Insights
Santa, Stocks, & Statistical Flaws: The Holiday Naughty List Edition
Each year brings a fresh batch of seasonal market stories, Santa Claus rallies, “Sell in May & go away,” the January effect, even Super Bowl predictions. They all promise hidden rhythms in returns. But over time, the data has stripped these patterns of their power. At Westmount, we remind investors that lasting results come from fundamentals, discipline, and a long-term view, not from chasing calendar quirks. As the year winds down, stay focused on what matters, a resilient plan grounded in prediction.
Beyond Beta: Understanding Risk Through a Planner’s Lens
Risk in investing isn’t one thing, it’s perspective. For Portfolio Managers, it’s numbers: volatility, drawdowns, and betas. For clients, it’s emotion: the fear of plans derailing or goals slipping away. This gap between data and feeling is where true wealth planning lives. At Westmount Wealth, risk is reframed not as something to avoid, but to understand and design around - through diversified behaviors, intentional cash flow structures, emotional guidance, and goal-based framing.
Luck vs. Skill: Rolling the Dice in Asset Management
Can investors reliably identify skilled managers in real time? Evidence suggests not. Studies by Fama and French show that only a few outperform beyond luck, and even then persistence is elusive. SPIVA data confirms most managers lag benchmarks over time. The lesson is clear: focus on controllable factors instead.
Hitting All the Right Notes
Music is an integral part of our lives. It can lift our spirits and provide an escape from the daily grind. The growth in music consumption has made music publishing catalogues an attractive investment.
Have you ever wondered how to invest in music?
The Tax-Free Savings Account: Don’t judge an account by its name.
The TFSA can be an very powerful tool for wealth generation. Investment income earned inside your TFSA (interest, dividends, and capital gains) do not create an income tax liability. Gains are truly tax-free.
A Good Problem to Have
If you were successful in generating wealth during your working years, your advisor or financial planner may inform you that you have more money than you will ever spend. Instead of worrying about “do I have enough,” your concern shifts to “how do I protect what I have saved?”
The Tax-Free Savings Account
The TFSA can be a very powerful tool for wealth generation. Investment income earned inside your TFSA (interest, dividends, and capital gains) do not create an income tax liability. Gains are truly tax-free.
Westmount Wealth Interviews AGF's Greg Valliere
Westmount Wealth’s Lorenzo Pederzani sits down with Greg Valliere, Chief U.S. Policy Strategist of AGF Investments, to provide a brief overview of the current market conditions.
What’s behind record redemptions in the Canadian mutual-fund space?
Among those paying attention to the Investment Funds Institute of Canada’s monthly fund statistics report, the most recent sets of statistics from the months of April and May are likely to raise eyebrows.
There's an art and a science to this business
Lorenzo Pederzani explains why communication is vital and how he's grown his book during the pandemic.
Wealth Professional: Advisor Feature
Lorenzo Pederzani is no stranger to changing direction as new situations demand.
Wealth Professional: Head to Head
In an era marked by technological advances, are consumer staples still the reliable investment they once were?
Is a customized investment portfolio a bad idea?
How does your advisor pick which clients receives the first phone call when the next 2008 happens?
Retirement stress test part 2 – sequence risk
Sequence risk becomes a big problem once you start withdrawing from your portfolio.