Securities regulators are providing portfolio managers with more flexibility to divide the roles of stock-picking and client relations.
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) unveiled measures designed to facilitate the industry practice of deploying certain personnel as client relationship management specialists.
“Many portfolio managers now have an operating model that divides responsibilities between specialized client relationship managers and stock-picking teams,” the CSA noted.
To smooth firms’ use of that approach, the CSA said that portfolio managers will be able to designate certain reps as client relationship managers, and these reps won’t have to demonstrate stock-picking expertise.
The regulators aren’t revising the proficiency requirements for advising reps. Instead, they will impose terms and conditions on these reps to explicitly prohibit them from providing stock-picking advice.
These reps will also be required to disclose the limits of their registration to clients.
“These steps ensure our experience requirements for advising representatives are responsive to evolving business models and more closely match the services they provide to clients,” said Louis Morisset, chair of the CSA and president and CEO of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).
The CSA said that it will “monitor and review the experience of portfolio managers” that use this approach, and that this may lead to more permanent rule changes.
In a statement, Katie Walmsley, president of the Portfolio Management Association of Canada, welcomed the CSA’s announcement.
“This is a welcome announcement that results in no change to the high standards of proficiency required to register as an Advising Representative with a portfolio management firm,” Walmsley said.