Search found 2153 matches

by DanH
17 May 2023 15:50
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: ETF for “Rothery Stable Dividend Portfolio”?
Replies: 27
Views: 3453

Re: ETF for “Rothery Stable Dividend Portfolio”?

There once was a great database that was exportable in the public domain but that is long gone. Same for what BMO used to produce for all ETFs. FundLibrary is good. NEO Exchange also has an ETF database online with some filters. They're not the most helpful IMO but it's another alternative depending on what you're looking for. Just ignore the active/passive labels because the industry's labeling is nonsensical.
by DanH
10 Apr 2023 22:55
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: Mandated Mutual Fund switch orders
Replies: 2
Views: 257

Re: Mandated Mutual Fund switch orders

Correct - not a taxable event when moving between series of the same fund (same legal entity). That holds for funds structured as trusts and those that are mutual fund corporations. There was an old CRA Advanced Tax Ruling. I have a copy somewhere. But this is known as a "reclassification of mutual fund shares/units".
by DanH
24 Mar 2023 10:45
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: Gluskin Sheff (Symbol-GS) - Hit by Income Trust Wave
Replies: 37
Views: 5179

Re: Gluskin Sheff (Symbol-GS) - Hit by Income Trust Wave

The latest example proving that just because a firm has been acquired by a big institution, that doesn't mean you can't be sold again. In this case, not 'sold' but wound down - Onex and RBC Wealth Management Canada Announce Agreement to Move Gluskin Sheff Advisor Teams to RBC . Disclaimer: G+S and RBC's HNW/UHNW business are competitors of ours. I will keep my comments limited but important to highlight this. [/b] Based on the OPM blog, it sounds like key rainmakers were unhappy and either left or threatened to do so. While this doesn't appear to be a sale of any kind of sale transaction, the benefit to Onex is to make an arrangement for RBC to effectively 'acquire' new staff and clients for no purchase price - but get preferred distributio...
by DanH
23 Mar 2023 22:49
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: ETF for “Rothery Stable Dividend Portfolio”?
Replies: 27
Views: 3453

Re: ETF for “Rothery Stable Dividend Portfolio”?

The Canadian one we happen to own is ZLB, which is a Canadian-focused ETF run by BMO. Its low-volatility strategy avoids oil & gas (too cyclical), and tries to achieve a relatively diversified approach that is also not too top-heavy on financials. FWIW, I have liked ZLB since it was launched. Most other Low-Vol strategies use purely standard deviation as their volatility measure. Others use somewhat more complex strategies. ZLB actually uses Beta - which is the product of a stock's correlation and relative volatility (both vis-a-vis a market index). Relatively smaller cap stocks will tend to have lower weights in a market cap index. Low weighted stocks generally have lower correlation coefficients, thereby giving ZLB a tilt toward rela...
by DanH
21 Mar 2023 13:30
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)
Replies: 1056
Views: 87817

Re: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)

FYI...

Horizons had been the only cash ETF provider that did not disclose where it placed deposits - not even in its audited financials. That has now changed for all of its cash ETFs - see, for example, CASH's holdings.

They also have the only such products housed in a mutual fund corporation. The CAD product (HSAV) has been capped (i.e., no new creations) for a little while and trades at a meaningful premium to NAV. But HSUV.U (USD product) is smaller and just fell under its capping threshold. Even when it was capped (most of this YTD), its market price was only a few cents above NAV.
by DanH
13 Mar 2023 09:57
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)
Replies: 1056
Views: 87817

Re: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)

Unwise wrote: 10 Mar 2023 18:20
DanH wrote: 10 Mar 2023 18:04 If you have a U.S. filing obligation, have a look at SHV from iShares.

Duration of ~0.3 years and YTM of ~4.7%
Great tip! Just to confirm, is this fully U.S. domiciled and not treated as a PFIC? I'm guessing so, as it is Nasdaq traded. But I couldn't find domicile info oddly to confirm.
It is a US-domiciled fund. It's a good point that its domicile is not highlighted in an easy-to-find spot. But the places to look are the prospectus, the annual report, or the statement of additional information (SAI). In this case, it is the SAI that confirms the legal domicile of this and all other iShares listed in that document. See page 12 of this iShares SAI. It's labeled page 1 but it is the 12th page of the pdf document.
by DanH
10 Mar 2023 18:04
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)
Replies: 1056
Views: 87817

Re: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)

If you have a U.S. filing obligation, have a look at SHV from iShares.

Duration of ~0.3 years and YTM of ~4.7%
by DanH
09 Mar 2023 18:33
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)
Replies: 1056
Views: 87817

Re: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)

Oops...you are correct. Got my thanks reversed...all because I was in a hurry and did not want to do a bunch of quotes on what I knew would be a short reply :wink:
by DanH
09 Mar 2023 18:17
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)
Replies: 1056
Views: 87817

Re: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)

Thanks Altared. Figured that was the case but figured it was worth checking.

