2012 Advisor
Perception Study
Report to
Participating
Advisors
Contents
What is the Advisor Perception Study?
3
Who completes the Advisor Perception Study?
4
Advisor demographics
5
Challenges facing advisors
7
The growth of fee-based compensation
9
How did the markets affect client portfolio values?
10
What types of services are advisors offering their clients?
11
Managing the product shelf
12
What influences an advisor’s decision to support a company?
13
How did the top companies perform?
14
How do advisors perceive the top companies?
17
What sources do advisors use to keep up-to-date?
19
What are the implications for 2012?
22
2
What is the
Advisor Perception
Study?
In its 17th year, the annual Environics
Advisor Perception Study is the most
comprehensive tracking study of Canada’s
mutual fund and insurance companies. By
working co-operatively with many of
Canada’s leading banks, insurance and
mutual fund companies, Environics tracks
the brand perceptions of the independent
personal financial advisors that constitute
a critical component of the Canadian
financial product distribution system.
Through the feedback of financial advisors
from across Canada, Environics provides
the industry with vital information about
how their companies are perceived in
terms
of
product
performance,
relationship-building, sales and marketing
team effectiveness, and overall business
operations. The depth of information that
Environics collects allows companies to
identify areas where they can improve or
enhance their performance in the eyes of
their key clients – Canada’s personal
financial advisors.
HOW IS THE STUDY CONDUCTED?
The Advisor Perception Study has an
insurance component and a mutual fund
component,
both
with
separate
questionnaires. In 2012, a total of 2,411
advisors participated in the study, with
1,990 advisors completing the mutual fund
questionnaire
and
1,855
advisors
completing the insurance questionnaire.
Of those advisors who completed the
mutual fund questionnaire, 663 have been
identified as top-performing advisors, with
greater than $15 million in mutual fund
assets under management.
Data were collected between May and July
2012 via an online web survey that was emailed to a database of approximately
35,000 financial advisors, which includes
many who are in Environics’ own Advisor
Perception Panel.
3
Who completes the Advisor
Perception Study?
Respondents to the Advisor Perception Study
represent three distinct service delivery
channels.
In 2012, 31 percent of the sample are identified
as IIROC-licensed (belonging to IIROC member
firms), 40 percent of the respondents as MFDAlicensed (belonging to MFDA member firms
that are not IIROC member firms) and 29
percent of respondents identify as Managing
General Agents (those whose core business is
insurance but some of whom are licensed to
sell mutual funds). These numbers are similar
to last year’s results. The Advisor Perception
Study questionnaire is divided into two
components. Most advisors complete both the
mutual fund and insurance questionnaire;
those who are not licensed to sell one or the
other only answer the relevant components.
Three-quarters (74%) of financial advisors in
the sample report that they have been
providing advice for 10 or more years, with
more than half (54%) reporting that they have
been providing advice for 15 years or more. Ten
percent are newer to the profession, having
provided advice for less than five years.
Advisor type
31%
28%
IIROClicensed
2012
2011
40%
37%
MFDAlicensed
29%
34%
MGA/GA
Years providing advice
54%
15+ years
54%
20%
10 to 14 years
21%
2011
16%
5 to 9 years
Less than 5
years
2012
16%
10%
9%
4
Advisor
demographics
REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION. Each year, the
Advisor Perception Study captures a
diverse sample of advisors from across
Canada. This year, the distribution of
advisors across different regions of Canada
remained relatively consistent with our
findings in 2011. Almost one-fifth of
advisors (17%) are conducting business in
parts of Ontario outside the Greater
Toronto Area (GTA), while almost a quarter
(23%) are conducting business within the
GTA. Meanwhile, 17 percent of advisors
are conducting business in British
Columbia, 11 percent in Alberta and seven
percent in the Prairies (Manitoba and
Saskatchewan). A further two in ten (18%)
are respondents from Quebec, while six
percent of advisors do business in the
Atlantic region.
GENDER DISTRIBUTION. In 2012, there is
more than a 4:1 male to female ratio
among advisors, which is comparable to
our
findings
in
previous
years.
Furthermore, for top-performing advisors,
the percentage of female advisors saw a
slight decline from 13 to 11 percent. The
highest incidence of female advisors exists
in British Columbia (19%), the GTA (19%)
and the Prairies (19%), where one in five
respondents are women. There is a lower
incidence of female advisors in Quebec
(15%).
