Industry News

Humble annuity back in vogue

Reckless risk is out. Guaranteed returns are in. And as more and more recession-ravaged seniors face the reality of depleted portfolios, and uncertain financial futures, products with minimal risk and guaranteed returns are increasingly becoming the flavour of the market. The oft-touted market mantra — buy and hold — has proven dangerous, says Bruce Cumming, […]

By Kanupriya Vashisht |August 14, 2009

5 min read

Options can limit portfolio volatility

Last week an article on Advisor.ca addressed the use of covered call options to get clients back into equities. Options are not limited to equity investing, they can also be used to limit your client’s portfolio volatility, which makes them an attractive strategy for a wide range of investors. Using options is a go-to strategy […]

By Mark Noble |August 14, 2009

5 min read

Briefly:

Canadians are showing more confidence in the economy’s future, according to results from the TNS Canadian Facts’ Consumer Confidence Index. The index increased by 6% to 99.2 from 93.4 in July. Each of the three indices that produce the overall index posted sizeable increases in August. The Present Situation Index, which captures evaluations of the […]

By Staff |August 13, 2009

4 min read

Opinion: HST to push mutual funds off the shelf

There is nothing funny about even higher mutual fund MERs, but MERs are sure to rise next summer. The Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) slated to come into effect in July 2010 in Ontario (where the lion’s share of IFIC member firms are located) will be the cause. I confess that I find the comments from […]

By John De Goey |August 13, 2009

3 min read