The Investor Education Fund has launched an easy-to-use, plain language program called “Understanding Your Account Statement” to help investors make sense of statements from dealers and fund companies.
The tool located in the Interactive Centre of its website – www.investorED.ca.
“Seven out of 10 respondents of a recent informal online survey believed investment statements are incomplete or hard to understand,” says Terri Williams, president of the Investor Education Fund. “Average retail investors have struggled for years to understand the information they receive on their statements. Our new online program aims to demystify these very important documents.”
The program was developed in consultation with Dalbar Inc., a Toronto-based research firm specializing in measuring effectiveness of account statements and other industry services.
Understanding Your Account Statements helps investors:
- Realize the importance of reviewing their statements;
- Understand the jargon on their statements;
- Learn what information they should check on their statements; and
- Dig deeper to learn more about tracking their investments.
The program allows investors to explore three interactive sample statements that may be similar to their own.
“As many investors receive their annual statements this month, they should take the time to visit www.investorED.ca and learn about how to interpret the information their statements contain,” Williams says.