Region
17%
16%
BC
11%
10%
AB
7%
7%
MB/SK
23%
22%
GTA
17%
17%
Outside GTA
18%
PQ
2012
6%
6%
Atlantic
All advisors
22%
2011
Top performers
2012
2011
2012
2011
Male
82
83
89
87
Female
17
17
11
13
Top Performers includes those advisors with at least $15M in
mutual fund AUM
5
STAGE OF BUSINESS. In 2012, about seven
in ten (71%) full-time advisors were over
the age of 40. Similarly, we see that, on
average, advisors have been providing
advice for 16.2 years, a similar proportion
to 2011.
Most advisors believe that their business
has room to grow, with more than half
(52%) reporting that they are in a growth
phase, while a further nine percent of
respondents report that their businesses
are in the start-up phase.
While many are planning for growth, the
number of businesses in the succession
planning phase has remained stable at
seven percent (as in 2011), but is an
increase from five percent in 2009.
Stage of business
Start-up
9%
7%
52%
Growth
55%
30%
Maturity
30%
Succession Planning
7%
2012
7%
2011
6
Challenges facing
advisors
This year we asked advisors about the
challenges they face in the financial
services industry:
PERFORMANCE: For many advisors, market
performance is the most important
issue facing the industry. This
includes concerns about volatility
and poor returns on client
investments, as well as uncertainty
in the financial markets and the
economy generally.
COMPLIANCE: Advisors find compliance
requirements in the financial
services industry onerous and
ineffectual. They are frustrated that
time spent on compliance robs them
of time they feel could be better
spent building their businesses and
seeing clients.
PRACTICE ISSUES: Advisors face myriad
issues in running their practices.
Challenges include prospecting and
succession planning , the quality of
service they receive from mutual
fund and insurance companies, and
their desire to provide good financial
planning services to their clients.
Industry Issues
– Coded Verbatims
Performance
30%
Compliance
27%
Practice Issues
17%
Fees and costs
9%
Perceptions of industry
9%
Clients
7%
Competition
7%
Products
3%
Other
2%
None
1%
FEES AND COSTS: Cost competition is an
issue for many advisors. They feel
pressure on both their revenues and
their costs. Many advisors are
frustrated about the compensation
they receive from mutual fund and
insurance companies as well as high
product costs (MERs and insurance
premiums).
7
Challenges facing
advisors
PERCEPTIONS OF THE INDUSTRY: Many
advisors relate that financial
institutions, the financial services
industry and the markets themselves
have lost credibility in the eyes of
investors. This includes negative
perceptions generated by the media
concerning investment scandals and
dishonest financial advisors.
CLIENTS: Managing client expectations
around market performance is an
issue for a number of advisors. Many
are also frustrated by client attitudes
towards savings and debt and their
lack of preparation for retirement.
COMPETITION: Advisors face competition
from a number of channels.
Competition from banks is especially
of concern, as well as that from
other advisors and DIY (do-ityourself) investing.
PRODUCTS: Advisors can be frustrated by
the quality or lack of availability of
products, as well as excessive
product proliferation.
8
Growth of fee-based
compensation
One of the clearest trends in the Advisor
Perception Study over the past several
years has been the growth in fee-based
compensation. About a third (30%) of
advisors across the industry received some
level of fee-based compensation. However,
this differs significantly by advisor type.
Seven in ten (70%) of IIROC-licensed
advisors receive fee-based compensation,
while this is only the case for 15 percent of
MFDA-licensed advisors and ten percent of
MGA advisors. For IIROC-licensed advisors,
this is a significant increase from 2009,
when only 58 percent received fee-based
compensation.
Proportion of advisors receiving
compensation type
91%
92%
Commission-based
30%
29%
Fee-based
22%
22%
Bonus
16%
13%
Salary
Among those who receive some fee-based
compensation, it accounts for 43% of their
income. The average is higher for IIROClicensed advisors (47%) than for MFDAlicensed advisors (37%) or MGAs (20%).
3%
3%
Other
All
Advisors
IIROC
MFDA
MGA
2012
2012
2012
2012
Commission-based
91
94
83
97
Fee-based
30
70
15
10
Bonus
22
22
15
32
Salary
16
13
23
12
Other
3
3
2
3
9
How did the markets
affect client portfolio
values?
The value of advisors’ books continues to hold
strong after the significant losses of 2009. This
is with the exception of MGA/GAs, who have
seen a decline in AUM from 2010.
