Helping you make wiser investment decisions
Tech companies boasting overheated valuations have been a point of discussion throughout the year. While some are valued at multiples far higher than the revenues being generated, the argument goes that the promise of future growth justifies the valuation. But when is a high valuation no longer merited? Looking at Infinera’s (INFN) current value proposition, […]
There are good reasons for this trend. The cost of housing continues to skyrocket (consider that the median price for a detached home in Toronto reached $1,185,000 in September 2020—a jump of 10% over the previous year). Loneliness is being recognized as a serious health risk, especially for people 50 or older. Affording child care […]
Active Investing in the Age of Disruption. 2020. Evan L. Jones. John Wiley & Sons. Aggressive central bank intervention and accelerating innovation have increased the difficulty of generating alpha from value-oriented, fundamentally driven investing. The author offers well-supported solutions from the advantageous perspective of overseeing direct investments at a major university endowment. He also explains […]
The Blackberry (BB) story is defined by its transformation from a leading smartphone maker to its current incarnation as a security software specialist. Yet, it is also marked by a decline from glory days to a company struggling to pick up momentum. There have been signs of a turnaround recently after the company announced an […]
Many term policies can be converted to whole life policies that have the same premium payable every year thereafter for life. The conversion option may only be available up to a certain age—like 75, for example. The whole life premium ($35,000 in your case) would be higher than a term life premium ($15,000 in your […]
Joachim Klement, CFA, is the author most recently of Geo-Economics: The Interplay between Geopolitics, Economics, and Investments from the CFA Institute Research Foundation. There are two often-repeated critiques of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing that I really can’t stand. They have the quality of truthiness about them and are what academics sometimes call “as […]
One word of caution is that there is the risk of highly ranked active funds not repeating their success over time. Some actively managed mutual funds have a habit of slipping out of their top rankings. Fund management relies on extensive analysis and personal judgement, and the active managers’ luck or skill may run out. […]
The Quran is the Islamic text that guides all aspects of Muslim life. Shariah is the Islamic law that includes guidelines that impact financial decisions for Muslims; these include the prohibition of earning interest from fixed-income investments like bonds, which are a common component of an investment portfolio. Instead of earning interest from lending (a […]
Unlike your RRSP-turned-RRIF, on which Ottawa ultimately has dibs, that $6,000 in the TFSA is yours free and clear. When you need to tap it for spending, there’s no tax; or you can just let the nest egg compound tax-free. As of 2020, the cumulative TFSA contribution room is $69,500, to which you can add […]
Private equity (PE) investment returns are neither reliable nor predictable. Many of my clients are prepared to accept these as facts. But one private equity myth is harder to dispel, that of the PE sector’s resilience. Unlike other asset classes, the legend goes, private equity can weather the vagaries of the economic cycle. Myth III: […]
If you choose the online route, here’s how: Open your new account online at least two weeks before you switch accounts. Most institutions offer clear instructions for how to do this on their website. Have your identification documentation ready to go. Some banks will allow you to take and upload photos of your ID as […]
Where do financial advisers add value for investors? Relationships — including trust and personal connection — account for 72% of financial advisers’ perceived value, according a recent Vanguard investor survey. The remaining 28% investors attribute to the actual services advisers provide, such as creating financial plans and maximizing investment returns. This research emphasizes what many […]
