Tausi Insider

A man looks at a Bloomberg terminal. BEN FATHERS/AFP/Getty Images David McLean is the Owner of McLean Asset Management and Manager of the ROMC Fund . Active investment funds have been overcharging investors for decades. Nowhere is this more prominent than in the alternative fund category, colloquially known as hedge funds. Investment management used to be a profession. Today, it’s a business. Traditionally, fund management companies offered but one fund, managed for long-term maximum real return after taxes, in order to increase purchasing power for savers. Today, a typical manager offers hundreds of funds. And as what used to be a craft devolves into a numbers game, the whole industry has weakened. Assets in the hedge-fund industry have fallen by nearly US$220-billion since the end of 2021, with global economic conditions leading to poor performance, and investors redeeming funds in droves as a result. Two of the world’s richest, most successful investment managers, Warren Buffett a...

A new report suggests Canadians’ worries about debt are rising amid higher interest rates and persistent inflation. Bankruptcy trustee firm MNP says its quarterly consumer debt index fell 15 points since its last survey to an all-time low of 77 points. A lower score on the index suggests higher anxiety about debt. MNP president Grant Bazian says inflation is eroding household budgets and, at the same time, financially fragile and overleveraged Canadians face sharply rising borrowing costs. The report, based on online interviews conducted in December, says the percentage of Canadians concerned about their debt rose seven percentage points to 47 per cent, a record high. It says 64 per cent say that as interest rates rise they are more concerned about their ability to pay their debts, while 59 per cent say if interest rates go up much more, they will be in financial trouble. https://www.tausiinsider.com/canadians-debt-concerns-rising-amid-higher-interest-rates-and-persistent-inflat...

Canadian National Railway Co. says it earned $1.42 billion in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2022. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press Canadian National Railway Co. CNR-T says it earned $1.42 billion in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2022, up from $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021. Montreal-based CN says its fourth quarter earnings worked out to $2.10 per share, a 23 per cent increase year over year. The railway company reported fourth quarter revenues of $4.54 billion, an increase of $789 million or 21 per cent. Its operating ratio, defined as operating expenses as a percentage of revenues and a key metric of railroad efficiency, remained flat on an adjusted basis at 57.9 per cent. The railroad says the increase in revenue was mainly due to higher fuel surcharge revenue as a result of higher fuel prices, the positive translation impact of a weaker Canadian dollar, freight rate increases and higher volumes of Canadian grain. For the full year 2022, CN reported net income of ...