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Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Dunkirk

British Soldiers on the Beach at Dunkirk Waiting to Evacuate


We went to see the movie "Dunkirk" which was very good.  Pretty true to history, graphically shows the horror of war and the different sides of the human spirit, and just the right amount of patriotism.

When I spoke to my 87 year old mother last night, I told her about the movie, and her reaction was surprising.  She said something like "..well I won't go and see that movie, it cuts too close to home.  I remember the ships gathering in the estuary for the evacuation.."  She was a 10 year old school girl in Westcliff on Sea, a city at the mouth of the Thames, and must have seen the little ships going and coming back.  Sadly, some of the local fishermen lost their lives in the evacuation.

Saturday, July 8, 2017

Why Do Canadians Buy Canadian Mutual Funds?

Now that I am back in Canada, I see more Canadian financial information.  After looking for a Canadian stock index mutual fund, I thought, "why do Canadians buy Canadian mutual funds??".

I searched for "series D" Canadian equity mutual funds, and the minimum expense ratio (MER) was 0.60%.  This is quite high compared to US index mutual funds, which are around 0.20% or lower.

Then I searched for Canadian stock index ETFs.  The expense ratios are under 0.10%.  Here are some samples:
So why would anyone buy a Canadian mutual fund and give up over 0.50% of their return?  In today's low return environment, that is a lot.  I just don't see the point, am I missing something?