 2006
Originally published: April, 2004 (Phillips, Hager & North Investment Funds Quarterly Report) Context of the article: Being successful at investing is hard. It takes discipline, patience and courage. If investors don't possess those traits, they should consider other alternatives. The ...
Read MoreAugust 16, 2006
Originally published: July, 2004 (Phillips, Hager & North Investment Funds Quarterly Report) Context of the article: In the spring of 2004, the Globe & Mail did a series of articles on the mutual fund industry. The tone was pretty damning. ...
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