Practice

Planning and Advice

Social media: The new economy of sharing

Facebook has now reached over 500 million users.

By Jay Palter |March 25, 2011

3 min read

Planning and Advice

Best Practices: Dealing with a troubled team

The senior advisor in our practice is amazing with people but cannot organize himself or his time and does too much of the talking in the client appointments. This often results in 2 - 3 hour appointments which cuts us down to only about 5 - 6 appointments a week.

By Joanne Ferguson |March 24, 2011

5 min read

Industry

Budget 2011: A client letter

Show clients you’re proactive by sending them this customizable letter about the Federal Budget. Dear [Client/Prospect name], As you know, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered his federal budget on March 22 in Ottawa. This budget has several items that could affect your financial plan or present additional opportunities. In case you haven’t had a chance […]

By Philip Porado |March 22, 2011

2 min read

Planning and Advice

When compliance comes calling

“Hi, I’m Andrew Symonds from Head Office; I’m calling to schedule your audit. What’s good for you the week after next?” A call like this from compliance, about an impending branch review examination, is a surefire trigger for the fright and flight response. But a branch review needn’t be a cat and mouse game. Nor […]

By Vikram Barhat |March 16, 2011

5 min read

What debt issue?

"There’s nobody here but us chickens with no debt issues" or at least that’s what Helmut Pastrick, chief economist of Central 1 Credit Union - the umbrella group for credit unions in British Columbia and Ontario - would have you believe.

4 min read

Easy ways to enhance your business

I really did plan to eat healthier this year but after hanging out at my friend’s party a few weeks ago, I realized it’s tough to change your ways when hot wings, beer, chips and pizza keep calling your name — followed by the eventual moan from heartburn.

6 min read

Segregated funds offer protection

Financial advisors must make investment decisions for their clients based on whatever information is available at that moment, not unlike the physician who must make a diagnosis with limited information about his patient’s condition.

By Rod Tyler |March 11, 2011

5 min read

An IPS, your ounce of prevention

One area in the field of finance that has been growing in acceptance is that of behavioural economics- sometimes referred to as behavioural finance. In essence, it deals with the various intellectual and emotional errors that nearly everyone fact seems to make. Concepts like overconfidence, negative loss aversion, mental accounting, hindsight bias and anchoring have gained considerable acceptance in the financial services industry.

4 min read

Independence both a blessing and a curse

With the recent acquisition of DundeeWealth Inc. by the Bank of Nova Scotia, the top 5 banks in Canada now control two thirds of the mutual fund assets under management and about one half of the licensed representatives that distribute mutual funds in Canada. It won’t be long until the disadvantages of an oligopoly will […]

4 min read

From asset allocation to risk allocation

The balance between return and risk is often equated with the trade-off between health and exercise. While all investors have an appetite for greater wealth (being healthy), they also have a limited tolerance for risk (exercise). Unfortunately, risk is a difficult, often abstract, concept for investors — especially when it comes to investment selection. As a result, risk is usually ignored altogether.

7 min read