The Importance of Dealing
with a Trusted Advisor
“The Road to Success is Dotted with
Many Tempting Parking Spaces”
By Jill Norrish CFP
Knowing that your hard earned investments and retirement
savings are safe is important at the best of times. In the
challenging economic times that we are facing today, it
becomes even more important to make sure that your
investments are being managed properly.
Another problem is the so-called “affinity fraud”, when
investors follow their friends and family into an investment
without first doing their own homework. In such frauds,
the victims are often friends, family or members of the
same organization.
In this paper we, at TCU Wealth Management, want to
illustrate the importance of dealing with a trusted advisor.
In recent months, the media has been inundated with
stories of people just like you, who are losing their life savings
to fraudsters.
Madoff scandal prompts
dozens of SEC reforms.
Schemes and Frauds
Whether it’s a Ponzi scheme, email, or telephone scam, experts
say every investment fraud case has the same red flags...
First and foremost is the guarantee of low risk and high
returns - a promise which cannot be made. The risk of investors
falling for such promises is especially high when stock
markets are volatile.
Reuters ~ September 29, 2009
It’s a common characteristic in the recent fraud cases of
Bernard Madoff, now in prison for masterminding a $65 billion
Ponzi scheme, and Earl Jones, the Quebec money manager
allegedly behind a $50 million plus Ponzi scheme in Canada.
Jones was not a registered advisor,
making it near impossible for regulators
to track activity.
The Importance of Dealing with a Trusted Advisor
1
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that
pays returns to separate investors from their own money
or money paid by subsequent investors rather than from
any actual profit earned in the stock market or other
investment vehicle.
Such a scheme usually offers abnormally high returns that
other investments cannot guarantee to entice new investors.
But the scheme usually collapses because the returns require
an ever-increasing flow of money from investors to keep the
fraud going.
Protect Your Financial Wellbeing
by Asking the Right Questions
Financial Planners Standards Council (FPSC)
Urges Canadians to Protect Themselves
by Improving Financial Literacy; Offers
Guidance for Evaluating Advisors
Toronto ~ August 11, 2009
Information You Need to Know
Questions investors need answered before dealing with
an advisor:
• What are the advisor’s credentials / qualifications?
• Does the individual or company use an independent
custodian such as a Canadian chartered bank, to hold
client assets?
•
Is the individual or company whose business is trading,
underwriting or advising in securities registered with
one or more provincial securities commissions? And if
so, exactly which services are authorized?
• Has the firm been audited (by a reputable auditor) and
to what level of compliance?
About TCU Wealth Management
1. TCU Wealth Management is a subsidiary of TCU Financial
Group which is local, member-owned and here for the
long term.
2. TCU’s advisors and planners have acquired
maintain the proper education and registrations.
and
3. TCU’s advisors and planners are required to hold a
Certified Financial Planner’s (CFP®) designation. The FPSC
defines this designation as: The CFP marks identify
individuals who are dedicated to the highest level of
professionalism in providing financial planning advice.
The CFP credential assures that the planner adheres to
internationally recognized professional standards of
competence and ethical practice as set in Canada by
the not-for-profit FPSC. CFP standards include requirements
in education, examination, experience and ethics –
commonly known as the 4Es of professionalism.
4. TCU Wealth Management’s dealers Qtrade Asset
Management Inc. & Qtrade Advisor and their reps are
registered with the Saskatchewan Securities Commission.
5. TCU Wealth Management has an extensive compliance
and audit process. Our Dealers employ Compliance
Officers who audit our reps and review their trading activity.
TCU Wealth Management and our Dealers are audited by
the Mutual Funds Dealers Association and the Investment
Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada.
6. TCU Wealth Management has dedicated professionals
who offer sound advice on your whole financial picture,
not just your investments.
About Jill
Jill Norrish, Senior Manager - TCU Wealth
Management, has 20 years experience
in the financial industry. Jill and
her team are committed to building
relationships and assisting you with
your life’s financial journey.
• Are third-party audits of their activities conducted? And
if so, with what firm and how often?
• Has the local securities commission dealt with any
complaints against the advisor?
TCU Wealth Management offers financial planning services, mutual
funds and other securities through Qtrade Advisor, a division of Qtrade
Securities Inc., Member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund.
Financial planning services, mutual funds are also offered through
Qtrade Asset Management Inc., member MFDA.
The Importance of Dealing with a Trusted Advisor
2