What happens to an RESP when you die + MORE Nov 15th

A roundup of investment ideas for active investors

Q: I am the account subscriber for an RESP for a child to whom I am not related by blood. I have been told by the financial institution that the only way to name the child’s father as the subscriber upon my death is through my will, which would be subject to probate. Is that correct? I would have thought that I could name the father as a beneficiary as you can for a TFSA or RRSP.
—Wayne
A: A parent or grandparent would be the most common subscriber for a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP). But it’s not unheard of for an aunt, uncle, godparent, etc. to open an RESP to save for the education of a special child in their lives. No matter who the beneficiary of an RESP is, it’s important for the subscriber to understand how RESPs factor into their estate planning (or lack thereof).
Even though an RESP is generally opened and intended for a child, grandchild, or, in your case, Wayne, an important child in your life, the RESP is technically yours. The child is simply the beneficiary—or more specifically, the potential beneficiary—of the RESP…

VANCOUVER – Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (TSX:RBA) has acquired Kramer Auctions to strengthen its presence in the Prairies and grow the scale of its Canadian agricultural business.
Kramer Auctions, headquartered in North Battleford, Sask., operates approximately 75 on-the-farm auctions, four on site auctions and eight livestock auctions each year in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The family owned and operated company sold more than $60 million of agricultural equipment, real estate and other assets in the last year.
Ritchie Bros., which sells used equipment for the construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, mining, forestry and other industries, said it intends to retain the Kramer brand for the immediate future.
Kramer Trailer Sales was not acquired by Ritchie Bros. and remains owned by the Kramer family.
No other terms of the deal were disclosed.
The post Ritchie Bros. buys Kramer Auctions to strengthen presence in central Canada appeared first on Canadian Business – Your Source For Business News.

Oil prices rallied and Canada’s biggest stock market strengthened amid growing prospects that OPEC members will reach a deal on capping oil production later this month.

Q: I noticed the unit price of some iShares ETFs changed radically last week. For example, the iShares MSCI Singapore ETF (EWS) shot up from around $10 to $20 overnight on November 7. Another fund went from $14 to over $28. What’s going on here, and how would it affect investors? — Chris
If you wake up to find the unit price of your ETF doubled overnight, you might be tempted to think you just scored a 100% return while you slept. But unless you’re an eternal optimist, you’ll probably realize that isn’t the case. What’s happened here is called a reverse share split, or consolidation. Although the price per share of these iShares ETFs doubled (or in some cases quadrupled), the total value of each investor’s holding hasn’t changed, because they now own correspondingly fewer units.
If you’ve ever traded stocks, you’re probably more familiar with a regular stock split, whereby a company increases its number of outstanding shares by some multiple, reducing the price of each share by a proportional amount…