Around the Blogosphere

The SPIVA Canada Scorecard looks at the performance of actively managed Canadian mutual funds versus that of their benchmarks. The results over the long-term show that the majority of active managers underperform their benchmarks. And it’s not even close. Here are the biggest losers: Canadian Dividend & Income Equity Funds – Only 6.67% of the active Canadian…

The Canadian Securities Administration wants to reform the mutual fund fee structure in Canada and earlier this year awarded two studies to review whether commission-based compensation changes the nature of advice and influences mutual fund sales. The first report was prepared by the Brondesbury Group made it clear that commission-based advice creates problems that need to be…

This week Tangerine unveiled details of its long-awaited first credit card; the Tangerine Money-back card. Expected to launch in early 2016, this no-fee MasterCard will offer 2 percent cash back in two spending categories of your choice, and the option to have your cash-back deposited into a Tangerine Savings Account to unlock an additional 2 percent category.…

Earlier this week, Million Dollar Journey blogger Frugal Trader wrote a letter to his wife explaining how their finances work in case he passes away and she needs to succeed him as the household CFO. It’s an interesting topic, and one that former Boomer & Echo correspondent Sandi Martin covered here last year. Although his wife has little-to-no…

Michael Lewis is one of my favourite financial authors. He has a unique blend of on-the-ground experience (he was a bond trader on Wall Street before resigning to write Liar’s Poker), plus the talent and ability to turn a complex story into a compelling narrative. His best work, in my opinion, was The Big Short, which…

Earlier this week Marie reviewed a new book by Mark Goodfield called, Let’s Get Blunt About Your Financial Affairs. We received an overwhelming number of responses to the book review and giveaway. In total, we had 121 entries vying for the chance to win one of three copies of the book. We used a random number…

It’s my favourite time of year – the start of a new football season. Outside of being crazy busy at work and juggling numerous side projects in the evening and on weekends, I’ll still find time to watch football on Sundays (and, much to my wife’s chagrin, also on Mondays and Thursdays). It’s tough being a…

Ever since the NDP gained power in Alberta, my Facebook newsfeed has been filled with strong opinions from my right-leaning friends about the provincial government’s “disastrous” decision to increase minimum wage to $15/hour. Now, with the federal election looming, raising the minimum wage has become part of the national conversation. One post showed a picture of McDonald’s…

Last week’s theme was market madness, with headlines filled with dire predictions of the end of our lengthy bull market. I received many emails from readers and clients who were wondering what to do. Is this the start of a major decline? Is it a buying opportunity? My answer: I have no idea. If you’re comfortable with…

It was a bad week for the stock markets, highlighted by Friday’s 500+ point Dow Jones meltdown. Meanwhile, the price of a barrel of oil dipped below $40, leading to this cheery headline and photo in Business Insider yesterday: DOW SINKS INTO CORRECTION, OIL CRASHES BELOW $40: Here’s what you need to know: Rob Carrick also commented…