Unwise - good to know that there is better pricing at BMO. FWIW, you can use the IIROC homepage as a quick reference if looking up BA quotes on your DI platform. The posted rates will always be higher than you'll get at purchase but a reasonable bogie.

Thanks Brian. That is likely the best solution at iTrade for the combination of rate competitiveness and convenience and ease of execution.
by DanH
09 Mar 2023 17:48
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)
Replies: 1056
Views: 87817

Re: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)

I have suggested a few times (here, most recently) that direct investing clients should look at bankers acceptances in lieu of cash ETFs and other alternatives. I had a contact check their TDDI account today and found that they have BAs....BUT...pricing is terrible (yields ~4.2% compared to closer to ~4.7% right now on institutional bond desks) and they only list their own BAs - none from other issuing banks. If the other DI platforms are similar, this won't be a great option.
by DanH
09 Mar 2023 17:16
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)
Replies: 1056
Views: 87817

Re: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)

AltaRed wrote: 09 Mar 2023 16:39 Both RBC Direct Investing and Scotia iTrade present trailing commissions in the annual performance and fee reports for Series A ISAs. I switched to F series at iTrade last Summer?Fall? to get to "zero" but there is no such cigar at RBC Direct Investing.
Good to know as I have a relative set up at iTrade.
by DanH
09 Mar 2023 17:14
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)
Replies: 1056
Views: 87817

Re: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)

Unwise wrote: 09 Mar 2023 16:31Thank you, Dan! I have put in my query as a new customer there as well after your request. Hopefully some action or a public correction is in order!
Excellent. I noticed that TD has a couple of versions of their HISA based on the codes found on this page. TDB8150/8151 I assume are offered by the entity behind their core banking (TD Canada Trust Co or the parent TD Bank).

But scroll down the list and you'll see HISAs with identical rates offered by TDMC (TD Mortgage Corp), TDPMC(?), and CTC (Canada Trustco Mortgage Co?) - similar to what they do with GICs (many of them were/are issued by the mortgage corp subsidiary). They all have F series versions so maybe try one of those. Probably won't work but worth a shot.
by DanH
09 Mar 2023 15:14
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)
Replies: 1056
Views: 87817

Re: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)

Bylo Selhi wrote: 09 Mar 2023 13:31 That deserves a separate investigation. Why is TD et al allowed to bar self-directed investors from buying certain share classes that pay a higher return?
Particularly now that F series funds are the norm (only ~18 years after the first attempt). The answer, likely, is that the ISA products are not investment funds or securities. They're deposit products that trade like a fund. So OSC and its domestic counterparts have no jurisdiction over that. And if there is no explicit "trailer" that is paid on the retail version, no compensation will show up on those annual reports either.
by DanH
09 Mar 2023 15:11
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)
Replies: 1056
Views: 87817

Re: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)

Already did!

But I'm also of a mind to get everyone I know with a TDDI account to ring up the call centre and demand access to F series paying 4.2% since the bank publicly stated it was available. :wink:
by DanH
09 Mar 2023 11:27
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: HISA ETFs / Cash ETFs
Replies: 64
Views: 7576

Re: HISA ETFs / Cash ETFs

From today's Globe and Mail ... Bay Street is fighting over high-interest ETFs that retail investors love, sparking a federal review, say sources . Apparently, the OSFI has launched a review of these products with an eye toward any particular risks these may pose to the banking system (e.g., liquidity). The article states that some banks may not be all that happy with the popularity of these products because it lures money away from their other deposit products (GICs in particular). Banks offer a higher rate of interest on capital deposited by these ETFs because they are institutional deposits. A year ago, there was about $8.8 billion in assets across CI, Evolve, Horizons, Ninepoint, and Purpose. Those same providers now boast ~$23 billion ...
by DanH
03 Mar 2023 16:06
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Outstanding Financial Pornography
Replies: 1024
Views: 259192

Re: Outstanding Financial Pornography

I don't know anything about his background and education. But what are the chances that he is miscalculating his 18% annualized return for 31 years? It's somewhat rhetorical because who knows. But raising the question. Presumably, as an experienced investor, I would think he knows how to calculate performance in a way to compare to an index or other investor like WB. That said, I don't have any big argument against his described approach. But it's not likely to be an approach that very many will be willing or able to put into practice (e.g., hold only ten stocks).
by DanH
15 Feb 2023 17:22
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)
Replies: 1056
Views: 87817

Re: High interest savings, GICs and MMFs (2023)

