Websites for advisors

We’re all creatures of habit, and tend to revisit the same websites time and again during the average work week. Of course, Advisor.ca is an obvious favourite, but do you ever wonder what other sites your colleagues are using?

Some recommendations are predictable; others are surprising — but all bear repeating for those who might need a slight web-routine shakeup. Here is a sampling of what other financial advisors, planners and brokers say they use on a regular basis in creating plans for clients.

RetirementAdvisor.ca

This website provides original content, a few reprinted articles in its document database and a directory of retirement resources for advisors and clients. Recommended for its ability to deliver “quick and dirty” retirement calculations for one-off situations, the website has a number of calculators, including standard retirement, annuity, RRIF and OAS clawback calculators, post-retirement calculators, RRSP accumulator demonstrations, mortgage calculators, budgeting tools and present and future value calculators that demonstrate how much a future amount is worth in today’s dollars. The site also includes an extensive glossary, basic information on government and company pensions, RRSPs, RRIFs, LIFs and government OAS programs.

Human Resources and Social Development Canada (www.hrsdc.gc.ca)

Formerly known as Human Resources Development Canada, the HRSDC site provides general and specific information about the CPP, including forms, payment and taxation information, reference guides, as well as links to information about benefits, eligibility, contribution rates and provisions, OAS, and disability benefits.

Canada Revenue Agency (www.cra-arc.gc.ca)

The CRA website is known for being somewhat unwieldy to navigate, but it is nonetheless a completely comprehensive source for tax practitioners. When navigating Income Tax Act rules and interpretation bulletins, those familiar with the site recommend taking notes and keeping an organized list of bookmarks in a separate browser folder to refer back to as needed to save time and avoid having to repeat the search with each case.

Morningstar Canada (www.morningstar.ca)

An industry standard for tracking mutual fund performance numbers, the Morningstar database, also tied into programs such as PALTrak and BellCharts, gets updated on an ongoing basis with monthly performance numbers coming out on the sixth business day of every month. In addition to portfolio-building tools, the site also includes individual fund-research reports from Morningstar analysts, tax analysis and an extensive library of original content, articles, analysis, reviews and educational material.

GlobeAdvisor.com

A similar tool for tracking mutual fund performance, advisors say GlobeAdvisor helps to keep track of daily, weekly and monthly performance numbers and current movements to help monitor the short-term activities of fund managers.

AIM Trimark (www.advisor.aimtrimark.com)

Advisors recommending their favorite websites call the AIM Trimark site “a no brainer.” The site comes recommended for the wealth of resources provided, but particularly for the quality of technical information and tax information provided by Jamie Golombek and the company’s tax and estate-planning team. The site’s tax and estate-planning centre includes articles, tools, news updates and contact information for advisors. Other parts of the site contain sample prospecting letters, a client-investment policy-statement generator, research and canned sales presentations.

Fidelity Investments Canada (www.fidelity.ca)

Although information available in Fidelity’s financial advisor centre naturally focuses on the company’s own mutual funds, the included PortfolioPro portfolio-construction tool allows advisors to include funds from other companies and save up to 15 portfolios that can be rebalanced using the company’s tools. The site also includes client-interest articles on different financial-planning matters, advice on building a book of business, savings and tax calculators and company information.

Filed by Kate McCaffery Advisor.ca, kate.mccaffery@advisor.rogers.com

(08/11/06)

Kate McCaffery