While the global recession had an impact on
the portfolios of many investors in 2009, it
generally did not significantly alter the
distribution of client portfolio values within
the average advisor’s book. This is again true
of the economic recovery, as we see little
change in the 2012 proportions of clients by
portfolio value.
Slightly less than a quarter of client portfolios
fall in each of the less than $50,000, $50,000
to $99,999, and $100,000 to $249,999
categories (22%, 21% and 23%, respectively),
while the remaining 33 percent of portfolios
are valued at over $250,000.
Average assets under
management (in millions $)
2012
2011
2010
IIROClicensed
70.6
71.2
67.6
MFDAlicensed
20.0
20.8
21.4
MGA/
GA
11.2
12.3
16.8
Mean proportion of clients
with a portfolio value of:
Less than $50K
22%
22%
$50K to $100K
21%
22%
23%
23%
$100K to $250K
In 2012, about half of advisors (49%) report
having at least one million-dollar client.
However, among the top-performing advisors
(those with at least $15M in mutual fund
AUM), about eight in ten report at least one
million-dollar client (81%).
Other research by Environics shows that only
a quarter of Canadian households have
financial assets of $100,000 or more, and only
14 percent have assets of $250,000 or more.
18%
18%
$250K to $500K
10%
10%
$500K to $1M
$1M +
5%
5%
2012
2011
10
What types of services
are advisors offering
their clients?
Advisors did not report any significant
changes in the provision of planning
services between 2012 and 2011.
While nine in ten (86%) advisors offer their
clients annual reviews of their financial
plans, only about six in ten (58%) clients
actually receive this service. Furthermore,
roughly two-thirds of advisors offer
services like succession planning (66%),
formal written plans (63%) and tax advice
(64%), but only small proportions of clients
actually receive these services (30%, 36%
and 45%, respectively).
This suggests that, while advisors may
offer services such as succession/estate
planning, tax advice and formal written
financial plans, they remain selective
about which clients these services are
offered to and the highest service levels
are likely reserved for those clients with
the highest portfolio values.
Incidence of planning services
offered to clients
Annual financial plan
review
Average proportion of clients
receiving services
86%
89%
Succession or estate
planning
66%
67%
2012
2011
58%
57%
30%
30%
Formal written plan
63%
64%
36%
34%
Tax advice (not tax
returns)
64%
65%
45%
43%
35%
33%
46%
47%
Lifestyle planning
2012
2011
11
Managing the
product shelf
Advisors give careful consideration to the
fund companies they include in their
product shelf. They must balance the
benefit of providing clients a good
selection of mutual funds with the costs
and risks of researching and adding new
funds to their offering. For several years,
our research has shown that many
advisors are seeking to reduce the number
of fund companies on their shelves in
order to streamline their businesses, and
minimize regulatory and administrative
burdens.
The strength of the relationship between
sales penetration and volume becomes
clear when looking at the average
percentage of sales by rank. In 2012, the
mutual fund company sold most by an
advisor accounted for an average of 50
percent of the advisor’s total sales. By
comparison, the company sold secondmost accounted for only an average of 22
percent of the advisor’s total sales, and
the fall from there is precipitous. Because
advisors prefer to sell a limited number of
funds, top ranking is heavily rewarded. In
other words – if you’re not at the top,
you’re not in the game. This is true also of
the insurance side, where the most-sold in
life premiums accounted for 68 percent of
sales in 2012, while second-most
accounted for 20 percent. It is critical that
fund companies build loyalty among
advisors in order to win top supporter
status.
In 2012, advisors who sell mutual funds
reported selling an average of 5.1 fund
companies. It is interesting to note that
while advisors project reducing their
product shelf in 2013, they did not actually
do so in 2012, contrary to their 2011
prediction which suggested they would be
shortening their product shelf in the
coming year.
All advisors
Mean number of fund
companies supported
IIROClicensed
MFDAlicensed
MGA/GA
2012
2011
2012
2011
2012
2011
2012
2011
5.1
5.0
5.3
5.3
5.3
5.2
3.8
4.3
12
What influences an
advisor’s decision to
support a company?
In the Advisor Perception Study, advisors are
asked to rate mutual fund and insurance
companies across 24 common dimensions.
Additionally, advisors are asked to rate the
importance of each dimension, allowing us to
compare how well the industry is performing
on the dimensions that matter most to
advisors.
