Regulators issue warning on binary options scams + MORE Mar 3rd

Growing demand for a detached home in the Greater Toronto Area continues to push prices to record highs and there is diminishing relief in the suburbs. The average price of a detached home in the 905 region is now $1,106,201, according to data released by the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) on Friday.

Personalized rates of return are starting to appear on brokerage statements across Canada. But the new addition might cause more than a little confusion because it depends both on the returns generated by the portfolio and the flow of money into, and out of, it.

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Most investors are familiar with compound annual growth rates, which are also called time-weighted returns. They assume that an investor makes an initial investment and then holds on for the period in question while any income generated by the investment (usually in the form of interest payments or dividends) is reinvested.
Time-weighted returns are routinely presented by mutual fund companies and other investment managers. They reflect the results generated by portfolio managers and can easily be compared to the time-weighted returns of other funds, market indexes, and various benchmarks.
However, time-weighted returns are not personalized to each particular investor. That’s where money-weighted returns (also called dollar-weighted returns) come in…

A roundup of investment ideas for active investors

Canadian regulators are raising the alarm with an awareness campaign about investor fraud involving so-called “binary option” scams.
Options are a popular but sophisticated product that can be used by experienced investors as part of an investment strategy, often providing offsetting positions that allow an investor to hedge positions. In the case of binary options, however, no individuals or firms are registered to sell such a product in Canada, regulators.
The Canadian Securities Administrators have set up a website resource that warns of the risk to victims to fall for social media and other pitches, often from overseas sites that are not subject to Canadian regulation.
The CSA explains binary options like this:
“It’s an all-or-nothing proposition in which you bet on the performance of an underlying asset – a currency or a stock, for example. The deal promises quick money: you are supposed to receive a predetermined payout, sometimes within minutes or even seconds. Or you lose your money altogether…

Early in March, MoneySense did a Q&A with John De Goey, a portfolio manager with iA Securities and author of The Professional Financial Advisor IV—a book that outlines how financial advisors are changing the way they do business. De Goey believes financial advisors are changing the way they do business. Instead of earning commissions for placing products, they are increasingly charging fees for rendering more professional services. In the process, they are putting the interests of their clients ahead of the interests of their employers and product suppliers. MoneySense writer Julie Cazzin asked De Goey several key questions and here’s what he had to say:
MoneySense: What do you see as the major challenges in the financial services industry today?
The industry is being challenged to remain relevant. People are living longer, but careers are less stable and returns are expected to be significantly lower going forward. As a result, most investors will likely work longer before retiring and re-calibrate to a more modest lifestyle than they might have previously expected…