Investors Will Benefit from New Investment Industry Rules
New legislation regulating the use of financial titles will reduce confusion in selecting an advisor, writes Peter Watson. Investor confusion on selecting a person to help you with your finances should be greatly reduced. Ontario will start to regulate who can use standard industry titles. The titles “Financial Planner” and “Financial Advisor” will now be […]
Covid-19 Could Change Your Life for the Better
Bad news sometimes turns out to be good news, writes Peter Watson. For many, the Covid-19 pandemic will change your life in ways you could not have imagined. Sometimes change can have a negative impact, but it can also lead to positive results. This article will focus on the positive. Some will be able to […]
Stock markets can be mind boggling
Logic would suggest that there is a correlation between economic prosperity and positive outcomes for stocks, writes Peter Watson. COVID-19 economic doom and gloom persist, yet stock market values are rising at a record pace. Why did this happen? As it turns out, sometimes the stock market does not behave with how you anticipate. We […]
Protecting your investments before a stock market crash
Address this before a stock market crash, not after, writes Peter Watson Protecting your assets is the key to investment success. Perhaps consider diversifying your portfolio with more than one asset class and security type to mitigate downside risk exposure during times of market volatility. A popular question after severe stock market crashes is how […]
Understanding the Stock Market will Lead to Success
Investor patience and courage is needed, writes Peter Watson. Stock market investing success comes from investing long-term, ignoring the temptation of selling during volatile times and not missing significant stock value gain best days. This leads to higher investment returns and lower anxiety during times of volatility. Investment risk is measured by volatility. The value […]
Financial Professionals Title Protection Act, 2019
Many people who manage their own finances can find it confusing. Trying to find the right adviser can add to that confusion. Part of the problem is all provinces, except Québec, have no rules or legislation governing the titles various financial people arbitrarily assign themselves. You can call yourself a financial planner because there are […]
Ontario does not support banning DSC fees
The momentum to change the way mutual funds are purchased hit an unexpected roadblock. Ontario Finance Minister Vic Fedeli recently announced that the new conservative government did not agree with reforms proposed by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA). The CSA is the umbrella group for all provincial securities commissions. Six years ago, they started an […]
Robo-Advisor technology to be used by financial advisors
Evolving regulation and advanced technology will change how investments are bought and sold. If you are an investor, this will affect you. Disclosure and transparency requirements in the financial services industry means more information will be collected from you and more disclosure will be provided to you. Buying an investment isn’t as simple as it […]
Embedded commissions debate continues as changes loom
Do you fully understand how you pay for investment advice? If you are like many people, the answer is probably no. Changes are coming on how financial advisors are paid. Details of these changes are not known but investment industry participants have been debating this important topic for many years. What we do know is […]
Standing up for accountability
Accountability is important in an advanced society. We are about to see two examples of accountability in the near future. One here and one south of the border. Our value system is based on the concept of fairness. Good things should happen, but when they don’t there needs to be an acknowledgement of wrongdoing and […]