I don't know how good discount brokerage inventory is but if you have idle cash to park, I'd suggest looking at the available bankers acceptance (BA) inventory and rates. In our world, we find BA yields a step ahead of every other true cash alternative (including cash ETFs). Not by a mile, but they tend to be ~10 bps more than those funds. And when yields rise, BA rates adjust immediately, whereas cash ETF rates adjust on a somewhat lagged basis. There two mild negatives with BAs. First, they're highly sought after. Before you look up/request a quote, you should know rates offered by competing products and what will constitute a 'buy' for you. That way, you can act quickly. I have seen instances of inventory being grabbed by other investors...
by DanH
15 Feb 2023 13:00
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Investment advisor fees
Replies: 14
Views: 1218

Re: Investment advisor fees

This is a good podcast: Rational Reminder Podcast: Episode 162: How to Select a (Good) Financial Advisor Rational Reminder is a podcast by Ben Felix and Cameron Passmore of PWL Capital , a firm that provides fee based financial advice. RR is one of my favourite financial podcasts. I don't use PWL capital and am providing this as info to support your quest, not advocating for them. I agree that this is another great resource. I wrote my two articles as a result of my view that the standard list of questions to ask advisors is not that helpful for practical purposes. After some thought, I tried to come up with a list of important but practical issues to dig into with prospective advisors. In this podcast, Ben Felix adds several additional th...
by DanH
15 Feb 2023 09:44
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Investment advisor fees
Replies: 14
Views: 1218

Re: Investment advisor fees

You've received some good feedback here. It seems clear, however, that you want to offload this responsibility to a professional trusted advisor. And you want guidance on what fee is fair. On the fee front, Steadyhand Investments put together a fee guide in the mid-2010s. It's not perfect, but a decent guide. (It could be improved by clarifying what this fee range includes. I assume the fees in that chart are meant to include total of product + advisory fees and admin costs. But HST doesn't appear to be included in their fee totals.) I have written two relatively recent articles to guide readers looking for truly professional advisors. Finding a professional financial advisor (Oct 2021) Five ways to tell if your advisor puts your interests ...
by DanH
06 Feb 2023 15:04
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: Robo Advisor versus Financial Advisor
Replies: 13
Views: 1645

Re: Robo Advisor versus Financial Advisor

I'm not opposed to robos but the performance in that article is helpful to illustrate the active management problem I noted upthread. WS boasted of outperformance in 2020 while continuing to market itself as if they do not employ active management (see screen shot with my highlights from WS' FAQ page). They've dropped the language "capturing market returns" but they still pooh-pooh active management while making very active decisions. It has cost their investors ~300 basis points annually compared to VBAL based on a comparison of trailing 3-year annualized returns. They're a good option (as are the other robos) because most will be better off with some kind of cheaper managed solution than trying to get too cute as a DIY investor....
by DanH
25 Jan 2023 10:39
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: Mutual Fund Trailing Commissions Class Actions Against Discount Brokers
Replies: 24
Views: 7370

Re: Mutual Fund Trailing Commissions Class Actions Against Discount Brokers

I wasn't aware of that. I haven't looked it up but the bank sponsored fund prospectuses were always worded more vaguely, rarely specifying a set trailing commission rate, but phrasing to the effect of "we may pay a trailing commission of up to 1%". That could be interpreted as saying they might not pay it. Is it possible that TDAM is simply not paying the trailer to TDDI but keeping the higher fee?

Then there is the issue of the cash ETFs, which is ridiculous.
by DanH
25 Jan 2023 10:01
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: Mutual Fund Trailing Commissions Class Actions Against Discount Brokers
Replies: 24
Views: 7370

Re: Mutual Fund Trailing Commissions Class Actions Against Discount Brokers

Thanks for this Bylo. I can't say that I'm surprised (as I detailed in this earlier post). The fact that two law firms were spending time on this lead me to conclude that I was missing something. Still, I never understood the legal basis for the lawsuit given that securities commissions effectively gave their blessing to these payments every time they approved a mutual fund prospectus. That said, I have never agreed with paying discount brokers the same commission as that paid to truly full service advisors. The good news is that this practice finally came to an end thanks to regulators pushing forward on initiatives to reform (and eliminate some) commissions.
by DanH
28 Nov 2022 12:26
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Domain & Email Host migration - help
Replies: 7
Views: 698

Re: Domain & Email Host migration - help

Thank you again everyone for your input. I decided to go with IONOS and pulled the trigger over the weekend. I had a minor issue but was quickly addressed when I phoned IONOS. The process was quick and emails were flowing through IONOS within 20 or so minutes.

Thanks, also, for your suggestion John. I confess that I'm not a big Apple fan, in general, though we have a couple of Apple products. And I do like some aspects of their products and system. As for paying separately, my preference at this point is to bundle it for convenience. IONOS seems to offer very reasonable pricing for this.