Banning Investment Commissions – moving beyond “if” towards “how”

Yesterday the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) released a much awaited consultation paper, “Consultation on the Option of Discontinuing Embedded Commissions”.  We say “much awaited” half tongue-in-cheek!  Much in the same way that a large number of Canadians have no idea how or how much they pay for investment products / advice, we expect even fewer are […]

The two crucial success factors that often elude investors

There are two crucial success factors that often elude investors –  the ability to save consistently and the discipline to stick with a saving and investment plan over time. Successful investing is a long-term proposition.  In the short-run financial markets are very unpredictable, gyrating to a complex and increasingly-interconnected information flow that changes by the second. […]

4 Important Psychological Biases for Investors to Understand

In our last post we highlighted that behaviour might just be the biggest source of trouble for investors.  People just aren’t psychologically wired to make investment decisions that are good for them and often do things that are potentially harmful.  Our brains have evolved to create protection mechanisms that in many instances are helpful – just not […]

Success is less about hitting home runs and more about staying out of trouble

People are often surprised when we say that successful investing does not mean you have to “beat the market”.  Instead, successful investing is simply that which allows you to meet your financial goals.  Trying to hit “home runs” by picking hot stocks before they jump or timing market swings are activities more aligned with speculating than investing and […]

The most dangerous asset class may just surprise you….

Investors flee to cash during times of trouble.  However, far from being a safe haven, cash is potentially the most dangerous asset class for investors, luring investors into bigger psychological bubbles than even tech stocks and housing have historically. We recently wrote about why investors might want to consider holding bonds rather than cash, even at current low […]

More big changes coming for Canadian investors – who will be the winners and losers?

Transparency, education and competition should drive better outcomes for investors.  Recent enhancements put in place by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have sought to better align the interests of investors and the investment industry that serves them.  Initiatives like the Customer Relationship Model are designed to increase transparency and to help investors make more informed decisions about […]