Advisor.ca marks third anniversary, tops 24,000 registrants

(April 2, 2003) Internet history can be difficult to pin down. Unlike print publications, Web-based organizations rarely keep hard copies of their constantly changing and rapidly expanding pages. Having said that, we’re fairly sure this week marks the third anniversary of the Advisor.ca Web site.

The past three years have seen numerous changes, both for advisors and the country’s financial services industry. When Advisor.ca launched on March 31, 2000, stock markets were booming, fuelled mainly by investor euphoria over the tech sector. The Toronto Stock Exchange ended that month at 9,462, while the NASDAQ peaked at 5,048 on March 10.

Today, the TSX is 34% lower, while the NASDAQ is off a whopping 73%. Another painful reminder of the tech bubble: shares of Nortel Networks closed at $126.12 on March 31, 2000. Today, Nortel stock trades in the $3 range.

So it hasn’t been a good three years for the markets. Still, Advisor.ca has survived and thrived, in part, we hope, because we’ve been able to help advisors cope with the downturn by offering timely information, useful tools and tips on how to grow their business.

In May 2000, when we first started tracking statistics, Advisor.ca had about 1,900 registered users and 1,500 subscribers to our daily p.m. e-mail bulletins. Today, the number of registered users has grown to over 24,000, with 25,000 subscribers to both the a.m. and p.m. bulletins.

“We are thrilled that the site and the twice-daily e-mail bulletins have become a part of the daily habits of so many advisors in this country,” says ADVISOR Group editor Darin Diehl.

“The success of Advisor.ca has been particularly satisfying given the environment we’ve been in the last three years,” Diehl adds. “Not only has it flourished in a bear market that’s as old as the site itself, it has succeeded in the post dot-com boom, when so many other Internet properties have perished.”

Diehl says Advisor.ca owes it success to the more than 24,000 advisors who use the site. “They keep us on our toes with feedback about the precise industry news and practice management information they’re looking for.”

A “screen grab” of Advisor.ca’s home page from March 31, 2000 shows how much the site’s look and functionality has improved over the last three years. But then, as now, content was our main focus. On day one, we featured a practice management story on how advisors can build their business through public relations, written by media consultant Eileen Chadnick, as well as an article by former Advisor.ca Product editor Meaghan Li, offering advisors the chance to match their stock-picking skills against top portfolio managers.

Advisor.ca’s top news story on opening day was written by the site’s first reporter, John Craig, now our Practice Management editor. The topic? An update on the Ontario Securities Commission’s proposed financial planning proficiency standards, an issue that has yet to be resolved. Things move quickly in the Internet world, but regulation? Not so much.

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As a special thank-you to our loyal audience, we’re giving away 12 special Advisor.ca prize packs, each featuring a copy of True Wealth: An expert guide for high-net-worth individuals (and their advisors) by Thane Stenner with James Dolan. To enter, simply send an e-mail to newsroom@advisor.ca with “Happy birthday, Advisor.ca” in the subject line. Contest closes on Monday, April 7th at midnight. To read Advisor.ca’s review of Stenner’s book, click here.

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We’re not the only member of The ADVISOR Group marking a milestone in 2003. Advisor’s Edge magazine turns five in 2003 and some special events are planned to celebrate the occasion. Stay tuned for details.

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, dwatt@advisor.ca