Industry News

U.S. SPIVA report takes aim at fixed income

While the active versus passive asset management debate typically revolves around equity funds, the latest Standard & Poor’s Index Versus Active (SPIVA) report out of the U.S. suggests there is no question that indexing outperforms on the fixed income side of the portfolio. Over one-, three- and five-year time horizons, a huge majority of actively […]

By Steven Lamb |August 20, 2009

3 min read

Talking clients down from the leverage ledge

Investors can be slow to pick up on market trends. And so it comes as no surprise that a few advisors I’ve spoken to recently have had to talk clients out of the idea of borrowing to invest. While margin may have made sense for clients who could stomach risk in February or March when […]

By Philip Porado |August 20, 2009

4 min read

Briefly:

Despite a challenging environment, sales of variable annuities in the U.K. fell by only 7% in the second quarter of 2009, according to research from Watson Wyatt. Second quarter variable annuity sales in the U.K. were £343.7 million, down from £370.2 million in the first quarter. Q2 2009 sales matched those achieved in the last […]

By Staff |August 20, 2009

2 min read

Briefly:

The Financial Services Commission of Ontario has named Philip Howell as the new CEO and Superintendent of Financial Services for the organization, effective August 19, 2009. Prior to the appointment, Howell served as the Deputy Minister of Economic Development for the Ontario government, and has held previous roles including Deputy Minister of Tourism. He holds […]

By Staff |August 19, 2009

2 min read