Hoss Cents Free Financial Money Magazine

Excel Funds Launches BRIC Fund
BMO Introduces Nine New ETFs
PH&N Bond Fund Series D: A Best Bet Mutual Fund

Monday, December 21, 2009

BMO Investments Inc. Announces a Portfolio Manager Change and Service Fee Adjustments

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BMO Investments Inc. (a member of the BMO Financial Group) announced that effective Jan 08, 2010 they are replacing the portfolio manager of BMO Global Equity Class a class of BMO Global Tax Advantage Funds Inc.

London-based Insight Investment Management (Global) Ltd., formerly Rothschild Asset Management Ltd. is the current manager and will be replaced by Aberdeen Asset Management Inc. Aberdeen Asset Management Inc. is an independent investment manager, managing over C$251 billion for individual and institutional clients throughout the world. The regional investment teams are based in the markets or regions in which they invest. They are based in Aberdeen, Scotland. The global management team for the fund is in Edinburgh, and led by Stephen Docherty.

The fund since it was formed in November 2000, is a second-quartile performer over the five- and six-year periods ended Nov. 30. But over the one- and three-year periods, the fund has performed in the fourth quartile.

In addition in their press release BMO Investments Inc. announced that on our about January 1, 2010, BMO Investments Inc., as manager, will increase the maximum service fee under the sales charge option of BMO Guardian Monthly Dividend Fund Ltd. from 0.75% to 1.00%, under the standard deferred charge option from 0.25% to 0.50%, and under the low load deferred charge option from 0.50% to 1.00%. There will be no increase to the maximum service fee under the sales charge option for Classic Units.

Also effective on or about January 1, 2010, BMO Investments Inc., as manager, will increase the maximum service fee under the low load deferred charge option of BMO Guardian Canadian Diversified Monthly Income Fund from 0.50% to 1.00%. There will be no increase to the maximum service fee under the sales charge option or under the standard deferred charge option.

Stay on Track,

Money Magazine Hoss

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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Meritas Financial Inc. And Qtrade Fund Management to Merge.

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Meritas Financial Inc. and Qtrade Fund Management Inc. have announced a plan to merge.

The merger will result in Meritas Mutual Funds becoming a separate division of QTrade Financial and they will maintain their philosophy of socially responsible investing(SRI). (No investments in tobacco, military or companies harmful to the environment).

It is expected the deal will close at the end of March. The Meritas team will continue to be headed by Gary Hawton and when the deal is finalized he will become the chief investment officer of the Qtrade fund management division.

"For us, it gives us a more national presence. Right now, while our funds are for sale right across Canada, all of our employees are in Ontario," Hawton said.
Hawton will report to Qtrade head Scott Gibner, who will become chief executive officer of Meritas's new parent company.

"Meritas' strong and unwavering commitment to SRI over the last 10 years has been the foundation for their success and, as SRI funds continue to grow in popularity in Canada and globally, we believe this dedication and historical track record will continue to serve Meritas very well into the future," Gibner said in a statement.

Gibner, also said the company wanted to broaden its wealth-management portfolio.

“One of our primary goals will be to build the status of Qtrade’s investment solutions nationally, including a large focus on Meritas industry-leading socially responsible investment funds.”

Together the two companies will have combined assets of more than $4.3 billion from individual and institutional investors.

Stay on Track,

Money Magazine Hoss

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Excel Funds Launches BRIC Fund
BMO Introduces Nine New ETFs
PH&N Bond Fund Series D: A Best Bet Mutual Fund

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Excel Funds Launches BRIC Fund

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On Nov. 3, 2009 Excel Funds, a Mississauga Ontario-based fund company that focuses on investment opportunities in emerging markets launched a new fund named Excel BRIC Fund. The new fund is made up from four existing Excel funds: Excel Latin America, Excel China, Excel India and Excel Emerging Europe.

