China’s Global Impact
The August correction in the Chinese stock market led to a lot of “how terrible” news coverage and speculation as to whether or not this signaled the end of the China growth story and how it would impact the US and global economies. Calmer voices were more resolute in the midst of the chaos, […]
Anatomy of a Market Correction
The origin of the recent stock market correction started earlier in the spring of this year. During the month of April, the Canadian, U.S. and many other global stock markets achieved new record highs. Instead of celebrating such a numerical milestone, many media commentators started wringing their hands in worry and expressing their fears […]
World Reserve Currency Regime
Canadians, like many nationalities, have a home bias when it comes to investing. The majority, if not all of their investments, such as RRSPs, real estate, mutual funds, segregated funds and businesses, are in Canada and are tied to its future economic growth. These Canadian investments could see reduced returns in the future, however, […]
Evolution of an Investor
Sometimes during social events or other gatherings a person will approach someone in the financial services business with an opening question: “I hear you do investments. What kind of returns can I expect?”. The type of questions asked by individuals are usually a good indication of their investing experience. Newer (younger) investors are often […]
Living Longer & Retiring Faster
Over the last one hundred years, every new generation of Canadians has enjoyed the benefit of a longer life expectancy. With dramatic improvements in health care, the human life span has never been longer. Additionally, some have set their sights on early retirement. The combination of living longer and retiring earlier creates a serious cash […]
QE Continues
Quantitative Easing, otherwise referred to in the media as ‘QE’, refers to governments printing money out of thin air in order to stimulate economic growth. The US ended their program of QE in late 2014. The impression this left with many people was that the need for economic stimulus ended. This also goes hand […]
Predicting the Future
Human nature includes the desire to predict and or anticipate both the immediate and longer term future. The reason for doing so is often to eliminate or reduce the fear or anxiety about the unknown. Human beings detest uncertainty and will do almost anything to reduce this uncertainty. In ancient times people made special […]
Investor Emotions & Media Influence
During a recent client call, the topics discussed included how the media influence people’s investment behaviors. This client woke up one day with an ‘epiphany’ thinking that a market correction was just around the corner. They did admit after a discussion that they had been reading something to that effect in the newspapers during the […]
Improving Investment Returns
One Saturday, famed investment manager Peter Lynch was working at the office when he decided to answer the phone. The caller was a holder of his mutual fund who was calling to cash in the investment. Peter explained how he was excited about the growth prospects for the economy and his fund and asked him […]
Building Wealth
There are many definitions and meanings for the term ‘wealth’. It is often said that it is easier to build wealth over time than it is to keep it! Some confuse high incomes with wealth while others point to assets owned as an indicator of wealth. And, many people use the terms ‘assets’ and ‘wealth’ […]