"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." — Benjamin Franklin

When a Will Isn’t the Last Word: A BC Court of Appeal Reverses a $5-Million Estate Decision Mark Schoeffel / 23 January 2026 In a high-stakes estate dispute that has caught the attention of legal professionals across British Columbia, the British Columbia Court of Appeal recently reversed a trial-level ruling involving a contested will and an estate valued at more than $5 million. The case drew scrutiny because it involved questions about how wills are interpreted, the role of executors, and whether vulnerable testators were appropriately protected when making testamentary decisions and, in the end,  the appellate court set aside a lower court’s decision that had upheld a will benefiting the estate’s executor and instead overturned that testamentary disposition . Background: What Happened in the Lower Court At the Supreme Court of British Columbia level, a judge had upheld the validity of a will that distributed a significant estate - over $5 million - to an executor or benefi...

Energy at the Start of a Long Road Back Mark Schoeffel / 22 January 2026 In a recent online presentation hosted by Ninepoint Partners , Portfolio Manager Eric Nuttall laid out a detailed and conviction driven case for why he believes the global energy sector is still in the early stages of a multi year bull market. His message was not framed around short term price movements or quarterly forecasts, but instead focused on deep structural changes that are reshaping oil and natural gas markets for years, and potentially decades, to come. At the heart of the discussion was the idea that energy remains one of the most misunderstood and under owned segments of the global equity market. Despite several years of strong performance, energy stocks still represent a very small portion of major equity indices and institutional portfolios. Nuttall argued that this lack of ownership is not accidental. It is the result of years of capital flight driven by ESG narratives, policy missteps, and ...

Transformative impact of AI on technology and the economy Artificial intelligence (AI) is regarded as the most significant productivity boost since electricity, with AI chips projected to grow from US$45 billion in 2023 to US$500 billion by 2028. This growth could lead AI to surpass the historical impact of electricity on global GDP. Mark Schoeffel / 13 January 2026 The T. Rowe Price “Tech Tour” presentation provided an in-depth discussion of insights gathered during the firm’s annual end-of-year technology research trip to Silicon Valley in December 2025. More than 40 portfolio managers and analysts participated in meetings with senior executives from dozens of public and private technology companies, spanning infrastructure providers, semiconductor manufacturers, hyperscale cloud platforms, and emerging artificial intelligence (AI) application developers. The central theme of the discussion was the evolution of AI from a conceptual innovation into a large-scale economic force wit...

FidelityConnects: Materials in Motion – Trends shaping 2026 Mark Schoeffel / 09 January 2026 Today's webinar explored the accelerating global demand for minerals, mining, and commodities, framing it within a broader macroeconomic and geopolitical context . Host Pamela Ritchie opened by noting that prices for key commodities such as copper, silver, uranium, and other critical minerals have reached multi-year highs as demand grows for the materials underpinning electrification, artificial intelligence (AI), renewable energy, and modern infrastructure. Canada’s strategic position was emphasized , with the country hosting 34 critical minerals used in applications ranging from electric vehicle batteries to medical devices. Against this backdrop, the discussion focused on how government policy, tariffs, financing structures, and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity are shaping the investment landscape. Claire Fleming explained that the current momentum in commodities has been build...

Dynamic Funds “Year Ahead” Webinar: Themes, Outlook, and Portfolio Implications Mark Schoeffel / 08 January 2025 Dynamic Funds’ annual “Year Ahead” webinar brought together members of its portfolio management and economic research teams to discuss the macroeconomic backdrop, capital market expectations, and portfolio positioning considerations as investors move into the coming year. The discussion reflected a cautious but constructive outlook, emphasizing discipline, diversification, and active risk management in an environment characterized by slowing growth, persistent but moderating inflation, and heightened geopolitical and political uncertainty. The Macroeconomic Backdrop: Slower Growth, Uneven Progress Speakers broadly agreed that the global economy is transitioning from a period of post-pandemic normalization into a more mature phase of the cycle. Economic growth is expected to moderate rather than contract sharply, with meaningful differences across regions. In North Amer...

Mark Schoeffel / 05 January 2026 I was surpised to read an "Opinion" piece published in  The Globe and Mail  on December 30, 2025; written by David McLean and noted as "manager of ROMC Fund - a "global equity-focused unit trust offered by Offering Memorandum and is available to Accredited investors in Ontario, Alberta, B.C. and Quebec."  McLean's piece contends that financial advisers recommend overly safe investments primarily to safeguard their own fees rather than to serve their clients’ long-term financial interests. While it is appropriate to scrutinize structural incentives within the investment advisory industry, the article’s broad characterization of risk-appropriate advice as self-protective overlooks the complexity of modern portfolio construction, the regulatory environment in which advisers operate, and the fiduciary obligation to align investments with individual client circumstances. It also understates the role advisers play in helping in...