The four Excel Funds are sub-advised by: Baring Asset Management (Asia) Ltd. in Hong Kong, China managing the Excel China Fund; Birla Sun Life AMC Ltd. in Mumbai, India managing the Excel India Fund; Banco Itau – Unibanco in Sao Paulo, Brazil managing the Excel Latin America Fund; and Baring International Investment Ltd in London, England managing the Excel Emerging Europe Fund.

This combining of four existing funds with proven track records provides investors the opportunity to purchase one fund instead of four.

"The BRIC nations represent more than 40% of the world's population and are among the fastest growing economies," says company President and CEO, Bhim D. Asdhir. "Yet, on the whole, Canadian investors have less than 1% of their investment portfolios invested in these economies. These markets are too big to ignore, as the combined GDP of the BRIC nations now exceed the GDP of the United States of America."

The management fee is scheduled to be 2.5% which is the same as each of the four current funds.

The fund may be purchased with a $500 minimum investment and has both-front end and deferred sales charge options. Speak to your financial advisor if you are interested in making an investment in this fund.

Stay on Track,

Money Magazine Hoss

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Sunday, November 1, 2009

BMO Introduces Nine New ETFs

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Bank of Montreal (BMO) on Oct 26, 2009 added nine new funds to their stable of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). This brings the total of ETFs in the BMO barn to thirteen.

The new ETFs are comprised of an exacta of industry diversified funds:

BMO International Equity Hedged to CAD Index
BMO Emerging Markets Equity Index

A trifecta of "equal weight" industry sector funds:

BMO S&P/TSX Equal Weight Banks Index
BMO S&P/TSX Equal Weight Oil & Gas Index
BMO S&P/TSX Equal Weight Global Base Metals Hedged to CAD Index

The remaining four new ETFs are fixed income funds. Three of these fixed income funds invest in federal, provincial and corporate issues, and the fourth is hedged to the Canadian Dollar.

BMO Short Federal Bond Index
BMO Short Provincial Bond Index
BMO Short Corporate Bond Index
BMO High Yield U.S. Corporate Bond Hedged to CAD

The following document provides the investor with the names, symbols and current management expense ratio (MER) for these nine new BMO exchange traded funds.

Investors may find these new additions to the BMO stable of EFTs a worthwhile bet.

Stay on track,

The Hoss
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Sunday, October 4, 2009

Hoss's Best Bet Mutual Funds: Bond Funds

PH&N High Yield Bond Fund

Starting with today's edition, Money Magazine Hoss will begin a series of posts in which he reviews his best bet mutual funds.

Fixed income Bond Funds are the first category of mutual funds Money Magazine Hoss has selected for review.

The Hoss and Mrs. Hoss have included the PH&N High Yield Bond Fund, in their stable of mutual funds.

When the Government of Canada introduced the tax free savings account in 2009, The Hoss and Mrs. Hoss invested the maximum permissible amount in The PH&N High Yield Bond Fund. How has this fund performed? Since their initial investment on January 26, 2009, The Hoss and Mrs. Hoss have realized a return of over 14%.

The PH&N High Yield Bond Fund investment objectives are to provide a high level of income and the opportunity for capital appreciation by investing primarily in a well-diversified portfolio of fixed income securities issued by Canadian corporations.

To achieve the fund's investment objectives, the manager invests primarily in medium quality Canadian corporate bonds and preferred shares and government bonds issued or traded in Canadian and U.S. dollars. The average term to maturity of the portfolio is managed within strict guidelines, typically between three and ten years.

If you are an investor with low or moderate risk looking for a bond fund with high levels of current interest income, this fund may be of interest to you.

As with all Mutual Funds there is some risk with the purchase of this fund. The principal risks associated with an investment in this fund are market, interest rate, credit and liquidity risks.

For more information see PH&N High Yield Bond Fund.

