Crypto ETFs: Mitigating fraud risk through regulated institutions
Cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) allow investors to hold a variety of cryptocurrencies in a single investment product. While all of Canada’s Big Six banks now include some crypto ETFs in their portfolios, these investments represent only a small fraction of their holdings. A major advantage of ETFs is their ability to offer protection from market volatility. However, given the speculative nature of crypto means it can still be extremely volatile, even within an ETF structure.
When managing your portfolio, timing is critical
The impact of time in finance is decisive, says Benjamin Croitoru, Academic Director of the McGill Personal Finance Essentials course. But people don’t realize how small decisions can make all the difference over time. Getting the timing right when you’re buying or selling stocks is one way that time plays an important role in long-term financial growth.
Students master finance at 7th Deloitte MMF Synergy Challenge
Students in the McGill Desautels Master of Management in Finance (MMF) program showcased their financial prowess at the 7th Deloitte MMF Synergy Challenge on October 30.
For hedge funds, trade volumes have a substantial effect on investment returns
The timing of stock trades can be as important as the choice of equities to buy or sell. When trading volume is low, large purchases can drive up a stock’s price, raising costs for the trader.
Few university students study finance, but McGill’s Personal Finance Essentials course can help
Post-secondary students are at the cusp of earning professional incomes, making it important for them to begin developing good financial habits, says Benjamin Croitoru on a podcast with Moolala. Croitoru is an Associate Professor of Finance and the Academic Director of the McGill Personal Finance Essentials, a free, online course offered in collaboration with RBC Future Launch and The Globe and Mail.
Canadian pension funds are already overweight on Canadian equities
Canada’s eight largest pension funds are big players in the world of institutional investing with more than $1 trillion under management collectively. Pressure is being applied for the funds to invest a greater proportion of their money in Canadian stocks.
Changes in pension funds portfolio management produce different demands for analysts and managers
Historically, pension funds managed their portfolios using a strategic asset allocation approach. Fundamentally, this meant buying a mix of asset classes with the highest probability of achieving the necessary returns, at a level of risk that was acceptable – or buying and holding. But since the mid-2000s, some large pension funds have adopted a total portfolio approach strategy, which seeks to maximize returns while keeping a portfolio’s volatility low.
A lack of strategic assets can be a deterrent to domestic investment for large pension funds
In 2023, the Government of Australia suggested that some of the country’s pension assets might be used to fund social housing or renewable energy. The idea received mixed reception, and to understand why, Lachlan Maddock of Investor Strategy News looked to Canada, where a group of business leaders called for pension funds to increase their holdings of Canadian equities.
Opening infrastructure could encourage Canada’s pension funds to invest more domestically
The Government of Canada is exploring ways to increase investments in the country’s pension fund equities, but doing so sacrifices returns, according to The Economist. Over the past decade, Canadian mid and small-cap stocks have returned just 3-4% each year, while U.S. stocks have seen a 13% return annually. Opening infrastructure to investment is another way to encourage pension funds to invest more of their capital domestically.
Reproducibility in Management Science
Authors: Miloš Fišar, Ben Greiner, Christoph Huber, Elena Katok, Ali I. Ozkes, and the Management Science Reproducibility Collaboration*
Learning from Biodiversity: Is Diversity in Financial Ecosystems Important for Economic Growth and Stability?
Authors:: Vihang R. Errunza, Basma Majerbi and Maxwell Tuuli
Publication:Â IMF Economic Review, Forthcoming
Sebastien Betermier and David Schumacher winners of the Best Paper Using EUROFIDAI Daily Data Award
Sebastien Betermier and David Schumacher (both Associate Professors in Finance) along with their co-author Ali Shahrad (Assistant Professor, University of Saskatchewan) have won the “Best Paper Using EUROFIDAI Daily Data Award” in 2023 for their research paper titled “Mutual Fund Proliferation and Entry Deterrence”, published in the
Pension funds can drive greater returns by participating more directly in value creation
Pension funds manage enormous amounts of capital, but they don’t create as much value as other players in the financial sector. Entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and private equity funds all play a more direct role in launching projects and creating value.
