Investments

Rational exuberance: The bubble that wasn’t

(May 2006) Here’s a fact: the late 1990s were a time of irrational exuberance (said Alan Greenspan, no less), with more froth than Lake Ontario in a hurricane. When the floor dropped on the markets many investors were mauled and markets are just now recovering from these historic lows. But this flies in the face […]

By Pierre Saint-Laurent |May 26, 2006

4 min read

Seeking the optimal mix

(May 2006) Even though the foreign property rule has been gone for more than a year, many advisors are still reluctant to overhaul their clients’ registered account and boost foreign holdings. You might want to look to institutional investors for guidance. Bruce Curwood is director of research and strategy for institutional solutions at Russell Investments […]

By Steven Lamb |May 19, 2006

3 min read

Provincial debt unique in global market

(May 2006) While there is little tolerance for deficit spending among Canadian taxpayers, the fact that our provinces are able to do this in the first place has, ironically, saved taxpayers billions in lower interest charges. “Canadian provinces have more autonomy than almost any other sub-national governments anywhere else in the world,” said David Rubinoff, […]

By Steven Lamb |May 12, 2006

4 min read

Real returns

(May 2006) Traditional asset allocation typically divides a client’s portfolio between stocks, bonds and cash, with some fine-tuning around allocations of global versus Canadian, small cap versus large cap, and growth versus value stocks. Most advisors design their recommended portfolios around this approach for both funds and securities. What we tend to overlook is the […]

By John Nicola |May 5, 2006

8 min read