Advisors report that a combination of
performance and back office-related criteria
drive their support. Specifically, advisors feel it
is very important that a fund company have
high quality fund managers who can deliver
consistent performance, as well as a
competent back office staff that can lower the
incidence of transaction problems and quickly
resolve them when they arise.
While Appropriate MERs is in the middle of
the pack for importance, it jumped from 7.3 to
7.7, the largest movement of any of our
dimensions. This is especially noticeable
among IIROC-licensed advisors, and suggests
that fee-conscious clients will cause advisors
to be more selective on the basis of MERs.
In 2012, 51 percent of advisors greatly
increased their business with a fund company.
One-third (34%) of advisors say that this
increase was related to overall fund
performance. A quarter (26%) say they
increased business because they of wholesaler
quality and support, while 15 percent cite the
quality of fund managers. Customer service
(8%) and access to specific products (6%) are
also mentioned.
Five most important factors for
advisors (mean rating out of 10)
Quality of fund
managers
8.9
Product performance
8.9
Corrects problems
quickly
8.7
Consistent
performance
8.7
Product offering
matches client needs
8.5
Top reasons for increasing business
with mutual fund companies
Fund performance
34%
Wholesaler
quality/support
26%
Fund managers
Customer service
Access to specific
products
15%
8%
6%
13
How did the top companies
perform?
MUTUAL FUND COMPANIES. Fidelity and
Dynamic Mutual Funds lead the industry
in terms of sales penetration. However,
while industry leader Fidelity maintained
penetration, Dynamic lost ground, with
half (50%) of advisors now indicating that
they had sold Dynamic funds in the past
12 months, down from 53 percent in
2011. In third place (47%), CI continues to
lose ground, falling from 2009 (53%)
levels.
2012 saw the emergence of two new
trends – the growing penetration of
newer and smaller firms such as Sentry
Investments and Russell Investments, and
the strengthening of the bank-based fund
companies. This has occurred at the same
time as a contraction in the penetration
of the larger, traditional independent
fund companies. The smaller firms that
are popular with advisors are those which
provide niche products to clients and
have delivered exceptional performance
in recent years. At the other end of the
spectrum, the big banks, having survived
the financial crisis so impressively, are
attracting clients with their reputation for
stability and integrity. We expect these
trends to continue into the future, and to
significantly impact the landscape of the
financial services industry in Canada.
Top 10 mutual fund companies
by sales penetration
57%
58%
Fidelity Investment
50%
53%
Dynamic Mutual Funds
47%
48%
CI Investments
42%
45%
Mackenzie Investments
34%
39%
AGF Funds
34%
34%
TD Mutual Funds
31%
30%
Invesco Trimark
Franklin Templeton
IA Clarington
Manulife Mutual Funds
25%
26%
22%
20%
22%
21%
2012
2011
14
ETF COMPANIES. Exchange traded
funds (ETFs) are a fast-growing
investment segment. In 2012, 43
percent of IIROC-licensed advisors
report selling ETFs, an increase from 39
percent in 2009. Favoured especially by
those seeking to match an index, ETFs
are increasingly finding a place in client
portfolios, whether for core or niche
exposure.
Top 5 ETF companies among
advisors selling ETFs
iShares
76%
Claymore
iShares by BlackRock leads the market
among those IIROC-licensed advisors
selling ETFs. Three-quarters (76%) of
advisors offer iShares to their clients.
At a fairly distant second, Claymore
(also owned by BlackRock) is offered by
half (48%) of the advisors. BMO (44%),
and Horizons (26%) are also mentioed.
Invesco
PowerShares
have
a
considerable presence as well (21%),
and are credited for helping to
reinvigorate the Invesco Trimark brand.
48%
BMO
Horizons
Invesco PowerShares
44%
26%
21%
15
INSURANCE COMPANIES. On the
insurance side, Manulife maintained its
position as market lead in 2012, with
60 percent of advisors reporting that
they sold Manulife insurance products
in the past 12 months.
Top 10 insurance companies by
life premium sales penetration
60%
59%
Manulife
38%
41%
Canada Life
2012 saw a decline among some
companies in the industry. Canada Life
lost ground (38%, down from 41% in
2011), as did Empire Life (31% in 2012,
down from 34% in 2011. The past year
also saw changes in penetration in line
with the general trend of the growth of
bank based insurance firms. RBC
Insurance was sold by a quarter of
advisors (26%, up from 24% in 2011),
and with the recent acquisition
BMO/AIG jumped from 13 percent to
24 percent penetration.
