Mutual Funds
Mutual funds are diversified portfolios of equities and investments in which small investors can take part. They are an investment product, with individual shares being called units.
MANULIFE FINANCIAL $73 (Toronto symbol MFC; SI Rating: Above-average) sells life and other forms of insurance, as well as mutual funds and investment management services. It operates in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Manulife has assets under administration of $372.3 billion.
Manulife acquired New York-listed John Hancock Financial Services in 2003 for $15 billion in shares. The merger was one of …read more »
We’ve said for some time that insurers are riskier than they look. Insurance has a stable image, but it has always been highly competitive and volatile. For safety-conscious investors, right now we recommend just three Canadian insurance companies as buys: Manulife Financial, Great-West Lifeco and Sun Life Financial.
GREAT-WEST LIFECO $29 (Toronto symbol GWO; SI Rating: Above-average) is a leading Canadian …read more »
Management consultants are fond of telling their clients that they should be wary of good ideas that merely save money or make small profits. These good ideas can consume so much time that there’s none left for pursuing the great ideas that build world-scale companies.
You can say something like that about investing. Some good ideas help you cut costs or …read more »
AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL INC. $45 (New York symbol AMP; WSSF Rating: Average) provides wealth management, brokerage and insurance services through a nationwide network of over 12,000 advisors. It currently owns, manages or administers assets worth $428.1 billion.
In the three months ended December 31, 2005, Ameriprise’s income from continuing operations fell 52.2%, to $0.44 a share (total $111 million) from $0.92 a …read more »
When a company sets up one of its subsidiaries or divisions as a separate company and hands the stock out to its investors as a special dividend, it tends to unlock hidden value. Over time, the combined value of the post-spinoff parent and spun-off company usually exceeds the value of the parent before the spin-off.
Mind you, this is a general …read more »
IGM FINANCIAL CORP. $46 (Toronto symbol IGM; SI Rating: Above average) sells mutual funds and other financial services through three main divisions: Investors Group, Mackenzie Financial and Investment Planning Council. IGM is currently Canada’s largest mutual fund company, with $94.1 billion in mutual fund assets under management. Power Financial Corp. owns 56% of IGM.
In the third quarter of 2005, IGM …read more »
Many investors limit their holdings in the Finance sector of their portfolio to Canada’s big five banks. While we have a high opinion of the banks, and recommend that every investor own at least one of them, we also advise investors to look beyond them.
Here are three non-bank financial services stocks that we see as buys for long-term gains. However, …read more »
We devote a lot of time to analyzing closed-end funds because these funds often provide attractive opportunities for our clients. We mainly recommend closed-ends when they trade for less than asset value, as they often do. For every $1 you invest in a closed-end, you may have $1.10 or $1.20 working for you.
Then too, closed-end funds sometimes rise in value …read more »
The S&P/TSX composite index closed at all-time high of 11,441.58 on the first day of trading in 2006. The index rose 169.32 points, or 1.5%. The previous record high of 11,388.80 was reached in September, 2000.
The 2000 high came on the strength of peaking technology and Internet-related stocks, including Nortel shares trading at $122.
The latest record high was largely due …read more »
