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espite the manychangesin theworld sincemutualfunds were introduced80

years ago, these stalwartinvest-mentvehicles remain among the

most popular means forCana-dians to achievetheir financialdreams.

Introduced in Canada in 1932,mutual funds revolutionizedpersonalinvesting by offeringindividuals with limitedsavingsan effective way to increase their

wealth by investing in the capitalmarkets.

Now comprising 25 percentofour total financial assetsandabouthalf of our registered savingsplans,mutual funds area stapleoftodays householdbalance sheetforgood reasons, say experts.

For instance, Joanne DeLaurentiis, president and CEO ofThe Investment Funds InstituteofCanada, says theunique waysthat funds arestructuredmeet the

needs ofa wide rangeof indi-viduals by providing optionsthatwould otherwise be difficult toreplicate in most portfolios.

Blake Goldring, chairmanandCEO of AGF Management Ltd.calls mutual funds the mostdemocratic way for Canadians toachievetheir financialgoals.

It justisnt possible for mostCanadians to liveon income fromtreasurybills orGICs you haveto be invested in the market,he explains. Mutualfunds area superior, cost-effective waytoachievethat aim.They enableinvestorsto diversify assets basedon their level of risktolerance.

Thegrowth ofthe mutualfunds industry broughtglobaldiversification within reach formanyinvestorsfor the first time,

while making professional moneymanagement and financialadviceavailable to everyone in the coun-try, saysPaul Lorentz, an execu-tivevice president at ManulifeFinancial.

Mutualfund fees areoftencompared to those of otherinvestment products, but it isntan appropriate comparison, hecomments. Most mutual fundsarebundledwithadvice.If youlookat thebenefits that mutualfunds haveprovided by makingindependent financial planningavailable to consumers, in mymind, you cannot even puta pricetag on that value.

Manystudies, including onereleased thisyear by the Centrefor Interuniversity Research andAnalysis on Organizations (CIRA-NO)in Montreal, have found thatfinancialadviceis a fundamental

contributor to long-term financialwell-being.

Once you've madethe deci-sion to purchasemutual fundsthrough an advisor, thatadvisor isincented to continue to encourage

you to keep saving and investing,says Ms. De Laurentiis. Accordingto the CIRANO study, financialadvice instills a strong and lastingsavingsbehaviour. It is thatdisci-pline thatallowsindividualswithfinancialadvisors to save more.

The CIRANO study alsofoundthatindividualswith financialadvisors have a higher level offinancialliteracy and take greateradvantageof tax-shelteredpro-grams such as RRSPs,RESPs and

TFSAs. It and other independentstudiesadditionally showthatindividuals with financial advisorsdo significantly better in overall

wealth creation, notes Mr. Gold-ring. Studies havealso found that

people withoutan advisoroftenspend more timetalkingabout anupcomingvacation than theydoabout their financialfuture, whichis worrisome.

Couple that finding withrisinglevels ofpersonal debt andthereality thatgovernment programsalone will not meet theretire-ment needsof Canadians andit isclear that paying for advicepaysdividends, he says.

Staying relevantfor eightdecadesdemandsa highlevel ofinnovation.The investment fundindustry has delivered.

As government policy haschanged,the mutual fundsindustryhas evolved to deliverthe benefits of those changestoCanadians, saysCharlesSims,

president and CEO of MackenzieInvestments. When the Regis-tered Retirement SavingsPlan

was introduced by the federalgovernment in 1957, the structureof mutual funds allowedinvest-mentadviceto be provided withthe savings vehicle, which madeRRSPs accessible for everyone,he notes.

Today, mutual funds arealso akeyinvestmentvehicle forReg-istered Education SavingsPlans,the Tax-Free SavingsAccountand Registered Disability SavingsPlans.

Both in andoutside ofregis-tered plans, the coupling of advice

with investment products has en-hanced the ability of Canadians tosave forretirement, saysMr. Sims.Asset allocation products, whichprovidea portfolio allocated intodifferent asset classesand regions,basedon theriskprofile oftheinvestors, simplified the process

forboth financialadvisors andinvestors alike.

As the Canadian populationhasaged,the funds industry hasresponded to the intensified focuson retirement,says Mr. Goldring.

Investors are increasingly con-cerned about whether theirneedsaregoingto be metby governmentpension plans,and the investmentindustry has played a leadershiprolein ensuring that investmentproducts and options are availableforlong-term planning.

