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  • What is the price of gold in Canada? And more about gold investing – MoneySense

    What is the price of gold in Canada? And more about gold investing – MoneySense

    That, together with the fear of a stock-market correction, has prompted a lot of Canadians who never considered owning the precious metal before to wonder whether this age-old asset should be part of their portfolios. After all, Canada’s largest robo-advisor, Wealthsimple, allocates 2.5% of its clients’ accounts to gold—and 10% in its halal portfolios.

    Should it be part of yours? Or would you just be buying in at the peak? There’s no way to know, except in hindsight. There will always be “gold bugs” out there urging you to sell everything and buy gold before the world goes to pot. Their advice is best avoided.

    Here instead are some important facts around investing in gold that will help you make a better-informed decision.

    Why is gold so valued?

    Gold is used for a wide range of products—such as jewellery, dental fillings and electronics—but most of it is simply stored in vaults, in the form of gold bars. Like money itself or cryptocurrency, gold is valuable because people have decided it is. But unlike the other two, it’s immune to manipulation.

    As of mid-October, all the refined gold in the world, an estimated 212,582 tonnes, was worth a staggering USD$18.3 trillion. Mines around the world poured another 1,788 tonnes in the first half of 2024. So, the supply of gold is increasing, but slowly. And there’s little anyone can do to change that.

    Why do investors buy gold in Canada?

    As an investment, gold is classified as a commodity. That is, it’s a standardized and graded substance that trades globally. But unlike, say, soybeans or Brent crude oil, you can store a meaningful amount of gold in your jewellery drawer or safe deposit box. It’s also uniquely non-perishable; part of its appeal in ancient times was the fact it didn’t corrode like other metals. So, you can hold it indefinitely.

    If you own gold as an investment, it won’t generate any income; it’ll just go up and down in value according to supply and demand. Over the very long term, its price tends to track the rate of inflation.

    Most importantly, gold has a history as a store of value and unit of exchange. Many central banks still hold it to help stabilize their currencies. In developing countries like India and China, many people consider it more trustworthy than paper or electronic money. This is why it continues to hold a privileged place in investment portfolios.

    Michael McCullough

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  • Wealthsimple reveals that it’s now profitable, after 10 years in operation – MoneySense

    Wealthsimple reveals that it’s now profitable, after 10 years in operation – MoneySense

    It also ditched U.S. expansion efforts after selling its U.S. book of business to Betterment in 2021, and sold its Wealthsimple for Advisors to Purpose Advisor Solutions as it focused in on Canadian consumers. 

    The company’s valuation is also down from its peak. Power Corp., which across several divisions together held a 55.1% undiluted equity interest as of June 30, said the fair value of its holding was $1.5 billion. That’s down from $2.1 billion in 2021. 

    But the company has still managed a steep climb in assets from growth across the board, whether it’s wealth management, trading and brokerage or its banking business, said Katchen. 

    It comes as Wealthsimple increasingly positions itself as a full-suite alternative to the big banks, including boosting its banking services last year, that has helped lead to a $20 billion boost to the bank’s net deposits. 

    “We’ve been pretty excited about a more complete product offering,” said Katchen.

    Product expansion to include mortgages, credit and insurance

    Wealthsimple, which also offers tax services after buying Simpletax in 2019, launched a mortgage offering earlier this year and plans more credit products ahead along with an expansion into insurance, he said.

    It’s all part of the company’s effort to rival the big banks, by having more than a trillion dollars in assets under administration. 

    While Katchen had originally said he’d want to reach that goal within the first 15 years, he’s now aiming for a slightly less ambitious timeline of within 20 years of co-founding Wealthsimple. 

    The Canadian Press

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  • Sister activism: Nuns push for change through stock investments – MoneySense

    Sister activism: Nuns push for change through stock investments – MoneySense

    Faith-based shareholder activism dates back to 1970s

    Up until the 1990s, the nuns had few investments. That changed as they began to set aside money to care for elderly sisters as the community aged.

    “We decided it was really important to do it in a responsible way,” said Sister Rose Marie Stallbaumer, who was the community’s treasurer for years. “We wanted to be sure that we weren’t just collecting money to help ourselves at the detriment of others.”

