Practice

Regulators are underfunded

Nobody ever tells investors that financial industry regulation is a business, too. Unfortunately, that’s the reality many wronged investors come to realize after they get burned by lax securities enforcement or weak accounting and auditing rules. Advisors only need to follow the money to understand why there isn’t greater protection for their clients’ investments.

August 10, 2011

6 min read

Planning and Advice

It’s Your Business

Effective handling of client accounts may require outsourcing your more complex day-to-day tasks to a wide range of area experts. Many in the industry have concluded that the days of the all-in-one financial planner are numbered. This month we delve into the outsourcing-based model, and provide advice on how to develop a reliable network of […]

August 8, 2011

2 min read

Planning and Advice

Develop a partner-based business model

You’ve decided to moveto a partner-based model. What now? List the desired skills and areas of expertise you’re looking to bring into your practice. While this will ultimately serve as a checklist in your quest, it will also indicate if you should be seeking one partner or several.

By Michelle Patey |August 4, 2011

6 min read

Planning and Advice

Aging clients pose challenges

Michael Berton, a Senior Financial Planner with Assante Financial Management in Vancouver, knew his client’s mental faculties were slipping when he started getting weekly phone calls.

By Leigh Doyle |August 4, 2011

12 min read

Round Table: Juggling work and life

Running a successful advisory practice while still maintaining a rich home life is the holy grail for any advisor. Advisor’s Edge hosted leading Canadian CFAs who’ve been able to do just that and asked them their strategies for improving work-life balance.

6 min read

Building your professional network

Few accounts are so simple that they require no outside counsel. That’s why it’s important to actively work on building a trusted network of professionals you can rely upon. Pretending you’re an expert at everything by trying to do it all yourself is generally a terrible idea because in most cases it will make the […]

By Raf Brusilow |August 2, 2011

4 min read

Independents should focus on niche markets

Some people strive for change and others have change thrust upon them. And so it is in the financial planning business. The financial services industry has become so complex that certified financial planner Bradley Roulston, who runs Healthcare Financial Group, a successful niche market financial services business with offices in Toronto and Vancouver, says boldly, […]

By Brenda Craig |August 2, 2011

4 min read

Eliminating “buyer beware” from planning services

Every day, millions of Canadians seek service from health care practitioners. Stringent regulation and professional oversight of health professions help protect Canadians from receiving care from unethical or poorly qualified practitioners. Poor financial care is as detrimental to a person’s health and well-being as “bad” health care. Yet, individuals holding themselves out to the Canadian […]

4 min read

Find new clients online

Any doubts about the power of Internet marketing have been eliminated with the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa — dubbed the social media revolution due to its role in organizing the protests. However, before financial advisors leap into social media marketing campaigns, it is important to start with the basics. As […]

6 min read