For more thaneight decades,mutual funds have successfullyadapted to policy, market and in-

vestorshifts, to continue to meetthe changingneeds of Canadians,addsMr. Sims.

According to a recent study, financial advice instills a strong and lasting savings behaviour that enables Canadians to save more. PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

More than ever, mutual funds deliver investment solutions

Eighty years of helping Canadians save

This report was produced by RandallAnthony Communications Inc. (www.randallanthony.com) in conjunction with the advertising department of The Globe and Mail. Richard Deacon, National Business Development Manager, rdeacon@globeandmail.com.

SpecialInvestment Funds

W E D N E S D AY , O C T O B E R 3 , 2 0 1 2 SECTION IFIC

AN INFORMATION FEATURE FOR THE INVESTMENT FUNDS INSTITUTE OF CANADA

ot so long ago, retirementwas a brief p eriod at theend of life. It usually be-

gan with a cake and a gold watchon your 65th birthday, and lasteda decade or so.

But longer life expectancieshave changed all that. Today,retirement is the culmination ofa process that starts years earlier,

when we begi n preparing for astage of life that may last threedecades or more after the lastemployment paycheque.

Add low interest rates, low-growth, high-volatility equitymarkets and the need to mini-mize taxes in retirement, and itsclear that Canadians planningfor their golden years have their

hands full. But they dont have todo it alone.

A good starting point for anyadvisor is to help the person

whos looking at retirement un-derstand the differences he orshe will experience when theyreach retirement, says JasonRound, head of financial plan-ning support at RBC FinancialPlanning. Your expenses willchange, because youre doingdifferent things with your time.The nature of the income youreceive will change ratherthan a regular paycheque, youlllikely have a variety of incomesources.

RETIREMENT PLANNING

Early planning, advice

offer solutions to theretirement puzzle

Retirement Planning, Page IFIC6

RETROSPECTIVE

Alan Chippindale can be consideredthe father of the investment fundsbusiness in Canada. Born in Englandin 1901, his introduction to Canadianbusiness began in 1932 when the Cal-

vin Bullock organization in New Yorksent him to Canada to start and man-age the Canadian Investment Fund,the first mutual fund in the country.

Statistics were sketchy, but it wasestimated that unemployment wasabout 40 per cent, he wrote in anInvestment Funds Institute of Canadaretrospective 30 years ago. Unless youhave been through it, you will neverknow what a desperate situation that was. The Dow JonesIndustrials had dropped 90 per cent.

For their first few decades, mutual fund growth was slow but

steady, reaching $1-billion in 1963. Real growth started in the1990s, as interest rates eased and investors looked for betterreturns.

Today, more than 4.3 million Canadian families own mutualfund investments.

ABOUT

The Investment FundsInstitute of Canada (IFIC)

The Investment Funds Insti-tute of Canada is the voice ofCanadas investment fundsindustry. IFIC brings together150 organizations, includingfund managers and distribu-tors, to foster a strong, stableinvestment sector whereinvestors can realize theirfinancial goals. The organiza-tion is proud to have servedCanadian financial consum-ers for 50 years.

The Voice of Canadas

Investment Funds Industry

IFIC.CAIFIC.C

A

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INVESTMENT FUNDS

obert Frances has no trou-ble remembering what it

was like to be a financialadvisor 20 or 30 years ago.

An advisor was essentially asalesperson, says the presidentand CEO of PEAK Financial Group,someone who specialized insomething, whether it be securi-ties, mutual funds or insurance.

Not anymore. The financialservices industry has become in-creasingly complex, and today thesingle-product advisor is largely athing of the past.

Advisors have become expertsin a broad range of products, andultimately thats been a goodthing for clients, because it hasallowed advisors to integrate the

various parts of a clients financiallife, says Mr. Frances, a past chairof The Investment Funds Instituteof Canada.

A good financial advisor estab-lishes a relationship with clients,becoming a confidante in allmajor financial decisions.

In addition to asking aboutfinancial goals, an advisor todayneeds to know when clients planon using their money, how solidthey are financially and what an

individuals capacity is forrisktolerance, notesMr. Frances.Theyll askyou howlikely it isthat youcould lose your jobor facesomeother financial calamity.Tellme aboutyour parents,theyll say.Areyou going tohave tosupportthem orare youcounting on someform of inheritance? These arethetypes ofthingsyou didnthave toknow 20or 30yearsago.

