November 15, 2022
| Planning Matters
| 7 min read
Getting a Head Start on Your 2022 Personal Tax Roundup
It’s time again to consider tax planning opportunities for 2022. There are of course, the annual reminders but there are also some exciting new and “coming soon” tax changes that everyone should be aware of. Both are detailed below. The Annual Reminders RRSP contributionsThe deadline for RRSP contributions for 2022 is March 1...
August 16, 2022
| Quiet Counsel
| 11 min read
Investing in Canada: Are We Just Banks and Rocks?
In the mid-1990s, the federal government removed foreign content limits for Canadian pension plans and later made similar changes for individual RRSPs that altered the way Canadians invested. The result has been a continuing trend of investors reducing the Canadian equity weight in their portfolios, in favour of global equities.One reason that’s sometimes...
August 15, 2022
| Planning Matters
| 7 min read
Conversations for Generational Wealth Transfer
For the last decade, experts have been talking about the “Great Wealth Transfer” – that trillions of dollars will be changing hands, from Baby Boomers down to their children, and maybe directly to grandchildren. While the transfer has started, it has been more of a trickle than a flood so far as advances...
May 16, 2022
| Quiet Counsel
| 9 min read
Pros and Cons of Private Asset Investing
Private assets, also known as real assets or alternatives, have grown in popularity over the past 20 years, with assets under management ballooning from $2 trillion in 2010 to over $6 trillion globally today1 and Canadian pension plans expanding their weight in private assetsfrom 6% in 2000 to over 30%.Given all the activity...
May 15, 2022
| Planning Matters
| 7 min read
April 15, 2022
| Institutional Perspectives
| 11 min read
Investing in Canada: Are We Just Banks and Rocks?
In the mid-1990s, the federal government removed foreign content limits for Canadian pension plans and later made similar changes for individual RRSPs that altered the way Canadians invested. The result has been a continuing trend of investors reducing the Canadian equity weight in their portfolios, in favour of global equities.Qualitatively, the argument for...
February 16, 2022
| Quiet Counsel
| 12 min read
Zig When They Zag: Four Consensus Views to Reject in 2022
Consensus thinking can often be wrong, but after prolonged periods of great disruption, it can be tempting to adopt: “Stocks are up a lot so they must be expensive. Inflation is a clear and present danger. Global is always best. You should dump all your bonds.”As active investors we rely on periods of...
February 15, 2022
| Planning Matters
| 5 min read
Insurance Considerations for 2022
In this edition of Planning Matters, we are delighted to have guest contributors Debbie Amaral and Jackie Cope discuss two ways to help build your long-term wealth – by harnessing insurance to protect against asset losses along the way. Cyber Insurance Picture this: you pull into your driveway, disconnect your phone from ApplePlay...
November 16, 2021
| Quiet Counsel
| 6 min read
In Search of Economic Moats
In today’s volatile markets, it is more important than ever to do your homework and stick to your investment discipline to improve the odds the companies you own are not only able to survive, but also prosper through a variety of economic conditions.Before investing in a stock, our analysts conduct comprehensive independent research...
November 16, 2021
| Quiet Counsel
| 9 min read
“Transitory” Inflation and Looking Beyond the Headlines
Inflation has been everywhere in the headlines lately, prompting many conversations with clients about the causes of these cost-of-living increases, how permanent they might be, and what impact they might have on investment portfolios. We’ll take each of these questions in turn, but start with a look under the hood. What’s Causing the...
November 15, 2021
| Planning Matters
| 6 min read
Things to Consider When Deciding When to Take CPP and OAS
You’ve worked long and hard in Canada for years, quite possibly several decades, and now the finish line is in sight. Retirement. That Holy Grail.Just one minor thing: How are you going to pay for it? You may have a company-sponsored pension to support your income needs during retirement, or you may have...
November 14, 2021
| Institutional Perspectives
| 8 min read
Probing Passive, Part II: How to Win in Active Management
In Part I of this series, we reviewed the rise of passive investing and flagged some unintended consequences that have resulted. In Part II, we review recent financial literature which queries the robustness of the 20th century research which became ‘conventional wisdom’ about active vs passive management and importantly, to what extent it...