Advanced Investing

In the latest episode of the podcast, we take a detailed (and technical) look at the inner workings of ETFs. I’m joined in the studio by Erika Toth, a director at BMO ETFs whose role is to help both investors and advisors understand how these funds are structured, how they trade, and how they should be used in a portfolio.

We are taking this episode to round up all the recent goings-on and tackle a few residual issues that we believe need some attention. We start off by contemplating how much we have both been learning with the wealth of guests that come through our doors.

Benjamin and Cameron are talking real estate, specifically mortgage rates and REITs. For the first time since the early 90s, fixed mortgage rates are lower than variable ones, which have always been the popular choice. However, due to the fact that Canada’s yield curve is inverted,  short term rates higher than their long-term counterparts.

PWL Capital recently published a white paper on how to estimate future stock and bond returns. Using the same methodology, what are the expected returns for the Vanguard Asset Allocation ETFs, in terms of both the expected premium above inflation, and the expected return including inflation.

Let’s talk about the S&P 500 Index, one of the oldest and most familiar stock indexes in the world. According to the S&P Dow Jones Indices website, the S&P 500 tracks 500 U.S. stocks that cover roughly 80% of available U.S. market capitalization.

As the founder and CIO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, host of the Masters in Business Podcast and regular financial blogger for more than 15 years, Barry Ritholtz is someone we have been dying to speak to on the show and who we have taken loads of inspiration from over the years.

A better way to convert savings into retirement income. The defined benefit pension plan, a traditional mainstay of retirement planning, is on its way to extinction.

I recently received a great question from a reader, and I promised him I would follow up with a detailed blog post. Here it is!

Joining us on the podcast today is Jonathan Clements, former Wall Street Journal columnist, founder of HumbleDollar and author of From Here to Financial Happiness, How to Think About Money and several other books. Jonathan is a well-known name in the world of personal finance as he has been giving financial advice for more than 20 years.

We have joining us Dr. David Blitzer who is the Managing Director and Chairman of the S&P Dow Jones index committee. He has been there from the time when indexes were barely even being traded and the first time S&P Futures began trading, and since then, indexing has turned into the massive phenomenon we all know today.