Blog

Consumers Should Have the Unfettered Choice of Paper or Electronic Statements

Blog March 30, 2016

A recent paper published by the National Consumer Law Centre titled Paper Statements: An Important Consumer Protection provides some important guidelines to financial institutions that are implementing e-migration strategies. The publication, referencing US legal and compliance guidelines, urges the careful consideration of many consumer choice considerations and ultimately lands on a theme that we strongly support […]

Salesforce “2016 Connected Investor Report”

Blog March 14, 2016

A recently released Salesforce Global report that surveyed nearly 8000 adults in Canada, Australia, France, Japan, UK and the US, provides some interesting survey results to anyone in the financial services industry in Canada. A key finding that jumped off the page for me was the following: 67% of investors believe that modern tools for financial planning […]

A New Brand of Financial Adviser

Blog March 8, 2016

The Globe and Mail ran a story today called “A new brand of financial adviser” that featured a Canadian Fintech startup, Tridus Wealth Management, and its plans to offer a more cost-effective solution to investors through its use of technology. Tridus is foregoing office space and traditional overhead expenses, emphasizing digital communication over paper and relying […]

It’s Not Too Late to Comply

Blog February 29, 2016

A February MFDA review of the industry’s readiness for POS3 and CRM2 provided mixed results – while some dealers are ahead of the curve, the review “found incidents of both outright non-compliance and examples of half-hearted compliance”. With POS3 only 90 days away and the last CRM2 reforms only 135 days away, the clock is […]

Increasing Fee Disclosure in the Investment Industry

Blog September 29, 2015

There’s nothing like a weakening stock market to turn everyone’s attention to the cost of their investments. And as it should be. In a strong market I may be willing to give up 2-3% if I can make an 8-10% return overall, but if the markets turn south and I’m fighting for every bit of […]

New Record-Keeping Requirements Raise Compliance Concerns

Blog August 4, 2015

The Ontario government quietly amended the Ontario Securities Act a few weeks ago, paving the way for even greater disclosure and compliance measures by dealers and their advisors. In fact, as Blakes highlights in their June 29, 2015 bulletin the new record-keeping obligation will place even more onus on all dealers, advisors and other market […]

The Need for Digital Transformation in Wealth Management

Blog June 23, 2015

We have blogged about this before but it is such a prevalent issue that it bears repeating: there is a significant ‘digital divide’ between wealth management clients (particularly Millenials) and their advisors, a divide which is disrupting the traditional wealth management model. A recent paper by The Boston Consulting Group put it succinctly: “Although the […]

Does the Cost of Investing = MER only?

Blog June 17, 2015

A recent article in the Toronto Star mentions how most Canadian investors believe their only cost of investing in mutual funds is the management expense ratio (MER), which goes to the asset manager. This article shines a bright light on the costs of investing and the need for investment advisors to illustrate the value of the […]

Canadian Regulators Move a Step Closer Towards Eliminating Mutual Fund Commissions

Blog June 12, 2015

The long simmering debate over the high cost of Canadian mutual funds may soon come to a head, bringing more dramatic change to an already fast-evolving wealth management industry. The Ontario Securities Commission, acting on behalf of the Canadian Securities Administrators commissioned The Brondesbury Group to review existing research on mutual funds compensation and yesterday they […]

Now Is The Time for Advisors to Rethink the Exchange of Value

Blog June 2, 2015

The ‘exchange of value’ (e.g. relationship drivers between buyer and seller) in the investment industry used to be straightforward: financial advisors were the de facto experts providing investment advice and ideally, positive returns, in exchange for payment from the investor in the form of fees (explicit or otherwise). This generally led to relatively stable, unquestioned […]

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