    Faith-based shareholder activism is often traced to the early 1970s, when religious groups put forth resolutions for American companies to withdraw from South Africa over apartheid.

    In 2004, the Mount St. Scholastica sisters joined the Benedictine Coalition for Responsible Investment, an umbrella group run by Sister Susan Mika, a nun based at a Texas monastery who has been working in the field since the 1980s.

    The Benedictine Coalition works closely with the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, which acts as a clearinghouse for shareholder resolutions, coordinating with faith-based groups—including dozens of Catholic orders—to leverage assets and file on social justice-oriented topics.

    The Benedictines have played a key role at ICCR for years, said Tim Smith, a senior policy advisor for the centre. It can be discouraging work, where the needle only moves slightly each year, but he said the sisters “have the endurance of long-distance runners.”

    The resolutions rarely pass, and even if they do, they’re usually non-binding. But they’re still an educational tool and a means to raise awareness inside a corporation. The Benedictine sisters have watched over the years as support for some of their resolutions has gone from low single digits to 30% or even a majority.

    Gradually environmental causes and human rights concerns have swayed some shareholders, even as a growing backlash foments against investments involving ESG (environmental, social and governance concerns).

    The Associated Press

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  • Fractional trading puts pricey stocks within reach of new and younger investors – MoneySense

    Fractional trading puts pricey stocks within reach of new and younger investors – MoneySense

    The basic investing rules still apply—so do your own research

    Marques warned trading, whether whole or fractional, isn’t for everyone—especially those who can’t make time to research a company before buying. 

    “Although it makes (trading) easier to do so fractionally with a smaller budget, that takes a lot of research,” Marques said. 

    “In many cases for your average Canadians who may not have the time or the interest or the expertise in researching companies or taking this kind of a gamble on just one company, it’s still more appropriate to work with managed portfolios,” she suggested.

    The basics of investing still apply to fractional investing, Boisvert said, such as keeping in mind your time horizon and risk tolerance. 

    For instance, if you have a goal to put a down payment on a home in the next year, the investor shouldn’t be putting that money into equities that can be volatile in the short-term, she explained.

    Instead, rely on tried-and-true investment concepts like diversification, which is also easier to achieve with fractional units, she said. Fractional shares also make it more accessible to purchase stocks at various price points, especially when the purchases are spread across months. 

    It’s important to not put all of your eggs in one basket, and have no more than 5% of a portfolio in any one holding, Boisvert added.

    “When we’re talking about buying units of shares, keep in mind to avoid FOMO (fear of missing out),” Boisvert warned. 

    The Canadian Press

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  • Corus Entertainment announces further layoffs to help cut costs – MoneySense

    Corus Entertainment announces further layoffs to help cut costs – MoneySense

    The job losses, which amount to around 800 positions, come during a turbulent year for the Toronto-based television and radio broadcaster, mired by advertising revenue declines, regulatory challenges and licensing battles.

    On Monday, Corus reported a loss attributable to shareholders of $769.9 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $495.1 million a year earlier as its revenue fell 16%. Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $331.8 million, down from $397.3 million a year earlier.

    The drop came as television revenue in the quarter sank 17% to $308.2 million compared with $371.2 million last year, while radio revenue slipped 9.9% to $23.6 million compared with $26.2 million a year earlier.

    “We’re making tough decisions to shutter areas of the business we can no longer sustain and pause longer term development activities while we implement efficiency initiatives,” said co-chief executive John Gossling during a conference call with analysts.

    “Our plan is to emerge as a smaller but more profitable business with a sustainable future.”

    Inflation and other factors have impacted ad revenue

    Corus has attributed the advertising slump this year in part to lingering effects from the 2023 Hollywood strikes that delayed production of key programming, along with inflationary and competitive challenges.

    In May, Canada’s broadcasting regulator granted the company’s request to ease some of its Canadian content spending requirements after it warned of an increasingly dire financial situation. The CRTC noted the risk of Corus exiting the Canadian broadcasting landscape “would greatly reduce the options Canadian viewers have for content.”

    Then last month, the company was hit by the loss of rights to key brands like HGTV, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Magnolia Network and OWN, as of the end of this year.

    The Canadian Press

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