One of the main ideas behind index exchange traded funds, or “ETFs,” is to minimize costs. After all, these funds need no special portfolio-management skills. The manager simply duplicates the   Read More

Diversified, conservative equity mutual funds make good core portfolio holdings, of course. But conservative investors would also do well to include a top Canadian dividend fund or equity income fund,   Read More

This summer is shaping up to be one where macroeconomic trends will bulk large. Elvis Picardo, vice president, research, as well as portfolio manager, at Global Securities in Vancouver, identifies   Read More

Whether you invest in equity mutual funds or directly in stocks, you need to diversify your holdings and balance them to suit your own investment circumstances and objectives. Below we   Read More

We’ve often expressed our distaste for bond funds and other income funds. That’s because you stand a good chance of beating most of them by investing in fixed-income securities directly.   Read More

When a security you hold loses more than 40 per cent, it’s tempting to just simply take your losses and move on. But this type of move is more applicable   Read More

In an office in Vancouver, a small Canadian mutual fund company with a difference carries on operations. There, Steadyhand operates a family of six funds. The company has devised a   Read More

After posting modest returns in 2014, Canadian bonds have gotten off to a strong start so far this year. Year to date, the FTSE Universe Bond Index has gained 4.2   Read More

In the past, buying all the shares that make up a stock index was a course of action available to only the largest investors. These days, however, Canadian stock-market investors   Read More

Mutual fund investors should be prepared for tax advice slips which will report their income, eligible Canadian dividends and capital gains and losses when doing their tax planning.
At this time   Read More

Our latest addition to our Top-40 list of best Canadian mutual funds has a solid track record of delivering strong risk-adjusted returns. At the same time it has a well-balanced   Read More

Closed-end funds offer an alternative to traditional fund investing. One big difference is price. Even the best closed-end funds usually trade at a discount to their underlying asset value.
Closed-end funds   Read More

A great deal has been said over the years regarding investment management fees and mutual funds. Much of it revolves around how fund managers motivate and reward sales efforts. Until   Read More

Investors should diversify across many ‘asset classes’. One of these asset classes, of course, is fixed-income investments, like bonds. The trouble is, with interest rates so low (even on long-term   Read More

Limit the risk of your holdings. Adopt an investment strategy that will let you profit from—rather than be victimized by—bear market conditions.   Read More

Any investor may occasionally see his strategy fail to keep up with others. An investor with a proven record of success, however, can expect that with time his strategy will   Read More

Many mutual-fund management companies offer services that can help investors organize their affairs. Some of these services may be of great assistance to the investor, while others tend to benefit the fund company more.   Read More

Investing for current income requires an entirely different way of thinking than does investing for growth. But mutual funds that offer current income as their main purpose still report their   Read More

 “As a technical analyst, I tend to avoid making longer-term predictions about markets, sectors or commodity prices. I find that forecasting market movements or events out beyond a few months   Read More

Often a small mutual fund is able to outperform large funds by getting a couple of big winners early on. This may attract the attention of investors who can quickly   Read More

If you’re like many people, you’ve rushed into your bank near the end of February and put as much as you could manage into an RRSP. You may have made   Read More

It’s the job of any financial writer to see through fresh eyes, to look for traps and false assumptions in the world of money. Investors who weathered the stormy bear markets of 2000 to 2003 and 2008 to 2009 know only too well what can happen to the unwary.   Read More

Recent market action indicates why it’s essential to hold Canadian equity index ETFs as part of a larger, well-diversified portfolio. Heavy concentration in just a few industry sectors makes Canadian   Read More

Bonds account for much of Canadians’ investments. And bond funds make up a large part of Canada’s mutual fund business. But investing in bond funds can deny you the very   Read More

Emerging markets have taken it on the chin lately. But this doesn’t mean it’s time to jump ship. For value-oriented folks, these markets are still good places in which to   Read More

This past year, 2014, was a difficult one for Europe. According to estimates provided by The Economist, the euro area is likely to have grown just 0.8 per cent for   Read More

Where should you put new money now?

Continue to add to stock funds, emphasizing diversified, conservative offerings. Longer-term, risk-tolerant investors may want to be more aggressive with specialized funds.

