Useful
sites for funds, stocks, and online discussions
Do-it-yourself
investors, or DIYs, are truly unique when viewed in the context of Canadian
investors. Speaking from practical experience, most people seem to want some
sort of advice on their investments. Others are in this large gray area, where
they know there is much they need to learn about financial matters, but figure
they can do a better job than the advisors with whom they’ve spoken. I call
these folks forced DIYs because they’d prefer to be with an advisor, but can
find one that’s good enough – so they’re forced to go it alone.
True DIYs,
however, love being in the driver’s seat of their portfolios and have an
insatiable hunger for information on investing and personal finance. As a
result, DIYs can be more knowledgeable than many calling themselves advisors.
For this Canadian minority, I’ll suggest a few resources that will be of
particular interest – assuming they don’t already know about them.
Before
talking about the country’s biggest fund sites, it’s worthy to note that this
site has good mutual fund snapshots (check out the drop down menu along the
left side) and a weekly column that can be insightful at times. That said,
there are a few other mutual fund sites that may be useful.
The Fund
Library (http://www.fundlibrary.com/)
is Canada’s original web site dedicated to mutual funds. Visitors will find
lots of content contributed from a variety of experts, most of which work for
firms sponsoring the site. Resident fund analyst, Steve Kangas, pens his weekly
musings on the fund industry and other relevant investing issues in a section
named “Investment Café”.
Morningstar.ca
(http://www.morningstar.ca) is one of
the more informative mutual fund sites in Canada. Getting the best of their
free information requires a registration but it doesn’t cost a thing. You’ll
get detailed information on most funds and analyst opinions on many. The most
useful information on this site is something called Manager Monitor – profiles
of mutual fund managers.
Globefund.com
(http://www.globefund.com) has much of
the same fund-specific information found at the other sites listed. Its unique
features include easy-to-use fund charting functions, a quick link to relevant
Globe and Mail fund articles, and links to their monthly report on mutual fund
funds.
Use the
fund ratings from these last three sites with a grain of salt. As we saw in
this August article (http://www.sterlingmutuals.com/Telus_FundRaters_17aug2001.htm),
the popular fund ratings have no real success in predicting future winners and
are unduly influenced by recent performance. Use them as a summary of past
performance and to weed out the big losers amongst funds – but not to pick your
winners.
Many
popular sites have stock information, like MSN, and the last two mutual fund
sites noted above. Those are well known, so my focus here will be to highlight
a couple of valuable sites that aren’t as mainstream.
StingyInvestor.com
(http://www.stingyinvestor.com/)
is the creation of Dr. Norman Rothery, a scientist and investing enthusiast.
Rothery is a former colleague and current research partner. His stock analysis
method embodies the principles of Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, the fathers
of value investing. StingyInvestor.com offers handy stock screeners on North
American stocks, in addition to insightful and detailed essays on stock picking
and reprints of articles Rothery writes for Canadian MoneySaver magazine. Free
e-mail newsletters are offered, but his Rothery Report, a paid-subscription
newsletter, is a true bargain for any stingy investor.
Value
Investigator (http://www.valueinvestigator.com/)
is a web site set up by money manager Irwin Michael, of ABC Funds (http://www.abcfunds.com). The site was
created in 1999 when his classic value style of picking stocks was shunned by
the investing public and the media alike. He uses the site to more clearly
explain how he picks stocks and the reasoning behind his buys, holds, and
sells. Michael is arguably one of North America’s most astute money managers,
and offers a great deal of insight into his management style and the stocks he
follows.
For those
who don’t know, indexing (or passive investing) is popular among DIYs. Indexing
refers to simply gaining exposure to an entire stock index, like the S&P
500, rather than trying to find a manager who will beat the market by picking
the best stocks. Call the latter active management. That said, here are a
couple of sites you must bookmark.
IndexFunds.com
(http://www.indexfunds.com/) is
perhaps the best single site on indexing and index investments. Its full
article archive features insights from bright analysts and managers such as
William Bernstein, Gavin Quill, and Larry Swedroe. (Insight into the Canadian
indexing market is provided by yours truly.) A lively discussion forum
addresses everything from basic topics like figuring out an appropriate asset
mix, to more complex discussions on investment theory. This site is gushing
with information.
Bylo Selhi
(http://www.bylo.org/), pronounced “Buy-Low
Sell-High”, is the pseudonym of an indexing enthusiast who frequents investing
discussion forums. His site is a compendium of investment information and
articles, with a particular focus on indexing. Overall, very educational.
The Wealthy
Boomer (http://www.wealthyboomer.com/)
is a site run by National Post columnist Jonathan Chevreau. The best part of
this web site is the vibrant and informative discussion forum, which is
moderated by Chevreau. In fact, I participate in this forum and if you hang
around long enough, you’ll notice that many financial experts and other bright
individuals are regulars. Most post under aliases, but some (like me) use their
real names, or shortened versions thereof. Registration is free and required to
join a discussion, but not if only reading discussion threads.
The Fund
Library (http://www.fundlibrary.com/)
also has an active discussion forum but is hot and cold. At times, it’s very
active and interesting, while other times the site may look deserted. Few, if
any participants use their real names and the discussion topics usually focus
on mutual funds.
A caveat is
always necessary with message boards and discussion forums. You never know who
is behind the aliases. Hence, it’s tough to assess participants’ motivations.
Also, many participants will, at times, register with multiple aliases, so be
careful.
Rob
Carrick, online investing expert and Globe and Mail columnist, recently
published a book called The Online Investor’s Companion: 50 Essential Financial Web Sites. The book
offers a guide on effective online investing, then summarizes what Carrick
thinks are the top 50 in a crowded field. His summaries are very useful, nicely
pointing out each site’s strengths and highlights. Since many of the best
investing sites around are American, Carrick also rates each site for its
amount and quality of Canadian content.
I can’t
guarantee that these sources of information will always be accurate, but my
experience has been they are all good sources of information and will appeal to
most DIYs, to some extent.
Dan Hallett, B.Comm., CFP, CFA is Senior
Investment Analyst with Sterling Mutuals Inc. He can be reached at dhallett@sterlingmutuals.com Sterling Mutuals Inc. is registered as a
mutual fund dealer in Ontario, British Columbia, and Manitoba.