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Piling into U.S. stocks? Don’t Expect the Past Decade to Repeat

By Dan Hallett on January 15th, 2025

The head-turning performance of the S&P 500 Index has many investors clamouring for more exposure to these five hundred stocks. This widely-followed barometer of mostly-larger U.S. stocks has posted total returns in excess of 18% in six of the...

The S&P 500’s Three Surprising Traits

By Dan Hallett on November 6th, 2024

It’s hard to believe that many investors were repelled by the idea of buying U.S. stocks in the early 2010s. A decade and a bit later, most investors are infatuated with U.S. stocks. The S&P 500 Index of larger U.S. companies is the most...

Savvy DIY Investors Must Plan For Succession

By Dan Hallett on September 4th, 2024

While do-it yourself investors are notorious for making big behavioural mistakes, there is a unique subset of very savvy investors. While they do not make the same costly mistakes of their less disciplined peers, they will face a significant...

The Signs of when to Leave Your Money Manager

By Dan Hallett on May 22nd, 2024

Over the past two decades, investors have had seemingly little patience for an underperforming investment or money manager. Investors tend to dump the laggard for “something that’s doing better”. But an understanding of market...

Here’s How We Invested A Bundle In A Tiny ETF – And Did It Efficiently

By Dan Hallett on April 3rd, 2024

Many investors and advisors are reluctant to buy an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) with a relatively small asset base or low trading volume. This results from the fear of inputting a trade so large that it causes an unfavourable move in the market price...

Three Reasons I’ve Never Recommended A GIC – And I’m Not Starting Now

By Dan Hallett on March 5th, 2024

In the mid-1990s, interest rates offered on guaranteed investment certificates (GICs) ranged from 6% to 8% per year for five-year terms. Those rates – generous by today’s standards – were a far cry from the double-digit rates available just a...

Covered Call Writing: 101

By Dan Hallett on May 2nd, 2023

There are few investments that investors love more than those that spin out regular cash payments. One such strategy – Covered Call Writing – is attracting a lot of attention and investor dollars. Many investors view this strategy as generating...

We Avoided These Trendy Investment Themes – and Have No Regrets

By Dan Hallett on March 14th, 2023

In 2016, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve published a paper of its study of the bankruptcy filings of individuals living in close proximity to the winners of large lottery jackpots. They found that when an individual wins the lottery, people in the...

Higher Rates – Not Bad for Bonds Longer Term

By Dan Hallett on November 22nd, 2022

Throughout most of this century, investors have been down on bonds. The argument was that rates are historically low and are bound to rise – which would push bond prices down. (Prior to this year, I’ve heard that my entire career.) With North...

When It’s Time to Leave Your Money Manager

By Dan Hallett on October 14th, 2022

Over the past two decades, investors have had seemingly little patience for an underperforming investment or money manager. Investors tend to dump the laggard for “something that’s doing better”. But an understanding of market...

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