Mackenzie fund mergers 2021

This only affects those who own Mackenzie Investments Capital Class funds, in particular those held in non-registered accounts. Affected clients will have just received an explanatory letter from Mackenzie but I wanted to provide some additional comments. First, here is a timeline to provide context. Mutual funds in Canada are offered in two legal structures: […]

Audio podcast – How You Pay Me Through A Service Fee

As I work towards creating a podcast to supplement client communications, below is a a short audio file that explains how you, my valued clients, pay me through an embedded service fee mechanism.  Please have a listen and of course just ask if you have any questions.

Federal Budget 2016 changes tax rule about corporate class mutual funds

2016 Budget measure: Corporate Class Mutual Funds Canadian mutual funds can be in the legal form of a trust or a corporation. While most funds are structured as mutual fund trusts, many are also structured as mutual fund corporations (otherwise known as corporate class mutual funds). Corporate class funds offer investors different types of asset […]

Ivy: a brief history

Reprinted with permission from the Mackenzie Ivy Quarterly Report, Q3 2015. Ivy was established at Mackenzie back in 1992 and it is a reflection of Jerry Javasky, co-founder of Ivy and his very cautious and diligent investment style. There have been a number of people over the years (some who have come and gone) that have made […]

Ivy: success explained

Reprinted with permission from the Mackenzie Ivy Quarterly Report, Q3 2015. Ivy has had a long-term track record of success not only in terms of mutual fund returns but also with respect to client outcomes. We believe this success has been achieved primarily because of our belief system, which has been built upon by the […]

Ivy Quarterly Review

Occasionally an investment manager writes so well and with such insight that I want to share it with clients.  This is the case with the current Mackenzie Ivy Quarterly Review, in which the Ivy managers discuss their broad views about the current state of the world economy and investment markets.  Among other things, they discuss […]

Advisor compensation videos and booklet

Invesco Canada has created two excellent short videos that explain advisor compensation and mutual fund expenses. These are in complete agreement with my own explanations to clients and previous web site postings.  For anyone who has questions about advisor compensation or mutual fund expenses, I highly recommend these two YouTube videos. Understanding investment costs: a […]

Video interview with Cundill Value Fund manager Andrew Massie

When lead manager Andrew Massie was in Ottawa in the fall of 2012 I had the opportunity for a brief interview.  I asked him: 1. As an investor in the fund, why should I feel safe with my money in the fund?  What does “safety” in a long term investment mean to you? 2.To what […]

Ivy Foreign Equity Fund turns twenty

Happy 20th birthday to the Ivy Foreign Equity Fund! Fund Manager Paul Musson sent me the following message on October 16th. Twenty years ago today, Mackenzie founded the Ivy group of funds. At that time, who was to know that over the ensuing 10 years we would experience a bull market focused on technology followed […]

Don’t get mad, buy companies!

It is common to hear people complain about the rising costs of living.  “Can you believe the price of gas these days!” or “my grocery bills never go down, only up!” are a frequent refrain.  How can you turn the tables and benefit from rising prices? Except for government monopolized services there are companies behind […]

Equity mutual fund investors cost themselves $106B

Evidently many so-called investors have not realized it, but the U.S. equity market has approximately doubled since the panic lows of March 2009.  I say they are so-called investors because they evidently do not understand the difference between investing and speculating.  Investing consists of making careful, patient, long-term, strategic decisions to invest in assets whose […]

Managing retirement income with a fixed income wedge

Just as dollar cost averaging can work to help you build assets for retirement, it can also work against you when you need to be spending your assets during retirement.  In retirement your goal is no longer purely long-term, but also includes an element of short-term spending.  Just as your time horizon is the most important […]

Mutual Funds 101 Booklet

Dynamic Funds has created an easy to read booklet explaining many of the basics of mutual funds.  To give you an idea of what is in the booklet, I have copied its table of contents below. Mutual funds: What they are and how they work 1. History of Dynamic Funds 2. Why invest in a […]

The only four equity portfolios

Once you have dealt with the basics of identifying that a) equity investments are necessary to protect retirement income from the ever-rising cost of living; and b) diversification is essential to avoid permanent losses you can see that there are really only four ways to manage that equity portfolio, as shown in the diagram below. […]

Wherefore art thou Dividends?

The question of dividends when it comes to mutual funds is a tricky one, so let me try and share some perspective that I have gained over the last 18 years in the financial business.  I will try to explain the role and importance of dividends paid by individual companies and why this is a different […]

Crises are inevitable, so what to do?

Every day when you open the newspaper, turn on the radio or TV news, or surf the internet, you will find at least one story about a natural disaster, political, economic or financial crisis that you could choose to worry about.  This worry can negatively affect investment decisions that you make.  What many investors ignore […]

Trimark – 30 years with the same style

In September 2011 the Trimark Fund and Trimark Canadian Fund turned 30. This is remarkable and almost unique because most funds are relatively new and even fewer have followed the same management style for so long. As current Trimark Fund manager Dana Love said in a recent interview “The investment process is consistent across the […]

AGF Money Manager Report August 2011

In a recent conference call featuring four AGF money managers to discuss the issues of U.S. and European government debt levels, Rory Flynn of AGF International Advisors (AGFIA is the manager of AGF Global Value, AGF International Stock, AGF European Equity) had the following comments: 1. European equities in general are trading at the extreme low end of their historical […]

Think before firing that fund manager

Michael Nairne wrote an article in the National Post that provides healthy advice about the consistent tendency of investors to change mutual fund managers at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons.  For many years I have emphasized to clients how important it is to make rational, careful selection of fund managers before investing with them, […]

Why on earth would you buy that?

At a recent presentation by one of the Mackenzie Cundill fund managers, he described how he had been attracted to the US banking sector in recent months.  He described it as “a bad industry in a bad country at a bad time”.  At least, that’s what the headlines read and what many commentators think.  His […]

Globalization: how great companies do not depend on domestic markets

Every day the news carries articles about the weak performance of the United States economy compared to the emerging markets of the world.  Worried that the bad news will continue ad-infinitum, many investors thus shy away from investing in companies based in the USA.  What they are missing is that the USA is also home to […]