We think the   Read More

Canadian small-cap stocks have lost ground this year, but IA Clarington Canadian Small Cap Fund has bucked the trend. Its strong, consistent track record and relatively low volatility makes it,   Read More

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam-based Peter Pham wrote recently in Investor’s Digest of Canada that the Greenback’s growing strength shows continued confidence in the American economy. He told readers how   Read More

A criticism of the standard market capitalization-weighted exchange-traded fund, or ETF, is that it mimics an index that gives greater weight to stocks that are high in demand among investors,   Read More

Wall Street strategists have started to issue their 2015 forecasts. And if a report by Goldman Sachs is any indication of the forecasts to follow, you might want to forget   Read More

How much foreign content you choose to hold in your portfolio should depend on your investment objectives, time horizon and risk tolerance. But when you calculate your foreign content, remember   Read More

The lessons of stock-market volatility especially apply to specialty funds. If you learn from them, consider any losses the cost of tuition at the school of Bay Street. You can,   Read More

Exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, offer low-cost exposure to indexes and sub-indexes on many stock markets throughout the world. In Canada, there are 340 exchange-traded products listed on the Toronto Stock   Read More

Though balanced funds are extremely popular with Canadian investors, we see little appeal in these investment products. It’s better to create your own balanced fund by selecting stock funds and   Read More

Key market indicators are back in a ‘buy’ mode and it’s time to buy says Keith Richards, a portfolio manager at ValueTrend Wealth Management in Barrie, Ontario.

“It’s no secret that   Read More

Some investors want their money used in ways they consider socially responsible. The criteria for that may change from individual to individual, but here’s a fund that tries to address   Read More

Watch the mutual funds you buy outside your registered accounts between now and the end of the year. Otherwise, you may find yourself on the hook for taxes if you   Read More

John Bogle, Vanguard Group founder and the father of the indexing concept, takes a highly academic route to his conclusion that no one can predict the future performance of any   Read More

When building a portfolio of equity funds, we recommend the core of your holdings be comprised of two or three large-cap funds with different investment styles. A value fund, a   Read More

High-yielding equity securities will probably continue to perform well in the years ahead as baby boomers are still in the midst of retiring, creating demand for income-producing securities.

Many investors either   Read More

Asia-Pacific stock markets have performed reasonably well this year, and that might continue over the near term. But we think the real investment lure in this region is its long-term   Read More

The advantage of investing internationally lies mainly in broadened diversification, which cuts risk. Similarly, you can cut risk by investing in dividend-paying stocks.

Here are two complementary exchange-traded funds that together   Read More

We see little appeal in bond exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, right now. That’s because even shorter-term bond ETFs are vulnerable to the potential of rising interest rates over the next   Read More

In recent years, it’s been fashionable to take a bearish view of energy stocks. But not everybody is an energy bear. The manager of CI Canadian Investment Fund thinks energy   Read More

Sometimes things just go on and on and on. Take, for example, the loonie’s duel with the greenback.

So observes Keith Richards, Barrie, Ontario-based portfolio manager of Value Trend/Wealth Management, who   Read More

Paying capital gains taxes may be an inevitable result of successful investing. But the longer you can delay the inevitable, the greater will be your ultimate success.

Sector funds offer aggressive   Read More

When stock markets are undervalued, it’s usually a good time to invest aggressively in the index offerings that track them. When market valuations rise, however, a more circumspect approach is   Read More

It pays to keep an eye on an exchange-traded fund’s volatility as well as on its performance. That can affect your comfort level with your investments. And you may prefer   Read More

U.S. equities markets have spawned some highly-specialized, successful investors over the years. One of these is James O’Shaughnessy, whose value approach to investing has been highly successful in the U.S.

The   Read More

Speculating can be fraught with danger. Hold too long in a bull market and you can quickly lose all your gains. Famed American investor of the 1920s, Bernard Baruch, reportedly   Read More

Despite the long-term outperformance of equities compared to other asset categories, many stock and mutual-fund investors still manage to lose money. Why is this the case, and how can you   Read More