Search found 58 matches

by tvenner
22 Dec 2013 11:10
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: cibc mutual funds
Replies: 15
Views: 2889

Re: cibc mutual funds

As a financial planner myself I can only tell you that I have been cautioning my clients for the past two years about the possibility capital losses in traditional bond funds. During this time I have been diversifying into corporate bond funds (1-5 year corporate bond ladders), high yield, floating rate and bond funds which employ hedging strategies to protect against changes in the yield curve. Not sure why the bank advisor wouldn't be aware of these risks as well unless he doesn't read any financial industry news articles because they have been talking about this for some time now. He may have sold you on something that is within your risk tolerance, but did a piss poor job of describing the current risks inherent in a traditional bond po...
by tvenner
24 Aug 2012 17:56
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Need help with parent's portfolio
Replies: 61
Views: 6999

Re: Need help with parent's portfolio

I agree that your parents should have much more fixed income. Not all bond funds are created equal. If you have a fund that has a long duration and a large percentage in low yielding gov't debt it will drop significantly if interest rates rise, more so than one with higher yielding corporate/high yield bonds. Furthermore, some bond fund hedge interest rate risk to some extent (eg. Dynamic Advantage Bond) . Interest rate risk can also be muted somewhat by using something like the ishares corporate and/or gov't 1-5 year ladder ETF or Fund (through Invesco Trimark). Regarding fees, Some advisors (myself included) will negotiate advisor fees if account size allows as many fundcos offer flexible advisor compensation (for example for $500k of ass...
by tvenner
24 Aug 2012 17:31
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Fee only Financial Advisors
Replies: 70
Views: 18034

Was: Fee only Financial Advisors

I work through an MFDA licensed firm and for the last 2 years have been offering Fee Only Financial Planning. The biggest problem has been compliance issues from the MFDA.
by tvenner
11 Jun 2012 21:46
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Should Canada help bail out Europe?
Replies: 15
Views: 1552

Re: Should Canada help bail out Europe?

Did anybody in Europe offer to help us out of our debt mess in the early 90s, no, we had to balance our budget and make cuts. Let them do the same.
by tvenner
24 Nov 2011 15:20
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: The Perfect Portfolio
Replies: 76
Views: 4356

Re: The Perfect Portfolio

One more person looking for a freebie!
by tvenner
22 Jun 2011 19:52
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: "Fired" Financial Planner....Need Passive Portfolio Advice!!
Replies: 42
Views: 3308

Re: "Fired" Financial Planner....Need Passive Portfolio Advi

If all your former advisor did for you was sell mutual funds, he was not a "Financial Planner", at best he should be labelled as an "Investment Advisor". Was he accredited (CFP etc)? I am a CFP and offer Fee Based and Fee Only Financial planning
self promotion link removed
Mod W
by tvenner
24 Jan 2011 20:42
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Fee only Financial Advisors
Replies: 70
Views: 18034

Re: Fee only Financial Advisors

For what it's worth, I am a CFP and fee based planner in the Halton, Hamilton, Niagra region. Please look up feebasedfinancialplanning.info. Your comments and suggestions for improving my website and service offerings are appreciated. It's a tough road moving to this platform from the commission based approach but I'm giving it a try as I see the value it offers to my clients.
by tvenner
13 Aug 2010 22:37
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Advice on Life Insurance
Replies: 7
Views: 877

Re: Advice on Life Insurance

I'm a Financial Planner and have never sold a whole life or UL policy. The compensation is good but I rarely see a client that really needs this type of policy. I use T30 for mortgages, T100 for some sort of permanent coverage. I usually recommend some critical illness or disability if self employed. I would be tempted to drop the whole life but it's up to you.
by tvenner
11 Jul 2009 12:13
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: New Globeinvestor.com ...not impressed and my rant
Replies: 8
Views: 1358

New version is horrible, I'm sure they are getting an earful, hope they pay attention.
by tvenner
11 Jul 2009 12:04
Forum: Property: Owning, Renting, Managing, Investing and Mortgaging
Topic: Mortgage Investment Corporations (MICs)
Replies: 42
Views: 10906

I ended up putting some money in Carevest here in Ontario. Yields have stayed a little above 9%, at least as of the last monthly statement.
by tvenner
03 Jul 2009 16:37
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: How much should one pay for hourly financial advice?
Replies: 30
Views: 1888

Beenaround, I have to agree with you. Anybody can pass the tests to be MFDA licensed. The CFP is tougher, requires many courses, requiring significant cash outlay, and actual experience. The pass rate the last sitting was just shy of 40%! The insurance exam is fairly difficult but pretty thin on investment knowledge. So I would agree that anyone looking for a Financial Planner should choose someone with a CFP as a minimum requirement.
by tvenner
03 Jul 2009 14:44
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: How much should one pay for hourly financial advice?
Replies: 30
Views: 1888

Deadog, in order to determine the risk tolerance I usually describe a number of different market scenarios and how they affect a portfolios performance. In the past (pre-Oct 2008), I would use the example of a 60/40 balanced fund that drops 20% in one year, say $100k to start and drops to $80k (now I use 25%). I explain that increasing the equity potion can result in greater returns but also the potential for short-term drops even higher that those seen in a 60/40 split. I ask the client how this would affect them, make them feel. Would they want to sell or are they comfortable to stick to long term goals? On the other hand I have a conversation about inflation and the amount they want to accumulate for retirement. The conversation is obvio...
by tvenner
03 Jul 2009 14:28
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: How much should one pay for hourly financial advice?
Replies: 30
Views: 1888

tedster, in answer to your question, yes I would, particularly in context of a retirement planning situation. All investment planning that involves non-registered funds will have to take tax issues into consideration. An example would be if the client has a fairly high level of Canadian Dividend income, the gross-up can push them to go into a tax bracket that results in a OAS clawback. If it appears the client will be forced to take a RRIF income that will lead to clawbacks, astute planners will initiate an RRSP meltdown in advance to decrease the severity of these issues.
by tvenner
03 Jul 2009 13:00
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: How much should one pay for hourly financial advice?
Replies: 30
Views: 1888

