Fund Hot News

The largest ETF was also the first of the exchange traded funds. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index Depository Receipts or SPDR was created in 1993 and is still the most popular in terms of trading activity.

Commonly referred to as “spiders”, the fund is managed by State Street Global Advisors and tracks the S&P 500 index. The fund’s assets are in excess of $60 million (US). It is considered a fairly inexpensive investment, although ETFs in general are less expensive than mutual and index funds. Continue reading ‘What Are the Largest ETF Companies?’ »

Companies offer two classes of stock: common and preferred. Don’t be fooled into believing preferred stock is superior to common stock simply because of their titles. These assets come with different financial terms and offer different rights to the owner. Here are some key differences between these investment options.

Common Stock

When the casual investor considers stocks, they are generally referring to common stock. Common stock represents ownership in a corporation. Stock owners participate in the profitability of a company by receiving dividends, which is the distribution of a company’s profits (usually quarterly). As a company grows, its dividends commonly increase, motivating investors to pay more for the stock. This appreciation of a stock’s value is another way investors profit from stock ownership. Historically, dividends have accounted for approximately 40% of a stocks return, and the other 60% has come from price appreciation. Continue reading ‘Common Stock Vs Preferred Stock’ »

There are more and more multinational companies operating in China are taking up the country’s voluntary Enterprise Annuity system to recruit and retain the local staff, growth in the popularity of the defined benefit plan with individual accounts faces a hurdle — the absence of a national policy for tax incentives. The Mercer superannuation and consultancy group says tax concessions for employer contributions vary from 4 to 12.5 per cent of an employee’s income, depending upon the province.

Furthermore, employer contributions to the Enterprise Annuity plan are pre-tax but employee contributions are post-tax. This is something that we have to take note. Continue reading ‘Superannuation – The Hong Kong-China Experience’ »