Greg Pollock, president andCEO of Advocis, The Financial Ad-

visors Association of Canada, saysanother trend has been that advi-sors no longer spend their entirecareer working for one company.

Today we see more and moreindependent advisors selling arange of ever-more complex prod-ucts from different companies,says Mr. Pollock. That createsmore opportunity for consum-ers, because there is a lot morecompetition between the variousproviders than ever before.

In the past, most businessbetween client and advisor wastransactional, he adds.

It was more of a product busi-ness than a people business, heexplains. Today its much more

focused on the person and therelationship. Its more holistic, ifyou will, in that an advisor is notjust going to look at your insur-ance needs or your retirementneeds or your savings, but at allof them. He or she is going to tryand integrate your mortgage intothe plan, as well as help you savefor your childrens education, andthey are going to do so using a

wide range of tools.This new approach requires ad-

visors to be educated in all aspectsof financial planning, and to begood educators in return, capableof explaining the virtues, pitfallsand implications of various strate-gies to clients.

Some things never changethough, and one is the persistent

belief by many Canadians thatyou need a certain level of assetsto engage an advisor.

Its not the case, says Mr. Pol-lock. In fact, research indicatesthat it is having an advisor andsaving regularly that makes thedifference. There are90,000advi-sors in Canada, many in banksand credit unions, and studiesshow that those who receiveadvice have about three times theassets of the non-advised.

ADVICE

Importance of financial advisors on the rise

I FI C 2 AN INFORMATION FEATURE FOR THE INVESTMENT FUNDS INSTITUTE OF CANADA T H E G L O B E A N D M AI L W E D N E SD AY, O C T O B E R 3 , 2 01 2

Today's advisor ismuch more focusedon the person and

the relationship an advisor is not justgoing to look at yourinsurance needs oryour retirement needsor your savings, butat all of them. He orshe is going to try andintegrate your mortgageinto the plan, as well ashelp you save for yourchildrens education...

Greg Pollockis president and CEO of

Advocis, The Financial AdvisorsAssociation of Canada

A good financial advisor establishes a relationship with clients, becoming a confidante in all major financial deci-sions. PHOTO: I STOCKPHOTO.COM

VALUE

The mutual fund valueproposition

Mutual funds offer Canadiansa superior means of accumu-lating wealth through a broadrange of personalized invest-ment solutions that are basedon sound investing principlesand are offered in a regulatedenvironment.

There are nine qualitiesthat together demonstratethe mutual fund value propo-sition.

1. Professional portfoliomanagement.

2. Managing risk throughdiversification.

3. Opportunities for foreignand domestic investment.

4. Oversight.5. Low entry amount.6. Solutions that meet a wide

range of needs.7. Easy to buy and sell.8. Streamlined/convenient

administration.9. Many mutual funds (more

than 85%) are sold throughadvisors; the cost of profes-sional advice is included intheir fee structure, makingadvice available to allCanadians.

Think again. Unlike mutual funds, the returns andprincipal of GICs are guaranteed. But the flipside to

that safety means giving up higher return potential.

Mackenzie Sentinel Short-Term Income Fundis a low risk alternative that has outperformed GICs by

a wide margin.

Get your money working harder with

Mackenzie Sentinel Short-Term Income Fund call your advisor or visit www.mackenziefinancial.com/think

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. The indicated rates ofreturn are the historical annual compounded total returns including changes in unit value and reinvestment of all distributions and do not take into account sales, redemption, distribution oroptional charges or income taxes payable by any securityholder that would have reduced returns. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance maynot be repeated. Performance as of August 31, 2012.

Thinkcashis king?

$9,500

$10,500

$11,000

$11,500

$10,000

1/09 8/10 8/11 8/12

$10,274

$11,250

Mackenzie Sentinel Short-Term Income Fund

Average 1-Year GIC (Morningstar)

$12,000

Growth of $10,000 invested since January 2009

Source:

Morningstar

1 Year 3 Years 5 Years Since Inception 11/24/06

Mackenzie S entinel S hort-Term I ncome F und 1.3% 2.6% 3.7% 3.6%

Average 1-Year GIC (Morningstar) 1.0% 0.8% 1.1% 1.4%

7/30/2019 IFICOct.3.12

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By Glen Gowland,Managing Director & Head, ScotiaPrivate Client Group & GlobalInstitutional Business, and Chairof The Investment Funds Instituteof Canada

onsumers deserve to haveclear and meaningfulinformation on all of their

financial products so they canmake informed decisions that arebest suited to their circumstances.

