We have heard so many suggested new years resolutions over the last couple of weeks but believe it’s worth piling on two more for Canadian investors. We hope not but suspect we’ll be highlighting the same resolutions for years to come. Chalten has been open for business for less than a year but already we have seen some very concerning […]
There are some really good reasons to choose an investment. When we hear things like, “it’s low cost, liquid, diversified, fits with my risk profile and is complementary to my other portfolio holdings”, we shout bravo! Unfortunately we hear lots of other reasons that aren’t so good – here’s a selection: “The people involved in it are […]
Canadians exhibit far too much home bias with their investments – while some home bias is normal and maybe useful if it helps reduce psychological barriers to investing at all, it can be particularly dangerous in Canada not only because of economic and stock market industry concentration but also the high proportion of total market capitalization […]
Good financial planning is about exercising control over income, expenses and investments over time to achieve what you desire in life. Exercising control over those three areas pays off when you focus your efforts pulling levers that have an impact. While people seem to understand what the levers are that both matter and are […]
We and many others spend a lot of time and effort trying to educate people about the importance of keeping costs low as part of a sensible long term investment strategy. The evidence of the importance of costs is so overwhelming that you really have to take your hat off to the marketing departments and sales […]
“When you rely on incentives, you undermine virtues. Then when you discover that you actually need people who want to do the right thing, those people don’t exist because you’ve crushed anyone’s desire to do the right thing with all these incentives.” – Barry Schwartz, psychology professor and author “If I, taking care of everyone’s […]
We believe in an evidence-based, disciplined approach to investing. Once an investment plan is established and courses of action predetermined, market volatility like that which we’ve been experiencing lately won’t phase you at all. Right? Wrong. Having a plan in place doesn’t mean you feel any differently during market swings, but it just might stop you […]
“Why copper and gold are ready to shine” “Fed rate hike fears ripple through Canada, world….” “Futures higher on Greek deal” “Bill Gross: 6 conditions for a bond crisis” “Traders don’t want to hear this problem with banks” “This should concern every oil bull in the world” “Wealth secrets of the one percent – how […]
I remember a series of Tim Horton’s TV ads about welcoming people to Canada which tried to portray Canadians as, yes, polite, but with a certain unshakable pride, one of them saying something like “If you throw the first punch, we will drop the gloves. Oh yeah.” We’re nice but by no means push-overs. I’m not sure […]
Investment success requires patience and discipline. It requires a long time horizon. It requires a well thought out strategy executed methodically and dispassionately. It should feel boring. Slow and steady. Too often people get distracted from staying the course. Catchy headlines, persuasive forecasters, clever marketing from fund management companies, anecdotal evidence of investment success from friends and colleagues […]