Our succinct perspective on key investment and wealth-related issues. Looking to History to Understand the World Today Ted Conrod, President at Focus, recently hosted an exciting evening with one of Canada’s preeminent historians and an acclaimed author, Margaret MacMillan. Unquestionably, with conflicts raging in Europe and the Middle East and 70 nations (representing over half the […]

Our succinct perspective on key investment and wealth-related issues. Inflation and Interest Rates: “Higher for Longer” or “Lower, Sooner”? James Stellick, Managing Director at Focus, recently hosted an evening with David Rosenberg, Founder & President of Rosenberg Research. In front of over 100 guests at the Park Hyatt Hotel, David delivered a thoughtful thesis as […]

Our succinct perspective on key investment and wealth-related issues. Planning strategies to keep the peace One of the best kept secrets in North America is the Muskoka Lakes. Ontarians know them. New Yorkers, too. But much of the rest of the continent is blissfully unaware of the watery treasure that resides just north of Toronto: […]

Our succinct perspective on key investment and wealth-related issues. Japan was set to be taken. Sailing from the mainland were some nine hundred ships and one hundred thousand men under the command of Kublai Khan, grandson of legendary conqueror, Genghis Khan. The seasoned military commander had marshalled a force powerful enough to overwhelm the island’s […]

Our succinct perspective on key investment and wealth-related issues. As Canadians, we associate springtime with longer days, warmer weather, playoff hockey… and tax season. It’s not surprising that many have an aversion to thinking about the latter: wealthy Canadians pay among the highest levels of personal income tax in the world.  In fact, as you […]

Our succinct perspective on key investment and wealth-related issues. Following a munificent 2021 in markets, investors could be forgiven for feeling a little complacent. After all, most assets in their portfolios delivered sizable gains last year, propelled by a heady mix of earnings growth, low interest rates, unprecedented central bank stimulus, and a liquidity-fueled appetite […]

Our succinct perspective on key investment and wealth-related issues. “Unprecedented” is a word we have heard frequently in the last two years. And while we are reluctant to contribute to its overuse, the extraordinary fiscal and monetary stimulus enacted in the wake of COVID-19 pulled global bond yields to low levels that were truly… unprecedented. […]

Our succinct perspective on key investment and wealth-related issues. If you follow the financial news, lately you have heard a lot about “infrastructure.” You have likely seen headlines touting government plans to build new infrastructure – assets and networks that facilitate critical elements of our daily lives and economic activities (think of toll roads, airports, […]

Our succinct perspective on key investment and wealth-related issues. Your “number” is the required rate of return on your investment portfolio that allows you to achieve your financial goals. If you are a high-net-worth investor and you don’t know your number (or you are not sure), you certainly are not alone. However, lacking this key […]

Our succinct perspective on key investment and wealth-related issues. “Risk” is a loaded word that means different things to different people. When it comes to public securities, many investors equate it with volatility or the frequency and magnitude of changes in the price of an asset. We prefer to think of it as the chance […]