A robo-advisor is a form of investment management which relies on algorithms to automate portfolio management and avoids all human interaction in the portfolio construction and rebalancing process. This automated process has given rise to a more affordable investment management option for the masses. But are robo-advisors really as effective as human advisors? What are the shortfalls of robo-advisors that investors need to know?

“Passive” investing removes human hunches from the process of what to buy and sell. Essentially, in a passive fund such as a passive Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), the portfolio manager follows a blueprint, such as an existing index, and does not actively manage the portfolio. However, if passive investing sounds like a simple, cost effective and easy way to protect and build wealth, why doesn’t everyone invest this way? The following article highlights 3 important ETF shortcomings all investors should be aware of.

Two of the most common investment analysis strategies are top-down and bottom-up investing, the former looking at bigger picture and more macro-economic factors and the latter at company-specific fundamentals and more micro-economic details. While both approaches have the same goal of identifying profitable stocks, this article looks at some of the benefits of a bottom-up investing strategy.

Closet indexing is a strategy in which an active portfolio manager closely mimics the portfolio’s benchmark index. This can be unfavourable for investors because they are paying higher management fees for a portfolio that achieves a return profile similar to the benchmark index.  

This article takes a closer look at closet indexing and discusses why it matters as well as useful methods to protect yourself, as an investor, from active portfolio managers who are closet indexers.

The internet is oversaturated with articles that tout the advantages of robo-advisors. And yet, high net worth Canadians continue to entrust their wealth to traditional investment managers. This article discusses why traditional investment management firms are here to stay, and the benefits of actively managed portfolios.