Advisors looking for national marketing support from mutual fund providers heading into this RRSP season can expect some new television ads, a few more road shows, a focus on global investing and more attention to Web sites — all the results of fatter budgets.

Winnipeg-based Investors Group Inc. plans to hit the nail on the head, so to speak, with a new version of its “Time to think about retirement” television campaign, which will run from mid-January to the end of February.

The ads, in support of Investors Group’s suite of financial planning services, called The Plan, will appear across all the traditional national stations and on a few specialty channels such as TSN and the Food Network.

“The ads focus on the person who is starting to think that retirement is not that far away, and starting to wonder if he or she has the right plan in place,” says Neil Taylor, Investors Group’s vice president of marketing. Investors Group advisors will also see a raft of RRSP-related mailings, articles and research reports for clients coming through their laptop-based marketing program, he adds.

Similarly, in January advisors can watch for the second phase of Dynamic Mutual Funds Ltd.’s Mike Weir ads — the first of which spoke to the importance of advice in general way, with Weir taking input from his caddy. Creative types were designing the new ads, also starring Weir, just last week, for mid-December airing, says Simon Hitzig, executive vice president of marketing for Dynamic. “We’re going to take that message a little further,” Hitzig says, refusing to divulge the details. “We’ll do some thing that will demonstrate the true value of advice.”

Hitzig says that this time last year Dynamic substantially increased its budget, which it will maintain throughout 2006. Advisors can also expect another Dynamic fund manager Webcast, after the firm’s first one, featuring its chief investment officer, attracted 500 advisors.

A few years ago, advisors couldn’t expect anything in the way of TV support. Between production costs and buying air time from the broadcasters, national TV campaigns cost upward of $2 million, the sort of expense that many fund companies don’t consider in any market conditions.

AIM Funds Management Inc. is another exception to the rule. At the end of November, a film production crew was heading to Yukon Territory, seeking out a certain snowy climate in which to shoot the next part of its Knowing Pays campaign — this one airing in January.

This part of the campaign will support AIM Trimark’s global investing theme, highlighting the importance of diversification. “We think that, by advertising our disciplined approach to investing, we help advisors communicate the discipline we bring to our investment products,” says Bill Henderson, executive vice president at the Toronto-based company.

He says the most important part of AIM Trimark’s advisor support for the season is complete: a 20-city road show attended by about 5,000 advisors nationally. Advisors will find the global diversification theme built into the tools on its Web site, where its popular financial planning and portfolio-building tools reside. “We’ve equipped advisors with tools to help their clients understand that they can actually reduce risk and increase returns by diversifying globally,” he says.

AIM Trimark is among a handful of fund companies looking to capitalize on the removal of the foreign-content limit with a broadly based global investing campaign featuring sales tools and marketing material either in paper format, or downloadable from Web sites. Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. and RBC Asset Management Inc. are among others offering the same sort of support.

e-marketing

E-marketing teams will have been buoyed by Statistics Canada data this year showing the proliferation of Internet usage by Canadians, especially in the 18- to 35-year-old range, the cohort that tends to spend more time using the Web than they do radio or television.

Bill Hill, vice president, advisory channels, at RBC, says that even before the 30% cap was lifted, RBC investors were nowhere near the limit. They need to look past Canada, the third most expensive market based on price/earnings ratios, he argues. RBC is supplying distributors with a host of Web-based and print materials supporting the concept of global investing.

“This year we’ve ramped things up a lot,” says Hill, who is based in Toronto. “Not every year, but some years you really learn from the previous year’s campaign — and we did this year.”

@page_break@Furthermore, RBC’s chief investment officer, Dan Chornous, takes the asset manager’s message on the road during November and December. Jim O’Shaughnessy, lead manager at Bear Stearns Asset Management who manages a handful of RBC’s funds, including its new International Equity Fund, will do the same throughout February and March.

Vancouver-based Ethical Funds Co. has added two new members to its regional sales team in Ontario in time for the season, says Tracy Heath, regional sales manager for Eastern Canada.

For the first time, Ethical Funds is shipping its fund managers to Toronto and elsewhere in southern Ontario. The exact times and places aren’t confirmed, but pairs of the fund company’s third-party portfolio managers, including Guardian Capital LP, Manning and Napier Advisors Inc., Greystone Managed Investments and QVGD Investors Inc. will be on the road from January 24 to 26.

“We’re in the position to do road shows, which we haven’t been able to do in the past,” says Heath, who is based in Burlington, Ont. “We have new funds, some manager changes and we’re hearing more requests from advisors to get more updates.

“We’re at the stage at which we have to be a bigger presence,” she adds. “The consumer is really driving a lot of that.”

SRI courses

Nationally, in addition to print campaigns, Ethical Funds is launching a two-day credited course on socially responsible investing in preparation for the season. Advisors can access the program through wholesalers in Vancouver, Regina, Winnipeg and Toronto.

Altamira Investment Services Inc. and National Bank of Canada joined their respective wholesaling teams in time for the RRSP season, effectively doubling the service advisors have for its two fund groups, says Michael Leonardelli, vice president of sales for National Bank Altamira Dealer Distribution.

Fund managers will be available for several Webcasts planned for January and February, and a new Web site at www.nbaltamira.com will provide updated marketing, funds information and market news, says Leonardelli: “It’s a work in progress.”

Jeff Carrique, assistant vice president of wealth management for Manulife Financial Corp., says the firm hopes that advisors will find its new Wealthstyles online wealth-management tool, launched in November, to be helpful.

“We’ve segmented customers based on demographics and needs. We’ve given advisors solutions-based tools, and calculators that only advisors can access,” says Carrique. “Advisors can send them to their clients directly or work with their client at the same time, if they want.”

He says the tool was based on the growth in popularity of its in-house magazine, Solutions. Published three times throughout the year, the magazine provides consumers with advice on taxes, retirement and estate planning, and wealth-management advice.

“The subscription rate has gone to 100,000 from 12,000 since we launched it,” says Carrique, noting that Manulife’s marketing budget has been more or less stable for four years. “Advisors can order [copies of issues] and distribute them to their clients. It’s proven very popular.” IE