As a CFP I can tell you this. I offer "fee for service" financial planning. This can be comprehensive ( investments, insurance, estate and tax planning) or specific (eg. investment only). The cost would be based on the time required to prepare the plan ($150/hr). In the case of an investment only plan I would look at the current portfolio, then based on the clients stated goals and risk tolerance provide a number of portfolio options. One might use ETF's, one with Index funds, one with mutual funds. Combined with these I may include GIC ladders, annuities or GMWB type funds depending on the clients requirements. Since I have an MFDA and Life License I will give them the option of taking the plan and implementing it themselves (thr...
by tvenner
08 Dec 2008 21:21
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Investor says fund managers have duty to sell if wreck comin
Replies: 11
Views: 3463

Some managers do go to a higher cash component in anticipation of risk. You have to know the fund mandate and manager. One example is Coleman and the CI Harbour fund. I'm sure others exist but they are hard to find.
by tvenner
08 Dec 2008 20:41
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Stimulus, ee-ha!
Replies: 53
Views: 7001

Is it time to short the US dollar yet? It can't stay this high with all that printing going on.
by tvenner
01 Dec 2008 13:49
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Yielder? Are you still sitting it out?
Replies: 112
Views: 11259

The Tories are still insisting the GST cut was the way to go. I don't know why the Liberals didn't really go after the Tories bases on their fiscal incompetence and instead tried to sell us on the poorly thought out "Green Shift". It is really depressing to see so much incompetence at every level of gov't (and the corporate level too!). We need more Prem Watsas, Peter Schiffs, Warren Buffets and Ed Clarks (and Yeilder). Maybe next time the people in charge will listen when these types of people warn of impending disasters, but I doubt it. I know I will never believe economists again after hearing 99% of them tell me the US subprime would cause "minor" problems in the US and the rest of the world hum along just fine.
by tvenner
13 Nov 2008 14:24
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Words of Wisdom from a Wall Street Insider (Steve Eisman)
Replies: 27
Views: 1891

He has certainly been vindicated. Wonder where all these idiots who laughed at him are now, looking for new jobs I hope.
by tvenner
20 Aug 2008 17:48
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: GIC Questions
Replies: 346
Views: 60314

Depends on the individual institutions, most will be offering a similar rate at any given time but some will offer a higher rate for a short time if they need an influx of cash. I am not aware of a seasonal difference.
by tvenner
31 Jul 2008 09:44
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: MCan Mortgage (Symbol-MKP)
Replies: 24
Views: 2126

I own a small amount of MKP in my registered portfolio, showing a small cap loss right now but it's a long term hold.
by tvenner
30 Jul 2008 19:30
Forum: Property: Owning, Renting, Managing, Investing and Mortgaging
Topic: Mortgage Investment Corporations (MICs)
Replies: 42
Views: 10906

Thanks, did not realize old threads were kept so long!
by tvenner
30 Jul 2008 16:44
Forum: Property: Owning, Renting, Managing, Investing and Mortgaging
Topic: Mortgage Investment Corporations (MICs)
Replies: 42
Views: 10906

Mortgage Investment Corporations

Had a client ask me about MIC's (Fisgard, Carevest etc). I did some digging into these a few years back before "Mortgage" became such a scary word. These private companies sell high interest short-term 1st and 2nd mortgages and pay investors yields in the 8-10% range. While all the numbers look good for these corporations over the past decade, one has to wonder if the current difficulties in the credit markets might pose a problem as far as their yield going forward. Any thoughts from the learned readers and posters here would be welcomed!
by tvenner
17 Jun 2008 21:11
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: DYNAMIC FUNDS
Replies: 35
Views: 5609

Compare to other US equity funds

If you do a search on globefund of all US equity mutual funds you will see for yourself how well this fund has done vrs it's peers. They made a smart move and hedged the currency when the Can $ was 0.72.
by tvenner
05 Jun 2008 15:56
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: Convertible Debentures
Replies: 64
Views: 8785

That was the plan, just wondered if anyone had an opinion on this issue. Thanks for your input!
by tvenner
05 Jun 2008 13:27
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: Advantaged Preferred Share Trust (PFR.UN)
Replies: 6
Views: 2288

New issue, Advantaged Preferred Share Trust. Any thoughts?

Advantaged Preferred Share Trust is designed to give holders of Units exposure, on a passive basis and at a low management expense ratio, to the performance of an equally-weighted, diversified notional portfolio of 50 preferred shares of Canadian issuers. The Trust has indirect exposure to the performance of the Notional Preferred Portfolio through the Forward Agreement (as defined in the prospectus). The Notional Preferred Portfolio consists of 50 different classes or series of preferred shares with an average DBRS rating of Pfd-2 (high), currently issued by 24 different issuers. As a result of employing an equal weight approach, each qualifying security constitutes approximately 2.00% of the Notional Preferred Portfolio. Since the Notiona...