Investments

Since You Asked: Defining alternatives

(June 2007) Advisor.ca is pleased to introduce a new monthly investment column by Pierre Saint-Laurent. “Since You Asked” will answer advisor frequently-asked questions concerning investments. Many advisors get confused by what alternative investments entail. Typically, one associates alternative investments, or alts for short, with hedge funds. However, there is much more to alts than just […]

By Pierre Saint-Laurent |June 18, 2007

4 min read

Market Insights

Investors eye uranium opportunity

(June 2007) Uranium prices have been rapidly rising as fears about nuclear fallout are replaced by ones about climate change. The markets have responded by offering a host of investment products that let retail investors get a piece of the action, including recently introduced futures trading on the NYMEX. Even advocates of uranium stress that, […]

By Mark Noble |June 11, 2007

4 min read

Market Insights

Why investing like a tourist might pay off

(June 2007) The Canadian dollar has been in the news a lot recently, and for good reason — it reached its highest value against the U.S. dollar in 30 years. Every day, we are inundated with media coverage on what the experts are saying. The variety and number of forecasts make the confusion worse than […]

By Peter Drake |June 6, 2007

3 min read

Market Insights

Bond investors prepare for bear market

(June 2007) The renewed threat of inflation in Canada poses a hazard for traditional bond portfolios, while the rise of huge investment funds in emerging economic superpowers is about to unleash a flood of liquidity into the global fixed income market, analysts predict. Dr. Sherry Cooper, executive vice-president and chief economic strategist at BMO Financial, […]

By Mark Noble |June 1, 2007

4 min read

Manor says Portus money

(May 2007) Boaz Manor denied he was the owner of Portus Alternative Asset Management, despite sworn documents filed with the Ontario Securities Commission Management, says a special report filed by receiver KPMG. However, KPMG does not believe Manor is credible. “Now I know that a lot of things that I’m saying are fantastic in nature. […]

By Scot Blythe |May 18, 2007

4 min read

The economics of retirement

Currencies: Why currencies fluctuate, taking account of currency fluctuations when investing and some perspectives on major currency changes that are likely to affect your clients. Housing: What we might expect in terms of housing construction in the years ahead, some longer-term perspectives on Canada’s housing price trends and the role of housing as a potential […]

4 min read

Risk is not a number

(May 2007) Although using models of expected returns to guide portfolio construction is the starting point for any investor forgoing the certainty of a T-bill return, “the equations cannot always describe the true nature of competition and combat” in the securities marketplace, warns doyen of investment management studies Peter Bernstein. Nevertheless, “theory matters even though […]

5 min read

New trends in hedge funds

(April 2007) Alternative investments signify a fast-moving, opportunity-driven world. Now there’s alternative beta. Yes, alternative beta, as in the Capital Asset Pricing Model alpha and beta. You may remember the concepts of alpha and beta from studying CAPM in school. That’s when you were told that returns come from two sources (roughly speaking): Beta, or […]

4 min read

Hedge funds revise valuation policies

(April 2007) New mutual fund registration procedures will have an impact on hedge funds in Canada, says one expert. At the same time, an international industry body is promoting new valuation rules to deal with a rising phenomenon: illiquid investments. The Canadian chapter of the Alternative Investment Management Association organized a workshop this week for […]

By Scot Blythe |March 30, 2007

2 min read