02 Aug 2011, Posted by Prem Malik in MALIK'S CORNER, No Comments.

Who is Queensbury Securities?

Who is Queensbury and how safe is my money?

A client of mine asked me this question recently and after responding, I thought it would be an ideal Malik’s Corner topic as well. My clients know and deal with me but the ‘investments’ are held under the Queensbury umbrella.

Queensbury is an independent, full service, wealth management firm established in 1987. Queensbury is a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization. www.iiroc.ca . IIROC, as its name suggest is the government body that oversees the investment industry and its participants in Canada. Queensbury is a member of IIROC.

Queensbury is also member of Canadian Investor Protection Fund. www.cipf.ca . The CIPF is a not-for-profit organization that provides investor protection for investor dealer bankruptcy. This is an important protection for my clients and a good idea to tour the website and review for yourself the coverage being automatically provided by having your investments with Queensbury and all other member brokerages.

Why Queensbury?

When I was doing my due diligence on which firm to join, my key criteria was ‘independence’ of choice. Having spent 30 odd years on Bay Street…size did matter, ie one of the major banks, Investors Group, Edward Jones and numerous others. With size came a loss of independence of choice. Does it make a difference? I believe it does. Larger firms run wealth management as a business and have minimum account sizes, quotas of sales production, and higher commissions for in house products. Not that this is bad, it just does not fit my ‘business’ model. For more on me www.premmalik.ca .A recent testimonial by one of my clients describes my model to a tee. http://www.premmalik.ca/clients-and-testimonials/

Markets?

What a year…..started strong and have come off in June. The markets have dealt with Japan, the mid East crisis, the ongoing meltdown in Greece, and when nothing to speak about the talk goes back to US debt.

My two cents:

Markets are inherently risky and will continue to be so. It is proven that timing the markets is the most difficult of investment hobbies and very difficult to master. If it were easy, we would not be reading this email. I strongly believe that the world economies are going through a huge mental shift and over time China, India and other emerging economies will be far stronger than the developed economies. The middle class consumption in these countries will continue to test the demand for commodities and natural resources worldwide. Markets will respond to developing world economies and as they go through their own development. This is not stopping and anyone who says that …just check where the multinationals are opening offices. These companies know where growth is.

Investments in stock markets should be viewed over the long term and the shorter the horizon the less in the markets. Same with just about any investment out there. Short term volatility is here for the next number of years. An investment strategy and sticking to it is critical. As Warren Buffett considered the guru of investing said ‘I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen for five years‘

Have a great summer and of course keep in touch. I promise…I will.

Regards,

Prem

DISCLAIMER: “The information contained herein was obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Its accuracy or completeness is not guaranteed and Queensbury Securities assumes no responsibility or liability”