Category Special Topics
2016 CFA Annual Conference (Montreal) – An overview
In a nutshell The bad news is that we are living through a VUCA world (volatility/uncertainty/complexity/ambiguity)… the good news is that forecasting is difficult especially about the future. Changes/challenges and therefore threats/opportunities are everywhere: oil prices between $25-$150 and up, passive investment continues to grow with active investors thankfully working to eliminate pricing inefficiencies, China’s […]
“Paper Promises- Debt, Money, and the new world order” by Philip Coggan
Contents: Reading Philip Coggan’s new book is not only well timed given the Quantitative Easing (“financial repression”) in progress in many countries and Euro/PIIGS/Greece/Cyprus crisis, but it is time well spent in general on looking at the history of money and debt, and where we might be heading next given the current mess that the […]
“A Canadian’s best tax haven: The US” by Robert Keats
Despite the recent story about one of the Facebook founders giving up his US citizenship to move to Singapore for tax reasons, according to Robert Keats, in his latest book, he suggests that for Canadians in search of a tax haven (and warmer climate) US is the superior destination compared to traditional tax havens; and […]
The Pursuit of Risk Management
In a Nutshell Risk is unavoidable; it is part of life. There are known, unknown and unknowable risks. The best we can hope for is to undertake the pursuit of risk management, in order to minimize the impact to the best of our understanding and abilities. -the probability and financial impact of a risk determines […]
Renewal in retirement…”painting” on a new “canvass”
Renewal in retirement…”painting” on a new “canvass” In my April 13, 2008 blog I refer to Jonathan Clements who gives ”freedom to pursue your passions” as one reason for spending a lifetime saving/investing to accumulate wealth. Some spend their entire working career doing what they are good at and they enjoy doing. Perhaps many more […]
CFA 2010 Conference Highlights
CFA 2010 Conference Highlights In a nutshell Here are highlights of what I heard and you might find of interest; any errors or misrepresentations are my fault alone as the following may not accurately represent the views of various speakers mentioned. -financial industry: lost its way, not obeying laws of capitalism, capitalism’s price mechanism doesn’t […]
Ideas for an investor friendly financial industry in Canada
In CARP ActionOnline’s “Ideas for an investor friendly financial industry in Canada” I suggest three changes which would go a long way to a achieve this are: fiduciary responsibility, low-cost asset management with decoupled fee-only advice, and mutual rather than public financial corporate organizations driven by customers’ best interests.
Risk perspectives: What is risk? Its measurement, dimensions, modeling (asset classes, risk factors and regimes)
Risk perspectives: What is risk? Its measurement, dimensions, modeling (asset classes, risk factors and regimes) In a nutshell After getting walloped twice in a decade with massive market crashes, suddenly everybody is interested in the subject of risk. You’ll find below a collection of perspectives on risk: what it is and attempts at measuring and […]
Estate planning
Estate Planning You should consider the following as purely a very short introduction to Estate Planning. If you have any assets or dependents you need an estate plan, otherwise you’ll have to rely on the wisdom of legislation and the courts, operating at the speed of government bureaucracies and speed of the courts. I will […]
Behavioral Finance
Behavioral Finance Some of the pioneers of behavioral finance are Kahneman, Twersky and Thaler. This short introduction to the subject is based on John Nofsinger’s little book entitled “Psychology of Investing” , an excellent quick read for anyone who is interested in learning more about behavioral finance. Much of modern finance is built on the […]
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