Royal taps into growing ETF market

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $53 (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $74.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 4.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rbc.com) plans to enter the fast-growing market for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in Canada. The… Read More

Non-bank Buys for Growth & Income

GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $34 (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; SI Rating: Above average) is Canada’s largest insurance company, with assets under administration of $197.5 billion.

Power Corp. of Canada, through subsidiary Power Financial Corp., controls about 70% of Great-West’s shares.

In Canada, the insurance… Read More

Events Rattle Markets and Managers

Uncertainty over interest rates, oil prices and the Mideast situation has hurt world equity markets in the past few months. However, we feel that this is a temporary setback, and not the start of a protracted bear market.

These three investment firms earn much of their… Read More