Do You Have the Advisor Six-Pack?
When people criticize the financial industry in Canada, the target of their wrath is usually high fees and underperformance. These are huge issues and, of course, they go hand-in-hand. But the more I [...]
Three Reasons to Ignore Market Downturns
“Long-term investors shouldn’t worry about daily or weekly blips in the markets.” How many times have you heard that? It’s true of course, but most investors don’t heed the advice. And to be fair, it’ [...]
An Interview With Wealthsimple: Part 2
Earlier this week I published an excerpt from my interview with David Nugent, portfolio manager of the online investment service Wealthsimple. In this second part of our interview, Nugent goes into mo [...]
An Interview With Wealthsimple: Part 1
Wealthsimple is one of several online investment firms that have launched in Canada this year. They’ve often been referred to as robo-advisors, though they reject that name, and with good reason. Whil [...]
Vanguard Makes Its Move
You knew it was coming: Vanguard Canada has dramatically reduced the fees on 11 of its ETFs. The announcement came this week, and it affects some of the most popular funds in the Vanguard lineup: ETF [...]
How Taxes Can Affect ETF Performance
In our recent white paper, After-Tax Returns, Justin Bender and I introduced a methodology for measuring the effect of income taxes on ETF returns. Justin also created a downloadable spreadsheet you c [...]
After-Tax Returns on Canadian ETFs
When you invest in a non-registered account, you need to be concerned about more than just your funds’ performance: you also need to know how much of your return will be eaten up by taxes. Unfortunate [...]
Is It Time for Tax Loss Selling?
Last October, Justin Bender and I published a white paper on tax loss selling with ETFs. It explained how index investors can harvest capital losses while maintaining a consistent exposure to the equi [...]
Foreign Withholding Taxes in International Equity ETFs
It seems Canadian ETF providers are paying more attention to foreign withholding taxes these days. Not so long ago, you rarely heard anyone discussing this hidden drag on returns. But last month Black [...]
Ask the Spud: Should I Use Global Bonds?
Q: I was surprised to see a Vanguard infographic pointing out that international [non-US] bonds are the largest asset class in the world. Do you have any thoughts on why Canadians have not embraced in [...]
