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Our Mission
This web site is dedicated to mutual fund investor education and protection.
The $600 billion mutual fund industry plays a key role in the savings and retirement plans of millions of Canadians. Many industry practices provide beartraps for the unsuspecting investor and securities regulations have not kept up with the pace of change in the industry. Financial literacy education in Canada has also dramatically lagged the increasing sophistication of financial products especially mutual funds. Increasing numbers of investors have expressed bitter disappointment with the returns obtained and the way they are communicated with. Smarter mutual fund investing and better financial performance is our goal. We welcome any comments.
Mutual Funds are Sold not Bought
Ken Kivenko P.Eng.
Investor Advocate
kenkiv@sympatico.ca |
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Canadian retail investors are exposed to financial markets that are among the most developed yet poorly regulated in the world. They enjoy an overwhelming supply of products and services to address their financial and investment needs. Advice is a component of this unduly complex marketplace. Canadians historically have chosen to invest and manage their financial decisions with the help of advisors. But things are changing . According to J. D. Power and Associates, one third of full service brokerage clients also do some investing online, and 26% of bank mutual fund investors are also using the online channel.
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The core challenge is to what extent the industry is prepared to take hold of the matters
that require regulation and to operate a self-regulatory system that will deal effectively and
efficiently with the issues raised in this report and that will result in fair and equitable
treatment of investors.
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General: Are Index Funds Worth a Second Look?
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With
all the media hype over exchange-traded funds (ETF's) , the lonely
Index fund provides a acceptable vehicle for index investing. Index
funds are sold mainly by the big banks, and they offer exposure to a
wide variety of stock and bond indexes. The key distinguishing
feature is fees. Because management fees and sales commissions are
relatively low, fund companies and dealer representatives don't
promote them. Index funds have some features that make them
attractive to some investors. The ability to make small dollar
investments and easily reinvest distributions is a plus. Some
investors shudder at opening a brokerage account to buy ETF's - they
find it easier and less intimidating to hold a mutual fund account.
Additionally, some sort of advice, albeit conflicted , comes with
owning an Index mutual fund.
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General: Socially Repsonsible Investing -- Myths and Reality
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Socially responsible investing (SRI), also known as socially-conscious or ethical investing, describes an investment strategy which seeks to achieve both financial return and social good.
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General: Mutual Fund Investors: Sharp Enough?
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Who are mutual fund investors? The answer is critical to regulatory policy. The mutual fund industry portrays fund investors as diligent, fairly sophisticated, and guided by professional financial advisors. The SEC paints a more cautious portrait of fund investors, though touts improved disclosure by the fund industry as a sufficient antidote. However, an extensive academic literature finds that fund investors are unaware of the basics of their funds, pay insufficient attention to fund costs, and chase past performance despite little evidence that high past fund returns predict future returns. These findings suggest that policymakers should rethink current regulatory policy. Disclosure may not be enough.
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Communication is important, especially at the outset of the relationship. The best thing people can do to protect themselves is make sure your objectives are clear in your own mind and clearly communicated to your advisor or broker. This will help avoid problems and complaints downstream.
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When you open an account with an investment dealer you have to provide personal details like your income, net worth, risk tolerance etc. This information, periodically updated, supports Know Your Client (KYC) rules that securities regulators have put in place. The theory holds that the more an adviser knows about a client ,the better he can serve them. The recommendations he makes must be “suitable” based on the KYC.
There is however no equivalent form for an investor to Know Your Advisor-KYA . Not knowing your advisor can lead to unsuitable investments, higher costs, loss of capital and even “misappropriation of assets” as regulators refer to theft. So, here`s a form you can use to keep track of your advisor
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General: Opening an Online Brokerage Account? Points to Consider
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On-line
accounts
are growing at a fast pace.Whether
its investment dealer shenanigans, incompetent advisers, high mutual
fund fees,/ trading commissions, the non-bank ABCP fiasco, poor fund
performance , the Earl Jones Ponzi debacle, or advisor fraud, retail
investors are looking at alternatives to the commission-driven
advisor channel.
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Posted by root on Saturday, March 20 @ 00:00:00 EDT (515 reads)
(Read More... | 24284 bytes more | General | Score: 0)
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All you have to do is enter the gross return of the fund (referred to as the Market Return which could be misunderstood as the benchmark index return), the annual fee, any applicable loads and the number of years.
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For any number of reasons there is an increased interest in Do-it-yourself investing (DIY) .Whether its investment dealer shenanigans, greedy commission- driven advisers, high mutual fund fees, the non-bank ABCP meltdown, the Earl Jones fiasco, poor fund performance or advisor fraud, retail investors are looking at alternatives to the commission-driven advisor channel...
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