10 first steps to investment planning Opening an investment account is relatively easy. What’s not so easy is how to proceed with investment planning, so you don’t immediately lose what’s in your account. So here’s my list of 10 basic investment and money...
How can you tell when your portfolio is morphing into a different beast? What do you do about it? Read Robyn Thompson’s advice on how to check your portfolio for suspicious changes in The Globe and Mail’s “Financial Compass” series by Kira Vermond. © 2015 by Robyn...
Is your mutual fund safe? You may have been surprised to see some mutual funds and exchange-traded funds disclose that they use “derivatives” in their portfolio management. It may have come as a surprise, because most investors acknowledge that derivatives can be...
How to make sure your investments stay on track An annual investment review not only tells you how your portfolio has performed against your benchmark, but whether it’s time to make changes to your holdings. This could happen, for example, if some investments in...
New reporting rules for advisors on the way You may have recently seen references in the media to something called “CRM2” for financial advisors. It’s basically a set of regulations designed to provide investors with more information on investment advisory costs...
Sorting out MERs, TERs, and loads If you’re a novice investor, and you’ve been looking at the costs of mutual funds, you’re probably finding it more than just a bit confusing. For example, you might have seen a number of different costs and expenses listed for...
Should you switch to ETFs for their lower MERs? The lower management costs of exchange-traded funds compared with mutual funds seem almost too good to be true. Many do-it-yourself investors are wondering whether they should switch completely to a portfolio of ETFs....
How to keep your head when stock markets start gyrating If you got a bad case of market jitters over the latest stock market scare headlines, then the business media will have done their job – which is to get you to look at their websites, Twitter and other feeds,...
But remember: higher yield means more risk If you’ve been looking at conventional interest-bearing investments, you’re bound to be disappointed. Savings accounts are money-losing black holes. Guaranteed investment certificates and money market funds yield next to...
Paying a premium for market-linked GICs and segregated funds Q: With stock markets showing more volatility this summer, I’m a little concerned that there may be a correction ahead. But I’m reluctant to get out of stocks completely, because the return on...
How to choose the right portfolio benchmark Does your portfolio consistently underperform the S&P/TSX Composite? If so, it might not be a reflection of your investment skills. You might just be using the wrong benchmark. A benchmark is an independent standard...
Knowing which is which could affect your bottom line “Active” and “passive” portfolio management used to be fairly straightforward. Active managers traded frequently in an effort to beat the market, while passive managers relied on index-following strategies. But...