Please give me your thoughts on Gluskin Sheff + Associates. I enjoy your weekly comments. Thank you for the valuable advice through the past decade.

Gluskin Sheff + Associates, $27.25, symbol GS on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 31.7 million; Market cap: $839.5 million; www.gluskinsheff.com), is a Toronto-based wealth management firm that serves high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors. It has around $8.2 billion in assets under management.

In August 2014, the company acquired… Read More

Pat: I am adjusting my portfolio more to income and safety as I am two years away from retirement. What is your opinion of the Aston Hill VIP Income Fund? Thanks again for all your valuable financial advice.

Aston Hill VIP Income Fund, $8.70, symbol VIP.UN on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 36.0 million; Market cap: $313.2 million; www.astonhill.ca), is a closed-end fund that holds a portfolio of mostly Canadian stocks, as well as bonds and some U.S. stocks. The fund used to be called… Read More

Thanks for your not-quite-perfect advice over the years. What am I missing with the Brompton VIP Fund? It looks like a closed-end fund trading at less than net asset value and a 16% return. Thanks.

Brompton VIP Income Fund, $6.28, symbol VIP.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 47.2 million; Market cap: $296.4 million), holds a portfolio of mostly income trusts, along with some common stocks and bonds.

The fund focuses on business trusts, with smaller weightings in real estate investment trusts… Read More

Overseas Growth Offsets Subprime Risk

GREAT-WEST LIFECO INC. $35 (Toronto symbol GWO; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 892.2 million; Market cap: $31.2 billion; SI Rating: Above average) earned $0.61 a share (total $544 million) in the second quarter of 2007, up 17.3% from $0.52 a share ($461 million)… Read More