Stay on track,

The Hoss
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Monday, September 21, 2009

We have stopped our economic freefall - President Obama

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In his weekly address to the nation, President Obama gave credit to all nations for taking measures which he believes have stopped the economic free-fall. However, there is still much work to be done and he believes the G20- Summit in Pittsburgh September 24-25 will provide an opportunity for "a five-month checkup to review the steps each nation has taken – separately and together – to break the back of this economic crisis."

President Obama pointed to the Recovery Act, which was enacted in February, as an example of action his administration has undertaken to spur economic growth. He also stated that they have worked hard to free up the credit market to put more money into the hands of the consumer.

At the G20 conference the United States is going to "discuss some of the steps that are required to safeguard our global financial system and close gaps in regulation around the world – gaps that permitted the kinds of reckless risk-taking and irresponsibility that led to the crisis".

To this end President Obama is pushing his Consumer Financial Protection Agency proposal (currently before Congress). This agency will have clearly defined rules aimed at preventing shady lending practices such as:

Loan contracts written to confuse

Hidden fees

Financial penalties issued without warning

President Obama gives his assurance that this agency will both establish clear rules and enforce those rules.

He recognizes that Wall Street banks would rather maintain the status quo and have hired lobbyist to work at stopping the bill currently before Congress, but this does not deter his determination to stop the business as usual mentality which this time could result in total financial collapse.

We have all seen how quickly many financial institutions have decided to pay back the government loans rather than abide by the strict rules applied to those loans.

Money Magazine Hoss agrees with the President's philosophy and sincerely hopes that he sticks to his guns and does not succumb to the pressure that will undoubtedly be put on him and his administration to withdraw their proposal for a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Stay on Track,

Money Magazine Hoss

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Saturday, August 29, 2009

Health Care Public Vs Private

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From the Hoss's Mouth

Why does health care cost so much? Forget all you hear about the high cost of developing new equipment and drugs, over-utilization, increased salaries for health care professionals, and an aging population. Money Magazine Hoss can give you the answer for the high cost of health care in one word: GREED.

Greed by health insurance companies who are in the business for the sole purpose of generating a profit. They could care less about providing affordable health care insurance for companies and individuals.

How does Money Magazine Hoss come to this conclusion? He does so by reading private for profit insurance horror stories posted all over the Internet and by reading private insurance whistle blower testimony given before Congress.

Health insurance companies are notorious for denying valid claims, using excuses such as claimant had a pre-existing condition, claimant provided false information on their application form (even if it was an honest mistake). Testimony before Congress indicated for-profit insurance companies employ the following strategies:

Regular meetings to identify high cost areas and how to redesign benefits to control them.

Multiple exclusion clauses which are unknown to doctor or patient until used by the insurance company to deny a claim.

Pre-existing condition exclusions which enable the plan to take steps to link a patient’s current diagnosis with some prior diagnosis and thus deny the claim

Misleading advertising which only highlights the benefits of the plan with no mention of the plans restrictions.

Denials on the grounds the treatment is not medically necessary--this is the insurance companies' ultimate cost control tool.

The above examples are by no means a complete list of all the methods used by insurance companies to reduce their costs.

For more info, see the testimony of LINDA PEENO, M.D.

Perhaps the most disturbing tactic Money Magazine Hoss has come across is when a terminally ill patient’s health care claim is denied. The health insurance company knows full well that the claimant will die before s/he can process an appeal, and thus they avoid paying for any treatment prior to death. Of course they always claim they had legitimate reasons for denying the claim.

Money Magazine Hoss resides in Canada, and we have a public health care system which, although not perfect, does take the profit incentive out of health care. The premiums are minimal and provisions are made for those with no or very little income. We do experience some delays but emergency cases are given priority.

Money Magazine Hoss supports President Obama’s public health care option, in fact he would like to see health care totally removed from for-profit companies.

