4th Annual Dollars & Sense Survey: Turning up the heat

(October 2005) The 4th Annual Dollars & Sense Survey results are in. To complement the extensive survey findings detailed in the October issue of Advisor’s Edge, Advisor.ca has created a special online package that not only reports on some of the survey’s main findings, but provides new tools and resources to help tackle key issues […]

By Staff | October 11, 2005 | Last updated on October 11, 2005

2 min read

(October 2005) The 4th Annual Dollars & Sense Survey results are in. To complement the extensive survey findings detailed in the October issue of Advisor’s Edge, Advisor.ca has created a special online package that not only reports on some of the survey’s main findings, but provides new tools and resources to help tackle key issues facing advisors as they experience increased scrutiny and pressures from clients, regulators and the media. This special package includes:

Are you wondering how you compare to the Canadian advisors polled in our 4th Annual Dollars & Sense Survey? Now you can find out. To go to an abbreviated and interactive version of this year’s survey that instantly determines how you stack up against your peers, please click here.

A majority of respondents to this year’s survey agreed that all forms of compensation should be disclosed to clients. Despite this belief many advisors of feel awkward when it comes to discussing fees, commissions and trailers. Use this guide to help you raise the subject of compensation with clients and prospects.

The explosion of alternative investment products being introduced in the market today is unprecedented. As long as rates of return on these products are positive, everyone seems to be content. But if the tide turns, the level of due diligence in support of your recommendations can be questioned. Help protect yourself and your clients by following these basic guidelines before recommending an alternative investment product to clients.

Though our survey results reveal that a majority of clients do not appear interested in learning about the amount of compensation paid to life licensed agents – regulators have increasingly applied pressure on the marketplace and indicated that they would like to regulate the disclosure of direct and incentive compensation paid to advisors. Click here for a closer look at insurance agent compensation and how such disclosure should be approached?

Disclosure is important but there are other ways of showing clients that they are getting value for money, and that the advisor is performing the necessary due diligence and watching out for the client’s best interests. Click here to find out how advisors interviewed for our 4th Annual Dollars and Sense Survey do just that.