31%
34%
Empire Life
27%
27%
Transamerica Life
RBC Insurance
26%
24%
Industrial-Alliance
26%
24%
BMO/AIG
24%
13%
20%
19%
Equitable Life
Sun Life
Desjardins
12%
12%
2012
2011
10%
9%
16
How do advisors perceive
the top companies?
MUTUAL FUND COMPANIES. Correlating
with Fidelity’s top score in sales
penetration in 2012, advisors once again
gave Fidelity the highest overall company
rating in this year’s Advisor Perception
Study (6.9 out of 10, close to 7.0 in 2011).
New to the study in 2012, Sentry
Investment achieves an impressive second
place ranking based on its score of 6.4.
While in 2012 Sentry only has 15 percent
sales penetration, this very high rating
bodes well for it’s future, and suggests
greater penetration in the coming year.
Russell Investments, another smaller firm,
also scores very well (6.2, up from 5.9 in
2011).
The notable turn-around story for 2012 is
the success of Invesco Trimark increasing
from 4.7 in 2011 to 5.4 this year. Gains of
this magnitude may result in increased
sales penetration for 2013. Gaining as well
is NEI Investments (5.0 to 5.4).
Overall company rating
(mean score out of 10)
6.9
7.0
Fidelity Investments
6.4
Sentry Investments
6.3
6.9
Dynamic Mutual Funds
Russell Investments
6.2
5.9
TD Mutual Funds
6.1
6.2
CI Investments
6.0
6.0
IA Clarington
6.0
5.8
Standard Life
5.9
5.7
Mackenzie Investments
5.8
5.9
RBC Mutual Funds
5.7
5.7
National Bank
5.6
5.7
Manulife Mutual Funds
5.5
5.6
NEI Investments
5.4
5.0
Invesco Trimark
5.4
4.7
Franklin Templeton
5.3
5.3
BMO Guardian Funds
5.2
5.0
CIBC Renaissance
4.9
4.7
2012
AGF Funds
4.3
4.9
2011
17
INSURANCE COMPANIES. Manulife
maintained a strong lead in overall
company ratings, at 6.8 out of 10
(down from 6.9 in 2011, 7.0 in 2010,
and 7.2 in 2009). Standard Life
earned a second-place ranking,
based on strong ratings in their seg.
fund division. Great West Life,
Canada Life, and Sun Life filled out
the top 5.
Several companies slipped in terms
of their ratings this year. Empire Life
(6.2, down from 6.5 in 2011) and
RBC Insurance (5.6, down from 5.9 in
2011) both saw decreases. This may
translate
into
lower
sales
penetration in the coming year.
Overall company rating
(mean score out of 10)
6.8
6.9
Manulife
Standard Life
6.7
6.6
Great West Life
6.6
6.6
Canada Life
6.4
6.5
Sun Life
6.3
6.5
MEAN
6.2
6.4
Empire Life
6.2
6.5
Desjardins
6.2
6.2
Industrial Alliance
6.0
6.1
Equitable Life
6.0
6.2
Transamerica Life
5.9
5.8
RBC Insurance
5.6
5.9
BMO/AIG
5.5
5.6
2012
2011
18
What sources do advisors use to keep up-to-date
about products, companies or trends in the industry?
When asked what sources they rely on to
keep up-to-date about products, companies
or trends in the industry, it is clear that
advisors are using a relatively wide variety
of sources. These include sources that are
geared specifically towards advisors, as well
as broader sources that are also oriented
towards consumer investors and the
general investment community.
PRINT MEDIA. Despite the range of sources,
several stand out as being utilized by
advisors more extensively. These top
mentions for print media include the Globe
and Mail, Advisor’s Edge, Investment
Executive and the National Post.
In Quebec, Le Devoir is relied upon heavily
by advisors.
Print media
Sources somewhat or heavily relied on by advisors
Net Use:
Globe & Mail/
Report on Business
21%
32%
53%
Advisor’s Edge/ Advisor’s
Edge Report
10%
39%
49%
Investment
Executive
10%
39%
49%
National Post/
Financial Post
9%
23%
32%
Investors’ 2% 12%
Digest
14%
New York Times 1% 8%
Le Devoir 4%
Additional mentions:
• Advocis Forum
• Barron’s
• Bloomberg
• The Economist
• La Presse
• Les Affaires
• Wall Street Journal
• Mutual fund companies
• Own Firm
9%
Heavily
5%/ 12% in Que.
