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Health & Fitness

International Investing - Canada

The world is a big place – there are over 190 countries and 7 billion people in the world, which really boggles the mind if you sit down and think about it. In addition to being an interesting intellectual exercise, this fact can also have broad implications for your investments and your financial future. It is easy to stay focused on U.S. firms, news, and events during the day-to-day grind, but it is always important to be aware of your surrounding – especially when it comes to your investments. With that in mind, this series of articles will focus on countries and investment opportunities outside of the United States that you might not hear about usually.

As always, be sure to consult a financial services professional familiar with both the potential investment and your unique financial situation before embarking on any investment program.

Canada

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Our neighbor to the north is often forgotten when the term “investing internationally” is brought up because the United States and Canada share so much in common, we are so close to each other, and the economies of the two nations are highly correlated. This does not mean, however, that Canadians are without investment savvy of their own. What do the following HGTV T.V. series have in common – The Property Brothers, Income Property, and Love it or List it? They are all based, filmed, and produced in Canada!

Outside of its presence in home remodeling shows, there are quite a few reasons to invest in the Canadian economy. A stable political system, booming oil & gas industries, top-notch financial services, and healthy dividends are enough to pique any investors interest. When looking at investing in Canada there are two primary ways to go about it – ADR’s or direct purchases. An ADR, basically, is a certificate held by a U.S. banking institution that represents a certain number of shares in the foreign company, and is held by the U.S. institution. This helps cut down on the administrative fees and other costs that would otherwise be incurred. For more direct exposure, you can also purchase shares directly from Canadian stock exchanges if your broker offers those services to its retail investor base (you and I).

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Several of the largest firms that are available for investment via ADR include the Bank of Montreal, Brookfield Office Properties, Canadian Natural Resources, Imperial Oil Limited, and the Canadian National Railway. Other large firms include Bombardier, a Canadian firm, that is the only manufacture of both planes and trains in the world. Have you ever wondered what TD Bank stood for? It stands for Toronto Dominion Bank – one of the largest financial institutions in the world.

Obviously, there are a lot of high quality companies and opportunities to consider if you are thinking about investing in Canada

As always, I have attached some links with more information

Happy Reading!

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