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Last week we talked about Indexes and what it means when you hear on the news that the market is up, or the market is down. In Canada when they’re talking about the market, they’re usually talking about the S&P/TSX Composite. If this isn’t making sense to you, be sure to review our post on What is an Index? before proceeding.
Submitted by nsscadmin on
Every night on the evening news you hear that the market is up or down and rather large numbers and a up or down arrow are slotted in besides the words S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P/TSX Composite. These are indexes.
Whenever you hear someone talking about the Dow Jones, or S&P/TSX Composite they are talking about an index. The definition of an index in finance is …
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We’ve had the “adviser” vs. “advisor” question come up more than a few times recently. It has likely arisen from recent reporting that one has a fiduciary duty to their clients and the other does not. To correct this misunderstanding, it is important to note that the Nova Scotia Securities Commission regulates conduct and activities of persons or firms in the business of trading or advising on securities no matter how they spell their title.
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A swap is a form of derivative in which two parties agree to exchange payments. Almost anything can constitute a financial instrument, but swaps most commonly involve cash flows based on an agreed upon or notional amount. The notional amount specifies the principal dollar amount which determines the amounts of actual payments required under the swap. This will become clearer in an upcoming swaps example.
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First observed by the United Nations in 2012, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day recognizes that nearly every country across the globe will see a substantial growth in the number of older persons in the next decade. With the population of older persons increasing it unfortunately also leads to an increase in the amount of elder abuse.
Submitted by nsscadmin on
Options are another category of derivative. They are very similar to futures contracts, but with one very important difference. The name is a pretty big hint.
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Futures contracts and Forward contracts are forms of derivatives. In case you missed our previous post of derivatives, a derivative is contract between two or more parties with the value of the contract being tied to an underlying interest. An underlying interest can include stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates, an index or the weather.
Futures Contract:
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The Nova Scotia Securities Commission is responsible for the regulation of securities and of derivatives. A derivative is contract between two or more parties with the value of the contract being tied to an underlying interest. An underlying interest can include stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates, an index or the weather.
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After discussing how advisers are paid last week, we had a similar question come up regarding mutual funds fees. Mutual funds are a very popular investment vehicle which we discussed in a previous post. We briefly looked at mutual funds fees in the post, but investors were still left with some questions, especially after we looked at paying advisers last week. So, let’s talk about mutual fund fees.
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If you have an adviser you’re paying him or her in some way for the services they provide to you. You may not personally hand them cash or see the money come out of your account, but it’s happening nonetheless. Since that’s the case, how does your adviser get paid? There are a number of different ways and you really should know which method so that you understand how much you are paying for your investments.
Advisers are typically paid in at least one of the following ways…