This article appears in the April 2023 issue of Investment Executive. Subscribe to the print edition, read the digital edition or read the articles online.
With 34 years of financial services industry experience that includes leading two dealer firms, Andy Mitchell, former Junior B and varsity hockey player, is getting ready to stickhandle the fund industry through several changes.
Mitchell — until recently managing director and head of asset management distribution with SEI Investments Canada Co. — was appointed president and CEO of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) effective Jan. 16. He replaces Paul Bourque, who retired in January.
“I feel I can add value to the industry at a time where we’re going through changes,” Mitchell said. Those changes include the impending total-cost reporting (TCR) requirement and the new self-regulatory organization, formed on Jan. 1.
IFIC members are hoping the new SRO will deliver significant benefits to investors by clarifying issues such as licensing, Mitchell said. He’s also hoping the number of members of IFIC will grow as IFIC “continues its advocacy and partnership with dealers,” adding that with the new SRO, more “challenges and opportunities” will impact fund managers and distribution partners.
One year ago, the Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators issued proposals for TCR, which would increase the disclosure fund companies provide to investors, including management expense ratios, trading expenses and distribution costs.
Mitchell anticipates the TCR rules will be published this month, although implementation will not necessarily happen this calendar year. He added that the industry is in “full support” of TCR but challenges remain in the technology and administration.
“It’s not like you can flip a switch and then make these things happen overnight,” Mitchell said. “IFIC has always supported expanding cost reporting to investors, and we were very public in our opinion in 2017, shortly after the implementation of CRM2, and we continue to feel that way.”
Another priority at IFIC is the rollout of “executive dashboards” in April. These tools are meant to enable fund manufacturers that contribute data to IFIC to interpret data visually, with the goal of generating insights on overall trends to help the firms develop new products.
Another initiative affecting fund manufacturers is the “access instead of delivery” modernization models for investment fund reporting issuers proposed in 2022 by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA).
Those proposals, if implemented, will require fund issuers to post continuous disclosure documents on their websites, alert investors when new documents are available, and send paper or electronic copies of the documents to investors upon request or in accordance with standing instructions. Stakeholder comments were due to the CSA on Dec. 26.
“Everyone’s very keen to innovate for the benefit of all stakeholders, not just regulatory disclosure goals,” Mitchell said. “But I think that’s going to take time.”
Mitchell said the U.K. and the U.S. have done some “really innovative things,” such as developing client portals and other ways of accessing fund information. “I think innovation, automation, efficiency and administration for the Canadian marketplace is going to be critical going forward,” he said. “Digitization is a big word and it’s used across all consumer segments.”
Another industry trend affecting fund manufacturers is enhanced disclosure rules pertaining to ESG investing.
“The [fund manufacturers] will be focused on making sure they’re meeting not only benchmarks on expectation of disclosure, but also from a marketing and sales opportunity [perspective],” he said.
In the short to medium term, growth in the population of Canada’s seniors will push fund manufacturers toward what Mitchell described as more retirement income solutions.
“How do we make sure, as investment fund managers, dealers and advisors, that retirement solutions are simple, diversified, tax-efficient and also risk-centric at the same time?” Mitchell said. “I think that’s a trend you should pay attention to.”
Born in Montreal, Mitchell, who is 56 years old, moved to the Toronto area with his family when he was six. After playing Junior B hockey in Ontario, Mitchell moved to Nova Scotia to study at Saint Mary’s University, where he played on the varsity team.
Mitchell began his financial services career in 1989 with Bank of America Canada, where he worked for nearly eight years — including three in Calgary selling services to international energy firms.
Throughout his career, Mitchell has held executive positions with several financial services firms, including Guardian Group of Funds Ltd., Standard Life Investment Funds Ltd. and Performa Financial Group Ltd., where he was appointed president in 2003. In 2006, Mitchell was appointed president of Worldsource Financial Management Inc., a dealer firm he led until 2013, when he joined SEI Investments Canada.
“I love an industry and I love a job that is not routine every day — where there are obstacles and there are challenges in front of us,” he said. “I think because of my collaborative nature and my relationship-management nature, it makes for an easy fit into this role.”