The Investment Funds Institute of Canada is recommending several changes to the Canadian Securities Administrators’ proposed implementation of point of sale disclosure for mutual funds, IFIC said Friday.

The 36 recommendations propose a number of improvements to the proposed rule in areas such as format of the Fund Facts document, risk disclosure, content, comparability, filings and approvals, operational efficiency, and transition to the new rule.

“We believe all these recommendations will make the Fund Facts more understandable by investors and useable by them as they deal with mutual fund transactions and associated materials,” says Joanne De Laurentiis, IFIC president & CEO.

“We see many benefits of the proposed rule,” adds De Laurentiis. “For example, we support the plain-language Fund Facts disclosure document and the proposed staged implementation. We recognize the importance of allowing investors and advisors to become comfortable with the new Fund Facts document as soon as possible, and not hold up its availability while some of the more complex aspects of the rule, such as delivery requirements, are being developed,” De Laurentiis says.

“We are also encouraged that the CSA has recognized that some investors will want their purchase completed immediately and have added provisions to the rule that will allow for this,” she says.

IE