Somewhat
19
ONLINE MEDIA. It is clear that advisors are
relying heavily on online resources in their
efforts to keep up-to-date on the industry,
and they identify a wide variety of online
sources. Between online, print and
television sources, advisors are more likely
to rely heavily on online sources for
information and are also more likely to
select online sources overall. Furthermore,
many are taking advantage of the online
offerings of many of their favourite print
media sources.
Top mentions for online media include:
•Globeandmail.com/Globeadvisor.ca
•Morningstar.ca
•Advisor.ca
•Bloomberg.com
•Investmentexecutive.com
•Nationalpost.com
In Quebec, ledevoir.com is also relied upon
heavily by advisors.
Online media
Sources somewhat or heavily relied on by advisors
Net Use:
globeandmail.com/
globeinvestor.com
22%
globeadvisor.ca
18%
morningstar.ca
14%
advisor.ca
13%
bloomberg.com
10%
investmentexecutive.com
10%
nationalpost.com/
financialpost.com
33%
6%
34%
31%
38%
22%
31%
21%
45%
51%
41%
28%
13%
7%
ledevoir.com 3%
52%
Additional mentions:
• CNBC.com
• Google Finance
• Reuters.com
• Seekingalpha.com
• Yahoo.com/Finance
• Marketwatch.ca
• Retirehappy.ca
• Zerohedge
32%
advisoranalyst.com 2% 10%
fundlibrary.com
55%
9%
Heavily
Somewhat
4% / 10% in Que.
20
TELEVISION MEDIA. In contrast to online
and print media, advisors rely on television
much less to keep them informed on
products, companies and trends in the
industry.
Top mentions for television include Business
Network News and CNN Money, with half of
advisors relying heavily (15%) or somewhat
(28%) on Business Network News.
Television media
Sources somewhat or heavily relied on by advisors
Net Use:
Business Network
News (BNN)
CNN Money
16%
5%
30%
27%
22%
Heavily
46%
Somewhat
Additional mentions:
• BBC Business Report
• Bloomberg TV
• Canal Argent
• CBC/Newsworld
• CNBC
• MSNBC
21
Implications for 2013
The financial industry is going through a period
of tremendous change. The evolution of
financial institutions, financial products, and
advisor compensation will fundamentally
change the landscape of the industry going
forward.
The 2012 Advisor Perception Study saw
increased penetration and incremental ratings
gains for bank-based fund companies, as well as
for smaller, niche fund companies. Having
weathered the financial crisis, the banks have
earned a reputation for stability and their lower
MERs speak to advisors’ growing sensitivity to
cost this year. However, traditional independent
fund companies retain a solid base of strength
and will not give up market share readily.
This year saw the introduction of a new fund
company – Sentry Investments - to our list of
fund companies. Sentry has seen considerable
growth on the basis of strong fund performance
and back-to-back Lipper awards. Their
continued growth will depend on their ability to
continue to deliver the outperformance
advisors now expect from them. In addition to
Sentry, advisors are making greater use
products from smaller fund companies to round
out and tailor their clients’ portfolios.
The growth of fee-based compensation
continued in 2012. Increasingly, advisors are
turning to fee-based options. Thanks in
large part to the media attention on the
topic, clients are concerned the size of
commission payments as well as the
potential for biased advice. The focus on
commissions and fees will likely continue, as
some in government and industry continue
to push for greater regulatory restrictions
on advisor compensation.
Financial advisors will face a number of
challenges in the coming year. Advisors tell
us that they are most concerned about
market performance as the economy and
financial markets continue to seek stability
and growth. Advisors concerns about MERs
have jumped sharply this year as clients
continue to apply pressure on costs. This is
also reflected in the growing popularity of
ETFs, which are perceived as providing a
lower-cost alternative to traditional mutual
funds. These prominent concerns about
fees from both advisors and clients should
persist in the coming year, especially should
market returns continue to stagnate.
For more information, contact:
About this report
David MacDonald, MBA, CMRP
Group VP, Financial Services Division
Environics Research Group
33 Bloor Street East, Suite 900
Toronto, Ontario M4W 3H1
Tel: 416•920•9010
e: david.macdonald@environics.ca
This report is prepared exclusively for the
advisors who have shared their views in
the 2012 Advisor Perception Study and
must not be circulated without permission
from Environics Research Group.
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