The Wealth Steward

Star manager start-ups – due diligence considerations

Dan Hallett, CFA, CFP — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:26:32 +0000

Some retail mutual fund companies are traditional money management firms that have a single guiding investment philosophy driving the management of all client portfolios – and the in-house firm is the only manager of the funds on offer. Others have no in-house money management firm. Instead, they seek out external portfolio ...

Read More

Stewarding The Family Foundation

Mark Barnicutt, MBA, FCSI, CFA — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 21:39:34 +0000

By Mark Barnicutt, MBA, FCSI, CFA

According to various estimates, there are currently approximately 28,000 households in Canada with investable assets in excess of $10 Million. Although these households represent a very small portion of the total households in Canada (<1%), we believe that it’s a fast growing family wealth segment that is being driven by ...

Read More

High Impact Philanthropy You Can Experience

Mark Barnicutt, MBA, FCSI, CFA — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 03:37:32 +0000

By Mark Barnicutt, MBA, FCSI, CFA

OVERVIEW:

Philanthropy – or the giving of one’s time and/or money to the betterment of human welfare and advancement – is a thriving and growing element of Canadian society. Given our experiences in the Canadian wealth management industry, we find this to be especially true for affluent families, many ...

Read More

One-Trick Product Ponies

Mark Barnicutt, MBA, FCSI, CFA — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 03:00:02 +0000

By Mark Barnicutt, MBA, FCSI, CFA

THE EVOLUTION OF WEALTH MANAGEMENT CHOICE:

Over the past twenty-five years, the proliferation of wealth management product has been unprecedented especially across both the investment management and life insurance segments.

The benefit for the end wealth management client is that they truly have a full range of choice from which ...

Read More

The unintended lifetime commitment

Dan Hallett, CFA, CFP — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:35:27 +0000

By Dan Hallett, CFA, CFP

When entering a marriage, it’s a bad sign if you start planning your exit before vows are ever exchanged. While many of life’s lessons extend to the world of investing, the exit strategy is a notable exception. Unlike in marriage, investors should spend more time contemplating their exit strategy to ...

Read More

What The Term ‘Pension De-Risking’ Really Means

Mark Barnicutt, MBA, FCSI, CFA — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 02:30:53 +0000

By Mark Barnicutt, MBA, FCSI, CFA

KNOW YOUR CLIENT:

One of the basic tenets of individuals & firms who are registered with Canadian securities firms, such as broker-dealers and portfolio managers, is what is referred to as “Know Your Client“.

KYC, as it’s commonly known, requires securities registrants to ensure that investment recommendations are ‘suitable’ for each client given ...

Read More

Return Of The Pension Investment Fiduciary

Mark Barnicutt, MBA, FCSI, CFA — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:16:57 +0000

By Mark Barnicutt, MBA, FCSI, CFA

THE CHALLENGES:

With the globalization of capital markets over the last few decades, there has been a marked increase in the range and complexity of investment opportunities available to investors. In fact, the ...

Read More

The Goldman Sachs Letter – Also A Canadian Issue

Mark Barnicutt, MBA, FCSI, CFA — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:15:05 +0000

By Mark Barnicutt, MBA, FCSI, CFA

Yesterday, Greg Smith published his infamous Op-Ed article in the New York Times titled, “Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs“. In this article, Smith effectively states that Goldman Sachs has ‘lost it’s moral compass’ and puts its business’ interests ahead of its clients’ interests. Although Smith’s article has garnered an ...

Read More

Four things to keep in mind in this low-rate environment

Dan Hallett, CFA, CFP — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:17:51 +0000

By Dan Hallett, CFA, CFP

For those seeking a safe and dependable income source, today’s painfully low interest rates pose a real challenge. Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney regularly reminds us that persistent low rates can be dangerous because they incent excessive borrowing. But low rates also pose some risk to the asset side of ...

Read More

The Flaws In Canada’s Financial Adviser System

Mark Barnicutt, MBA, FCSI, CFA — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:40:46 +0000

By Mark Barnicutt, MBA, FCSI, CFA

OVERVIEW:

Recently, in the Report on Business of the Globe & Mail, there was an article titled, The Flaws In Canada’s Financial Adviser System.

This article stated that:

“In the investing industry, the line between what’s best for the client and what’s good ...

Read More