Globe Advisor will be looking at new insurance products, how insurance fits into financial plans, estate plans and tax strategies, and important regulatory changes in our new insurance section.Maria Stavreva/iStockPhoto / Getty Images
A growing number of clients had to deal with natural disasters last year, and there’s no reason to think that 2025 will be any easier on homes and vacation properties.
Last summer, wildfires in Jasper, Alta., flooding in downtown Toronto and Quebec, and a hailstorm in Alberta contributed to $7-billion in insured losses for the insurance industry in the first nine months of 2024, the Globe’s Clare O’Hara reported – more than double what insurers paid out in all of 2023.
As Alison MacAlpine writes this week, the frequency and intensity of natural disasters is threatening the largest component of many Canadians’ nest eggs – real estate. Her story is about how financial plans need to adapt to include projected costs to repair or rebuild property and pay rising insurance premiums.
It’s one of many interesting insurance stories we plan to tell this year in Globe Advisor’s new insurance section. We’ll be looking at new insurance products, how insurance fits into financial plans, estate plans and tax strategies, and important regulatory changes facing the sector.
Is there an insurance topic you’re looking to read about? Let us know.
- Mark Burgess, Globe Advisor assistant editor mburgess@globeandmail.com
Must reads
New initials: Tina Tehranchian can add C.M. (for Member of the Order of Canada) after her name. The certified financial planner and senior wealth advisor at Assante Capital Management Ltd. was appointed to the Order of Canada in December for her professional and philanthropic work. She’s featured in our latest Behind the Advice article.
The long view: As a millennial money manager, Rebecca Teltscher is all too familiar with the advice provided to her peers about taking on more market risk when you’re younger and reducing it as you age. But she’s not buying it. “Younger investors benefit from the length of time they can compound a steady return with the added benefit of being able to withstand volatility,” says Ms. Teltscher, portfolio manager at Newhaven Asset Management Inc. in Toronto. Here’s what she’s been buying and selling.
The year in advice: During the past two weeks, we posted a series of “Best of” articles from Globe Advisor in 2024. These covered important topics from investments and tax planning to retirement and the coming wealth transfer. Here’s the article on retirement planning, which deals with topics such as combatting loneliness, deciding where to live, and learning how to relax and enjoy their hard-earned savings.
More from The Globe
Tipping point: Do-it-yourself investors may soon hold a majority of exchange-traded fund assets. After a banner year for ETFs, the amount of money DIY investors are piling into these funds is creeping closer to the total assets held by investors who rely on financial advisors for purchases – marking a major shift in demand toward the lower-cost funds.
Bitcoin fund: A group of early cryptocurrency investors in Canada’s first retail bitcoin investment fund has filed a complaint with Ontario’s securities regulator, claiming fund manager 3iQ Corp. violated oversight rules when a portfolio manager moved the fund’s digital assets into cash just before a major bitcoin rally this fall.
Venture investors: Olivia Steedman sometimes thinks of herself as the captain of a patrol boat, scouting the horizon for treasure and perils just ahead of its much larger ship – the $256-billion Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Here’s how the global head of Teachers’ Venture Growth is finding late-stage venture investments in leading-edge technology companies.