Harry believes that if you get sold on actively managed funds from the big Canadian banks, then you’re making a huge mistake. The funds from CIBC, Royal Bank, The Bank of Montreal, Toronto Dominion Bank and ScotiaBank are rip-offs, according to Harry. Why does he feel that way? Harry understands that they charge nearly 2.5% …
Tag Archive: Harry’s Account
Permanent link to this article: http://andrewhallam.com/2011/04/05-04-11-harry%e2%80%99s-speaks-up-for-indexes/
Dec
16
16-12-10 – Don’t Invest in Actively Managed Mutual Funds – suggests Harry
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know about the bragging retiree I showcase regularly. But like Muhammad Ali in the 1960s, Harry can back up his claims. He fired his financial advisor in 2008 and created an account of exchange traded funds. Because he’s retired, he withdraws small sums of money from …
Permanent link to this article: http://andrewhallam.com/2010/12/16-12-10-don%e2%80%99t-invest-in-actively-managed-mutual-funds-suggests-harry/
Oct
05
03-10-10 – Harry’s Index Funds Make Actively Managed Mutual Funds Look Silly
I feel sorry for the portfolio managers at the Big 5 Canadian banks. Sure their gargantuan salaries make my salary look like a babysitter’s annual haul, but managing an expensive mutual fund has to be accompanied by an untouchable level of dissatisfaction. Take the Royal Bank’s balanced mutual fund as an example. There are generally …
Permanent link to this article: http://andrewhallam.com/2010/10/30-10-10-harrys-index-funds-make-actively-managed-mutual-funds-look-silly/
May
22
Great Investors are Odd
That good-looking kid in your high school class was voted “most likely to succeed”. He always wore the latest fashions, had perfect hair, always said the right things to attract the girls who were interested in a pretty face, and he went on to get a degree in Finance, where he ended up running a …
Permanent link to this article: http://andrewhallam.com/2010/05/great-investors-are-odd/
Mar
18
18-03-10 – Harry Beats the Banks at Their Own Game
Are you making your bank’s shareholders rich? Most financial advisors will sell you actively managed mutual funds. But here’s the rub. Academic studies on mutual funds all point to the same conclusions: There’s no evidence that people can consistently choose the top performing funds ahead of time. Nor is there evidence that an advisor can …
Permanent link to this article: http://andrewhallam.com/2010/03/18-03-10-harry-beats-the-banks-at-their-own-game/
Mar
17
14-03-10 – Harry’s Account Continues to Impress
Taking advantage of low cost exchange traded index funds and developing a responsible portfolio allocation, our friend Harry sets a nice precedent for others to follow. In August, 2008, he started his account. The Canadian stock market is roughly 10% lower today (March 14, 2010) than it was in August, 2008. Likewise, the U.S. and …
Permanent link to this article: http://andrewhallam.com/2010/03/14-03-10-harrys-account-continues-to-impress/
Dec
05
05-12-09 – Harry Still Makes Actively Managed Accounts Look Bad
In August of 2008, our friend Harry kissed good-bye to the expensive financial products that his advisor sold him. With annual expense ratio fees of 2.6% for his Canadian mutual funds, adding with an estimated hidden fund cost of a further 0.75% per year for the fund’s expenses related to buying and selling stocks within …
Permanent link to this article: http://andrewhallam.com/2009/12/05-12-09-harry-still-makes-actively-managed-accounts-look-bad/
Oct
10
14-10-09 – Harry is Not Happy…
I have an apology to make to my friend Harry … I have been tracking his balanced investment account—made up entirely of stock and bond index funds– and I have showcased his results on this website. But Harry isn’t happy… During my last post, I indicated that Harry ‘s account had dropped 0.7% between September …
Permanent link to this article: http://andrewhallam.com/2009/10/14-10-09-harry-is-not-happy/
Oct
03
03-10-09 – Harry is Ahead of Canadian Actively Managed Balanced Funds
This update continues our tracking of Harry’s account. Harry has a diversified, balanced index fund account. I’ve compared its performance over the past 12 months to the respective performances of Canada’s most well known actively managed balanced mutual funds. The premise is that our banks and financial institutions charge too much. And over the long …
Permanent link to this article: http://andrewhallam.com/2009/10/03-10-09-hary-is-ahead-of-canadian-actively-managed-balanced-unds/
Jul
30
30-07-09 – Harry Trounced America’s Biggest Mutual Fund Company
I started this account of diversified index funds (ETFs) for Harry (not his real name), a friend of mine on August 15, 2008, shortly before the markets collapsed. I first posted a blog entry about it in May 2009 and hoped that it could serve as an example for “Do it yourself” investors. This particular account …
Permanent link to this article: http://andrewhallam.com/2009/07/30-07-09-harry-trounced-americas-biggest-mutual-fund-company/
Jun
05
05-06-09 – Harry’s Account revealed!
Imagine walking up to your financial advisor with your newfound knowledge on the superiority of index funds over actively managed funds. In short, you want to swap your actively managed funds (which pay your advisor very well) for passively managed index funds (which don’t pay your advisor very well). But she says, “Oh, indexes don’t …
Permanent link to this article: http://andrewhallam.com/2009/06/50-06-09-harrys-account-revealed/
Welcome to My Blog!
I'm Andrew Hallam. Many people aren't comfortable talking about money. It's not usually a conversational dinner-time topic, and its principles are rarely taught in schools. My goal is to have a "conversation" about it here, on this blog. If you read something you find intriguing, please comment or ask your questions!
I am also the author of the book, Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned at School
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February 4, 2012 (1:25) Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned at School Andrew, Check amazon for my review. Glad to help spread the word! Thanks for the response a...
February 3, 2012 (6:57) Singapore American School Teachers Making Some Nice Profits Hey Andrew, This is a bit late to be writing...but it is about your article entitled 'America'...
February 2, 2012 (9:20) Singapore American School Teachers Making Some Nice Profits Hey Giovanni, You asked a great question. And I think it's great that you are saving for a ho...
February 1, 2012 (8:44) Singapore American School Teachers Making Some Nice Profits Hey Stanley, Thanks for the kind words about the book. Using a Vanguard Target Retirement fun...
February 1, 2012 (11:24) Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned at School Hi Brian, I'm glad you liked the book. If you have a couple of minutes, and you wouldn't mind...
February 1, 2012 (11:16) Retiring in Comfort—Without Ever Experiencing a Canadian Winter Again Hi Terry, I think the answers to both of your questions are: yes and yes. Let me know what...
February 1, 2012 (11:12) Biggest Losers Of Finance Are Living Up To Their Billing Thanks Barry! I should do an update soon. I think the loser stocks are doing poorly, based on...
January 31, 2012 (4:02) How Canada's Banks Let Canadian Investors Down: Part 1 of 7 Thanks for offering the review BikeDeb. They really help! My wife and I also have two tandems...
January 31, 2012 (11:25) Singapore American School Teachers Making Some Nice Profits Hey Andrew , I am a big fan of yours after reading your book. I always lookout for this websi...
January 31, 2012 (3:14) How Canada's Banks Let Canadian Investors Down: Part 1 of 7 I will be doing exactly as you said. I am so thrilled that you actually answered me, as a newbie...