TSX getting you down? There are always sound investment alternatives.
Latest News
Greece crisis: Eurozone leaders gather as bid for bailout continues - CBC.ca + MORE Jul 12th
CBC.caGreece crisis: Eurozone leaders gather as bid for bailout continuesCBC.caGreece moved closer on Sunday to a desperately needed deal with European creditors which would stave off immediate financial collapse and the country's potential exit from the euro. Facing a self-imposed Sunday deadl.... More »
MedReleaf’s buzz dissipates as stock tumbles in TSX debut + MORE Jun 8th
Twenty-two per cent drop from IPO ‘a sign of fatigue in the industry,’ one analyst says
.... More »
Why the volatility index’s rock-bottom levels signal real peril for investors + MORE May 9th
If indeed there’s not much to worry about in today’s elevated stock prices, as the VIX suggests, consider what that means for future returns
.... More »
How Did TIFF’s Lightbox Become Its Money Pit? + MORE Apr 30th
You don’t notice what’s missing at first. Toronto’s TIFF Lightbox—that unassuming glass grid, dwarfed by the enormous monolithic condo protruding from the top of it—still looks the same. Inside the five-storey space is a surprising 16,000 square metres containing five cinemas, a screen.... More »
4 changes in B.C.’s hot real estate market + MORE May 6th
(Lucidio Studio, Inc. / Getty Images)
After weeks of acrimonious headlines and months of finger-pointing, there’s been a few developments that should eventually help ease skyrocketing Vancouver home prices.
Triple the fine
At the end of March, the president of Real Estate Board of Greater Va.... More »
Most Canadians think about real estate on a regular basis, and a good number of them are obsessed with it, an online survey suggests.Two Core ETFs Get New Indexes
– CanadianCouchPotato.com
Vanguard announced last October that it would be ending its relationship with MSCI, one of the largest index providers in the world, and using new benchmarks for many of its most popular ETFs. That transition is now complete. Between January and April of this year, Vanguard Canada’s emerging markets equity, Canadian equity, and international equity ETFs all got new indexes created by FTSE. And earlier this month Vanguard changed the benchmark for two US-listed ETFs that happen to be core holdings in my Complete Couch Potato portfolio.
The Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI) is now benchmarked to the CRSP US Total Market Index rather than the MSCI US Broad Market Index. The Canadian-listed version of this fund, the Vanguard US Total Market Index (VUS), simply holds VTI and adds currency hedging, so it is affected by the index change as well.
Don’t expect any meaningful effect on the performance of VTI. The CRSP index is slightly broader than its MSCI counterpart: the latter “targets for inclusion 99…
The Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI) is now benchmarked to the CRSP US Total Market Index rather than the MSCI US Broad Market Index. The Canadian-listed version of this fund, the Vanguard US Total Market Index (VUS), simply holds VTI and adds currency hedging, so it is affected by the index change as well.
Don’t expect any meaningful effect on the performance of VTI. The CRSP index is slightly broader than its MSCI counterpart: the latter “targets for inclusion 99…
World's wealthy richer than ever
– cbc.ca
The investable wealth of the world’s richest people reached a record high of $46.2 trillion US in 2012, a report by RBC Wealth Management and the consulting firm Capgemini has found.
Our occasional series on money mistakes continues with ING Direct president Peter Aceto who learned some valuable lessons about stock tips as a young man.Investors don’t have to wait for Canada to bury trailers
– moneysense.ca
Sparks flew during a panel discussion at a recent meeting of the Ontario Securities Commission when the topic of eliminating mutual fund trailing commissions was tossed onto the debate table. It’s hardly a novel talking point, as an overhaul of Canada’s mutual fund fees has been long overdue. But not surprisingly, there is fierce division over making radical changes to Canada’s current mutual fund fee structure.
What’s at stake? For starters, boatloads of money. Numerous published research studies already show that Canadians, on average, have the highest mutual fund fees in the world—our annual management expense ratios (MERs) range between 2% to 3%. Most of that cost covers investment management and operating expenses for funds, while about 1% goes to advisers in exchange for ongoing service in the form of trailing commissions (also commonly known as a “trailers”). The latest statistics provided by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) showed that in 2011 mutual fund investors paid $4…
What’s at stake? For starters, boatloads of money. Numerous published research studies already show that Canadians, on average, have the highest mutual fund fees in the world—our annual management expense ratios (MERs) range between 2% to 3%. Most of that cost covers investment management and operating expenses for funds, while about 1% goes to advisers in exchange for ongoing service in the form of trailing commissions (also commonly known as a “trailers”). The latest statistics provided by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) showed that in 2011 mutual fund investors paid $4…
