Author Archives: peter benedek
Good(?) news, mutual funds perform better in recessions than expansions
Good(?) news, mutual funds perform better in recessions than expansions Before we get to the good(?) news let’s run through what we know about mutual funds: 1. Studies have shown that actively managed mutual funds have a structural disadvantage as compared to index funds or (index) ETFs. The mutual fund manager must overcome the […]
Want the greatest bang for the buck from your advisor?
Want the greatest bang for the buck from your advisor? Last week, Good(?) news, mutual funds perform better in recessions than expansions , discussed how difficult it is for active managers to exceed the index and how difficult it is to find the few who will outperform in the future. If it appears that it […]
blog19aug2007
Hot Off the Web The debate continues on whether “Tweaks in index that boost gains” actually add any net after fees value. A Morningstar study showed that enhanced index based mutual funds trailed the performance the traditional cap-weighted index funds. Interestingly, another study showed that institutional enhanced index funds have somewhat outperformed the traditional indexes. […]
blog12aug2007
Hot Off the Web ETF’s are becoming popular not just with do it yourself investors, but also with advisors. In WSJ’s “All ETF portfolio: Pros reveal the ins and outs” Core holdings include S&P500 SPDR (SPY) combined with MSCI EAFE index (EFA). The core holdings of some are evolving to using S&P Equal (rather than […]
blog05aug2007
Hot Off the Web In “Snowbirds’ Florida Tax Crisis” The Canadian Snowbird Association Magazine’s Summer Edition (pp.18-19) contains an article written by yours truly. Florida’s property tax system has been called loony, outrageous, two-tier, discriminatory, confiscatory and worse. The bottom line is that Florida has a property tax system that is rigged against snowbirds and […]
Life settlements
Life Settlements (Beware!) We have discussed previously reverse mortgages as a source of expensive money that an individual could tap to enhance their income in retirement. An even more expensive source of funds (or risky investment vehicle for an investor) is a life or seniors settlement. Viatical settlements, precursor product, were focused at people whose […]
blog29jul2007
Hot Off the Web This week’s Hot Off the Web is heavily focused on asset allocation. The Financial Times’ “How to allocate your assets” readers are reminded that asset allocation is still the dominant contributor to long term returns. The only significant changes that have occurred since 2000 are pertaining to: (1) more sophistication in […]
blog22jul2007
Hot Off the Web WSJ’s Jonathan Clements reports that “Investors flock to low cost funds” He quotes encouraging figures whereby 74% of recent mutual U.S. fund investors considered fees and expenses before buying, and stock-fund costs dropped from 2.32% in 1980 to 1.07% in 2006. Unfortunately Canada’s investors seem to be stuck in 1980 […]
blog16jul2007
Hot Off the Web Grant Surridge reports in the Financial Post’s “Funding levels out of crisis” that there is good news for many Canadian pension funds. This is the result of healthy stock market returns (on the asset side) and rising interest rates (on the liability side). The typical pension fund (whatever typical means, as […]
Choosing an advisor
(Originally posted April 5, 2007) Let me start off by saying that I do not have a great deal of personal experience in picking an advisor. My objective in this website is to help you become self sufficient in your retirement planning. My wife, by the way, does not believe that I am pursuing a […]
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