In this week's edition

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario is moving ahead with a rule change that cracks down on the use of deferred sales charges for investors with segregated fund contracts. Insurers will be required to scrap the DSC option for future deposits to existing seg fund contracts, if possible. In cases where the DSC option can’t be dropped, insurers will have to provide investors with disclosure to help them determine whether to continue making deposits. James Langton reports.

The new year is bringing new faces to several wealth management firms. Dave Kelly is joining Richardson Wealth as the company’s new chief operating officer. The TD Wealth Private Wealth Management and Gluskin Sheff veteran will focus on advisor support as the firm looks to recruit and grow. At Wellington-Altus, Steph Condra is the new executive vice-president and chief experience officer, moving from BMO Private Wealth for a role devoted to the advisor experience. Meanwhile, former BMO ETFs head Kevin Gopaul is advising alts firm Accelerate, and Ontario Teachers’ has two new chief investment officers.

As your calendar for 2024 begins to fill, don’t forget to allocate time to your professional development. The two-year continuing education cycle just ended, making it a great time to consider learning opportunities without worrying about CE requirements or deadlines. As Michelle Schriver writes, many activities that don’t offer CE credits can nonetheless help you grow as a financial advisor, entrepreneur or leader.

Emerge Canada was unable to repay $4.7 million to its ETFs before terminating the funds last month, leaving unitholders as unsecured creditors. In a letter dated Jan. 5 addressed to unitholders of five of its Emerge ARK ETFs, the firm said it “continues to work towards payment to unitholders.” Melissa Shin explains and speaks with investors about their losses in the funds.

Finally, you may know this already but it never hurts to have some things confirmed in a public opinion survey: getting to know your clients is the key to retaining them. Jonathan Got reports on a new study.