Tag Archives: loonie

Only two resolutions for Canadian investors in 2016

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graham-bodel
Graham Bodel, CFA

By Graham Bodel, CFA

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

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 consistencies in the portfolios that we have reviewed, the two biggest and most concerning being high fees and lack of diversification.  For 2016 we recommend Canadian investors address both issues.

Slumping loonie boosted foreign equity funds

Depositphotos_6814598_s-2015On Tuesday,  Morningstar Canada released preliminary data for 2015 on the performance of its 42 Canada Fund Indices which measure aggregate returns of funds for various standard categories.   Continue Reading…

Where to Travel to Stretch Your Canadian Dollar the Farthest

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sean-cooper-experts
Sean Cooper

By Sean Cooper

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

After a second straight brutally cold winter, spring is finally here. February was the coldest month in Toronto history – what better way to celebrate than a summer getaway? Many Canadians on a budget choose to travel to our neighbours to the south, the U.S.

“With the Canadian dollar having lost 25% of its value over the last two years and the Canadian dollar below 80 cents, you’ll need to be more frugal with your money this year” says Rahim Madhavji, President of KnightsbridgeFX.com.

Here are some places to consider travelling to stretch your Canadian dollar the farthest in the U.S. and internationally:

USA

  1. Yosemite National Park

Cost: $30 per vehicle ($25 from November to March) for a seven-day pass Continue Reading…

How the falling loonie affects U.S. equity ETFs

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Depositphotos_40901151_xsAfter the loonie plummeted 2 cents to 81 cents US after yesterday’s surprise interest-rate cut, it seems an apt time to address a common misunderstanding about how the falling Canadian dollar affects US equity ETFs denominated in either country’s currency.

This was nicely tackled a year ago by Dan Bortolotti in his Canadian Couch Potato blog here.

Dan — who is both a consulting editor with MoneySense Magazine as well as an investment adviser with PWL Capital — had been chatting with me about the upcoming MoneySense ETF All-Stars feature in general and about the much-misunderstood topic of currency hedging in particular.

Personally, I believe international securities exposure provides diversification both for stocks or bonds but also currencies. I agree with Certified Financial Planner Fred Kirby (see Getting Help section)  that the first 20% or 30% of foreign currency exposure doesn’t need to be hedged back into your home country (loonie if you’re Canadian, greenback if you’re American). Of course, American investors who bought US stocks then are laughing. Similarly, if a Canadian invested much of their RRSP directly into US stocks or US equity funds denominated in US$ soon after the 2008 financial crisis and didn’t hedge currencies,  they’re probably a happy camper today. Continue Reading…