The 2010s were capped off by a strong 2019 in which the majority of asset classes globally enjoyed significant gains.In Canada, the FTSE Canada Universe Bond Index rose 6.9 percent last year, the third-best year of the decade and one which handily beat the 4.3 percent 10-year annualized rate of return. Strong bond...

Joint assets are a topic shrouded in misinformation. It has been over a decade since the laws governing their use underwent a seismic shift, yet they continue to be used casually with little appreciation for the risks. Notably, since this shift flowed from the Supreme Court of Canada, all provinces and territories are...

If the idea of negative interest rates confuses you, you’re not alone. The concept seems to undermine our understanding of how lending is supposed to work: investors loan their money to governments or companies that then use it to invest in their operations. The relationship relies on the promise that you will be...

Humans are imperfect beings. We can educate ourselves, gain experience, and even learn from our mistakes but still, our minds can and will play tricks on us. As investors, this is a minefield. With the list of psychological biases a mile long, every time we make a decision we risk stepping on one...

In “Managing Capacity,” we discussed planning strategies in the case of diminished mental capacity through dementia. This quarter, we explore the broader issue of estate planning should your kids, your spouse, or your parents suffer from a mental health disorder. The quality of life for your surviving family is at stake should their...

By March 9, 2009, the subprime mortgage crisis had knocked nearly 57% off the S&P 500 Index’s highs of 17 months prior. These were dark days. Although it has now been over ten years since markets bottomed, the scars remain and still impact investor behaviour. With markets again near all-time highs, many are...

By March 9, 2009, the subprime mortgage crisis had knocked nearly 57% off the S&P 500 Index’s highs of 17 months prior. These were dark days. Although it has now been over ten years since markets bottomed, the scars remain and still impact investor behavior. With markets again near all-time highs, many are...

In 2016, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) changed its administrative policy relating to the reporting of the principal residence exemption. This has made reporting the disposition or “deemed disposition” of a principal residence more important in recent years.The concept of a deemed disposition is one we have found is not well understood by...

The past eight months have provided investors with an important reminder of what volatility in capital markets actually looks like. For nascent investors – even those with upwards of 10 years of experience in the gently rising equity markets – all the stories of the Creat Recession and the lnternet Bubble, Long-Term Capital...

Core Plus strategies promise the best of all worlds: a core fixed-income strategy, with a suite of sophisticated strategies layered on top to augment the return profile while managing risk. However, our analysis suggests that most of the additional returns that Core Plus strategies provide is not generated by the sexy bells and...

Throughout the world there is a proverbial saying that “Wealth never survives three generations.” In Canada and America we say “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.” In Lancashire it’s “there’s nobbut three generations atween a clog and clog” and Italians say, “dalle stalle alle stelle alle stalle” (“from stalls to stars to stalls”)...

While meeting with some Ontario-based clients in January, l got caught in the “polar vortex,” which resulted in a cancelled flight, a treacherous drive to Toronto, and a long wait at the airport – and left me with plenty of time to reflect on weather patterns, and capital markets.Many are surprised to learn...