Planning and Advice

Meet junior

After fifteen years in the business, Gary knew something had to change. Like many of his colleagues, he started out working hard and building his client base with pretty much anyone he could get. The income was excellent, but the working hours were excessive. But, he’d recently started receiving complaints from top clients questioning his […]

By Michael Berton |October 8, 2008

8 min read

Legally speaking: OSC states the obvious

The basic duties of an MFDA or IDA advisor may seem obvious to anyone familiar with the association rules and regulations, or the Canadian Securities Course, but these duties are routinely challenged by lawyers when we defend advisors before their regulators and courts. The lawyer’s purpose might be well intentioned (protect their client), but it […]

By Harold Geller |October 8, 2008

4 min read

The hand-off

Try wrapping your head around this: About a trillion dollars in Canadian non-business assets will change hands within the next decade when boomers start handing down their wallets to their kids. The legacy, however, will also stir one of the most unsavoury aspects of intergenerational wealth transfers—hydra-headed sibling squabbles. Nothing drives a quicker wedge between […]

By Sandy Cardy and Thomas William Deans |October 7, 2008

16 min read

Licensed benefits

Financial planning seems to be the new buzzword, with many more firms adopting a holistic approach to managing client relationships. And recent research indicates this is a step in the right direction. According to the Financial Planners Standards Council (FPSC), about three-quarters of all Canadians say a written financial plan is crucial to their financial […]

By Michael Callahan |October 7, 2008

10 min read