Advisor.ca says

(December 24, 2003) As 2003 draws to a close, advisors look back on the year with mixed emotions. Like the two previous years before it, 2003 provided advisors with both challenges and opportunities — although many of you have told us you received more than your share of the former. While the hangover from a protracted bear market was still evident, the markets certainly performed well this year. A rising Canadian dollar, however, muted much of those gains.

The year also saw advisors begin to take on a greater compliance burden. Numerous dealer firms struggled and were purchased in a continuing trend of consolidation. Advisors enter the New Year with the looming prospect of further significant regulatory and industry changes.

Through all of this change, we at Advisor.ca see our job as keeping you informed of these developments as well as providing you with the tools to overcome the very real practice management challenges your business faces in any year.

Advisor.ca had a very good year in 2003. More and more of you are coming to our site, downloading our tools and templates, signing up for our twice daily e-mail bulletins and participating in our online discussion forums. We appreciate your support. It both inspires and challenges us to do better. And that we will do. We also appreciate our advertisers, whose support helps keep Advisor.ca a free service for advisors.

So on behalf of all of us at Advisor.ca — publisher Mark Stevens, managing editor John Craig, news editor Doug Watt, investments editor Scot Blythe, reporter Steven Lamb, web projects editor Opal Patel, chief copy editor Wendi Phillips, web production manager Andrew Gregory, our customer service representative, Philip Kahn, national account managers Garth Thomas, Donna Kerry and Graham Blair, sales coordinator David Carmichael, general manager of sales and development Alexandra Blum, director of marketing Nancy Matheson, the editorial staff of Advisor’s Edge and the gang from Advisor Forum — I hope you have a safe and happy holiday season and wish you a fulfilling and prosperous 2004.

Darin Diehl Editor ADVISOR Group

(12/24/03)