March 2012

Building Your Business

Pairing with a career coach to help a suddenly unemployed client

Ensuring that clients file their tax returns — and on time — is a must. They must also be aware of a few significant federal…

The seminal self-help and motivational book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, is still as relevant today as it was when it first rolled…

Jennifer, a 60-year-old woman in Toronto, needs help in determining whether to blend her financial future with that of her new boyfriend. Two financial advisors…

Terry Robertson and Debra Terry of Strongbridge Financial Group Ltd. say the following tips will help you grow your financial advisory business

Financial advisors Terry Robertson and Debra Terry, founders of Strongbridge Financial Group Ltd. in Kelowna, B.C., count on their experiences both as small-business owners and…

You can play an important role in providing financial advice to a client who has lost his or her job. But who will look out…

The financial services industry has cultivated certain perceptions to satisfy specific marketing agendas, so it is imperative that you help your clients get realistic about…

Thieves are going online in greater numbers and using social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to gather more information about their targets

An effective email marketing strategy consists of several steps: Establishing your sales funnel, managing your email list and creating effective newsletters that provide real value…

This book is entitled Financial Recovery in a Fragile World.

Normal eating and exercise wins out over extreme diets in maintaining long-term good health. You shouldn’t be losing more than a pound a week

Your role as a trusted professional is to maintain a rational view in helping your clients and to remain familiar with current events that are…

When markets are volatile, clients are tempted to abandon their investment plans and flee to cash and fixed-income, which can hurt them in the long…

No matter how simpatico you may feel about your partnership with another advisor, it’s crucial to plan for the possibility that your relationship will encounter…

Successful entrepreneurs such as Terry Matthews can teach financial advisors how to reach for the next level. He shares some of the strategies he has…

Investment research

Unless your clients accept the deflationary scenario, it’s time to shorten maturities or lighten up on bonds

Is there any merit to the theory that “as January goes, so goes the rest of the year” in the stock market?

Making a case for a bearish outlook is one thing, but a strategy that profits from that view is quite another.

The three big independent fund companies in Canada are likely to profit from the anticipated return to equities

Comment & Insight

Modern dog design is getting more and more ambitious. But do you really want to walk a province?

Lengthy documents that clients sign without reading won’t provide protection in the exempt market

Just when it looked like everyone in Ontario was sound asleep — maybe even hibernating — signs of life are stirring.

Bank of Nova Scotia has hooked up with the Jets, adding another sports team to the bank’s sponsorship and marketing lineup

Fish processing is in decline, but no one in Newfoundland and Labrador’s fish-plant towns wants to take the hit

Instead of looking to a credible third-party, Ottawa is imposing unilateral cuts

Focus on Products

Invesco launches low-volatility ETF

Investment analyst Dan Hallett and a broker friend debate the pros and cons of deferred sales charges

Encouraging data from the U.S. bolsters the views of managers of Canadian dividend and income equity funds

Seg fund families that identified solid, reasonably priced companies performed well in 2011

News

Martin Hubbes is making good use of his German and French at AGF, where he’s “head coach and cheerleader” for the global team

Liberal Christy Clark, facing her first election as premier next year, tables a careful but consumer-friendly budget

Although venture- capital investments in Canada rose slightly in 2011, concerns exist that there remains a funding shortfall

The recent decision by Vancouver-based GrowthWorks Capital Ltd. to suspend sales and distributions of its GrowthWorks Canadian Fund may signal more than just the cash…

Calgary-based investment-counselling firm McLean & Partners Wealth Management Ltd. has adjusted its business model since the 2008 financial crisis to assuage its high net-worth clientele.…

An unusual life insurance judgment has been overturned by the B.C. Court of Appeal

Canadian banks are more concerned than their global counterparts about the burden of the new regulatory regime

By comparing your business practices with privacy laws, you may be able to use the web in limited ways to research people

Financial advisors using social media or Internet search websites to conduct background checks on job candidates or clients could be violating privacy laws. However, the…

Only a minority of clients are aware of their financial advisor’s designations and ethical requirements

Pooled plans could present business opportunities for advisors who have clients who own businesses

Although securities regulators’ enforce-ment numbers were down in 2011, they are stepping up in other key areas

Opportunity exists for financial advisors to help couples bring their retirement planning in line

A recent decision in a proposed class-action lawsuit highlights the courts’ skepticism with the efficacy of the financial services industry’s dispute-resolution mechanism.

Regulators appear to be close to addressing a few of the concerns relating to the financial services industry’s ombudservice

But will transaction reflect those of the past?

Front Page

As the big banks push further into the financial advisory business, independent advisors are fending off the competition

The wish list sent by Canada’s financial services industry to the federal government is long and varied — from better tax treatment

It’s creating a research group and an Office of the Investor