The temperature was not the only thing that was hot this past summer as equity markets experienced sizzling returns around the world without any significant catalysts to explain the behaviour. The absence of any “bad news” might be the best explanation for the rise. Fixed income returns were also positive,... read more →
Oct
14
Sep
22
** Special to The Just Word Blog from Malcolm Burrows, Scotia Wealth Management ** Canada has the most generous tax incentives for charitable giving in the world, but the nature and extent are largely unknown to Canadians. Why does this paradox exist? There are practical issues that shape our understanding... read more →
Sep
06
The advent of the mutual fund was one of the greatest innovations in the field of finance. Mutual funds created a practical means for common folks to invest in the markets which used to be only accessible by the wealthy. The mechanics of how mutual funds operate have not changed... read more →
Aug
19
The Canadian financial services industry is facing some existential challenges. Over the past decade, the investment sector has seen a slow decline in best practices and value-driven client service. Consumers have taken note of this industry shift and the results are worrisome: investor trust in financial professionals in Canada has... read more →
Jul
15
Capital markets were sailing along smoothly in the second quarter until the Brexit tidal wave came crashing down. Equity markets around the world sold off sharply for two straight days after the people of the U.K. surprisingly voted in favour to leave the European Union. As we mentioned in our... read more →
Jun
24
Yesterday, a referendum was held in the U.K. to determine if the U.K. would exit the European Union, known as the “Brexit” vote. Despite advance polls indicating that the likely outcome would be for the U.K. to remain, the surprising result was a 52% majority in favour of leaving. This... read more →
Jun
24
The mutual fund industry is a mature industry that remains extremely profitable despite overwhelming evidence suggesting that alternative options such as exchange traded funds (ETFs) are far more beneficial for investors. Although mutual funds continue to have their market share eroded by ETFs, the fact that the assets in mutual... read more →
Jun
17
Most investors are aware of what a mutual fund is, but there is less general understanding about what an exchange traded fund (ETF) is. Much of the discrepancy can be explained by the fact that mutual funds have been around for more than 50 years longer than ETFs which were... read more →
May
26
Want an (almost) immediate 20% return on your investment? How about keeping that return re-invested for a number of years in a tax-shelter and then have taxes payable on the gain at a reduced rate or pay no tax at all? Sound too good to be true? If you have... read more →
May
06
When we produced our document, Five questions you should ask your financial representative, we actually had seven questions that we thought were relevant, but it made the piece a pretty long read. Fortunately for readers, we are releasing from our archives the two remaining questions in this blog post. We... read more →