How we did it

Putting together the dealers’ Report Card is an ongoing process that requires tweaking to get a more accurate representation of the dealer channel. This year was no exception.

Investment Executive research journalists Scott Barber, Jacob Boon, Geoff Davies and Leah Golob spoke with 501 financial advisors at 11 dealer firms, which are now grouped under two headings: full-service and mutual fund dealers; and independent dealers. (See story on page C5.)

There also are some notable changes among the firms in the survey: Mississauga, Ont.-based PFSL Investments Canada Ltd. is no longer part of the Report Card (see story above); Ottawa-based Independent Planning Group Inc. was acquired by Mississauga, Ont.-based Investment Planning Counsel Inc. and thus dropped from the survey; advisors on both of Markham, Ont.-based Worldsource Wealth Management Inc.‘s securities and mutual fund platforms were surveyed; DundeeWealth Inc. has been rebranded as HollisWealth Inc.; and Windsor, Ont.-based independent dealer Sterling Mutuals Inc. has joined the Report Card.

Advisors were asked to provide two ratings for each category in the Report Card: one for their firm’s performance and another for the importance of that category to their business. Advisors rated the 35 categories on a scale of zero to 10, with zero meaning “poor” or “unimportant” and 10 meaning “excellent” or “critically important.”

Given that PFSL advisors gave their firm abnormally high ratings, the overall performance and importance averages for all categories this year were compared with revised ratings for 2013 that exclude PFSL.