Stay on Track,

Money Magazine Hoss

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Sunday, August 23, 2009

Working Capital Per Dollar of Sales

From The Hoss's Mouth

Working Capital Per Dollar of Sales is another financial calculation investors use when analyzing the performance of a company. This calculation tells the potential investor the approximate working capital a company should have.

Simply put, working capital is Current Assets minus Current Liabilities. Working capital per dollar of sales is the Working Capital divided by Total Sales and is expressed as a percentage.

Working Capital Per Dollar of Sales = (Current assets - Current liabilities)/Total Sales.

Current assets and liabilities can be found on a company's Balance Sheet, and total sales is found on a company's Income Statement.

The trick for investors is recognizing the fact that working capital per dollar of sales varies across industry types.

For example, retailing businesses with substantial low cost sales require a working capital per dollar of sales of about 10 to 15 %, while industrial manufactures who produce high cost merchandise require 25 to 30%. Companies such as fast food chains, due to the cash nature of their business, often operate with a negative working capital per dollar of sales.

Smart investors, when analyzing prospective companies, are always cognizant of the fact that the character of the business plays a huge part in determining the amount of working capital per dollar of sales a business requires.

Money Magazine Hoss hopes you will find this information useful.

Stay on Track,

Money Magazine Hoss

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Sunday, August 16, 2009

Calculating Return on Assets (ROA)

From The Hoss's Mouth

Return on assets (ROA) is a tool investors use to determine how competent an organization is at using its assets to produce earnings. There are two primary formulas for calculating ROA.

Method One: Net Profit Margin x Asset Turnover

Method Two: Net Income / Average Assets for the Period

Both methods are acceptable but the investor must make sure that s/he uses the same method when performing these calculations, otherwise when comparing companies the results may be skewed. Just like when calculating the win percentage of two horses in a race, a handicapper would not use a formula which calculates win percentage by using total wins divided by total races for one horse and a formula that uses total wins at today's distance divided by total races at today's distance for another. This type of comparison would not produce meaningful results.

Generally speaking, the higher the ROA the better, however remember that widely different industries produce widely different ROA's. Industries such as railroads are asset heavy and will have lower ROA's than asset light companies. So always compare companies that are in the same industries; to use an old cliche: compare apples to apples.

There are many free online financial services which provide you with ROA numbers for all companies listed on the stock exchange, therefore Money Magazine Hoss is not going to bore you with sample calculations. Why perform all these mathematical calculations yourself when somebody is doing it for you and for free? For example, a quick look at Yahoo Financial shows that Amazon has a ROA of 6.93%.

Stay on Track,

Money Magazine Hoss

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Sunday, August 2, 2009

Calculating Return On Equity (ROE)

From The Hoss's Mouth

Financial analysts differ in their opinions of the value of using Return On Equity calculations to evaluate whether or not to buy shares in a company. Before Money Magazine Hoss gives you the pros on cons of this argument, lets examine the equation for calculating Return On Equity (ROE).

ROE= Net Income/Shareholder Equity

Financial analysts in favour of using ROE as an indication of when to buy stock suggest that you track ROE, and when you see a company with a double digit ROE and which is continually increasing it might be wise to consider buying the stock. You can use one of the many free or pay for service financial web sites available on the Internet for tracking ROE. Note: Not all continue to list ROE, but many do.

Other financial analysts consider ROE to be of little or no value to the potential investor. They point out that Net Income is not always a reliable corporate performance measurement. Why? Because companies use varying accounting procedures when calculating items such as capitalization, depreciation and growth rate, to name a few. Therefore, they conclude the formula for calculating ROE is not always reliable to determine a company’s success or corporate value.

The differing opinions are not unlike those of handicappers selecting a horse to bet on. Some use a horse’s total earnings divided by total races to determine the horse’s potential class. Many handicappers frown on this practice, as it does not take into account other factors such as but not limited to age, sex, distance, and surface.

In summary, the use of ROE by investors as a tool for investment purposes is a matter of personal choice.

Stay on Track,

Money Magazine Hoss

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