Investor Beware

The difficulty in trying to achieve restitution after being betrayed by a trusted broker or financial advisor is intimidating at best. It is much better to become aware of how the industry operates and to take appropriate action so one can avoid the pitfalls that can lead to extreme financial loss. The days of placing implicit trust in your broker appear to be over. The advice in this book is timely. Read the book 

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada – what it can and can’t do to help you

The name Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca ) conjures up an image of an Agency focused on the protection of financial consumers. As an agency of the federal government, it investigates complaints about financial institutions under federal jurisdiction. These institutions include all banks and all federally incorporated or registered insurance, trust and loan companies, and co-operative credit associations.

FCAC is not responsible for credit unions, finance companies, mutual fund dealers, securities dealers and other financial institutions that fall under provincial jurisdiction .Anything to do with stocks, bonds or mutual funds is still the responsibility of provincial securities regulators and authorized SRO’s such as the IIROC www.iiroc.ca and the MFDA www.mfda.ca . But a limited number of provisions related to Principal Protected Notes do fall under their auspices when issued by a federally regulated bank or insurance company http://www.fcac.gc.ca/eng/consumers/rights/protectednotes/protectednotes-eng.asp

Read the full article ( 2010)

The Responsible Investor

About six years ago I was a member of one of the OSC's Fair Dealing Model's [ FDM] subcommittees, the Performance measurement team. I was the only retail investor member ; the others were dealers and lawyers along with OSC staff. A number of firms suggested that the cost of providing personalized returns would be prohibitive. A few argued it was a value-add service that should be subject to fees. Concerns were expressed about the unrealistic short term expectations that can be fostered by periodic performance disclosure if clients do not have an appreciation of market risk .Nevertheless, there was general acceptance of the proposal to focus on improved periodic performance reporting, especially of personal performance against goals, but there was some concern expressed about the way in which performance would be measured, the development of uniform performance measurement requirements and the use of performance benchmarks. There were many other good ideas to protect investors. Unfortunately, the FDM died when other provincial regulators didn't buy into its modern concepts and industry lobbyists rallied aggressively against its principles. Read the full article 

The Richest Man in Babylon

This book deals with the personal successes of each of us. Success means accomplishments as the result of our own efforts and abilities. Proper preparation is the key to our success. Our acts can be no wiser than our thoughts. Our thinking can be no wiser than our understanding. Read the full book