Mutual funds offer a high degreeof disclosure, including how muchconsumers are paying in total fortheir products, and how much

they are earning. This will beeven more accessible to investorsthrough Fund Factsthe three-to four-page document that willdetail key data about funds.

Regulators of other financialproducts should be focused onsetting the same high standard toinform and protect consumers.

Focusing on investor needshas been a key principle of themutual funds industry since itbegan. In November 1932, in theshadow of the Great Depression, a

young man named Alan Chippin-dale was sent to Montreal to startthe first open-end mutual fund inCanada. He later recalled that thecity was cold, but the economy

was even more frigid. U nemploy-ment was about 40 per cent, and

the Dow Jones had dropped 90per cent.According to Mr. Chippindales

later reflections: We realized wehad to concentrate on maintain-ing the highest possible standardof ethics and business conduct.We had to earn and merit theconfidence and respect of dealersand investors.

This principle is central to thework of The Investment FundsInstitute of Canada. One of its firstaccomplishments when it wasformed 50 years ago was to publisha Code of Ethics and Regulationfor members. Through the years,

the organization has issued manyguidelines, in addition to theCode of Ethics, to set high stan-dards of conduct for members.

Today, setting standards andguidelines has been more formal-ized through the Canadian Securi-ties Administrators, provincialsecurities commissions, theInvestment Industry Regula-tory Organization of Canada, theMutual Fund Dealers Associationof Canada, and, in Quebec, by theAutorit des marchs financiers.The Investment Funds Instituteof Canada continues to strive toensure a strong, competitive andhealthy marketplace deliveringhigh levels of service and value toinvestors.

Research shows that our effortsare working. For the seventh yearin a row, a Pollara survey hasfound that mutual funds top thelist of financial products whenit comes to investor confidence,

with an 8 0 per cen t confidencelevel compared to 68 per cent forGICs. The survey also found that85 per cent of investors purchasemutual funds through a financialadvisor, and 81 per cent say finan-cial advisors are their preferredsource of information on mutualfund products.

Many investors start out withsmall amounts of money andlittle investment knowledge.Forty-one per cent start with lessthan $10,000 and 22 per cent withless than $5,000. For these inves-tors, access to advice is vital.

Households receiving financialadvice are better savers and endup with more financial assets

than households that dontreceive advice and dont believethey have the ability to makeindependent prudent financialdecisions. As product choicesincrease, consumers need to im-prove their financial knowledge,

which is why The InvestmentFunds Institute of Canada sup-ports financial literacy initiatives.

Mutual funds account for25.5 per cent of the almost$3-billion in financial assetsowned by Canadians. The restis in deposit instruments, fixedincome and equities, and segre-gated funds. It is important for

consumers to receive clear, mean-ingful information about the risk,cost and value of every financialproduct they own not just the 25per cent that is invested in mutualfunds.

We encourage investment fundregulators to take a leadershiprole with other regulators to cre-ate consistent disclosure acrossfinancial products. With this

accomplished, investors wouldbe able to assess the relative suit-ability of the various financialservices and products availableto them.

The Investment Funds Instituteof Canada looks forward to work-ing with financial services regula-tors and other financial servicesproviders with the goalof achieving these objectives.

AN INFORMATION FEATURE FOR THE INVESTMENT FUNDS INSTITUTE OF CANADA I FI C 3T H E G L O B E A N D M A IL W E D N E S DAY , O CT O B E R 3 , 2 01 2

INVESTMENT FUNDS

TRANSPARENCY

A balanced business environment that serves investors

"Mutual funds offera high degree ofdisclosure, including

how much consumersare paying in total fortheir products, and howmuch they are earning.This will be even moreaccessible to investorsthrough Fund Factsthe three- to four-pagedocument that will detailkey data about funds."

ABOUT

Growthof mutualfundsin Canada

During the 1990s, mutual funds became the fastest-growing

segment of the Canadian financial services sector, with assets

under management increasing from $25-billion in December

1990 to $448-billion by December 2001, and reaching $770-billion

at the end of 2011.

As of July 2012, industry assets under management totaled

almost $803-billion and were managed in about 2,800 different

mutual funds held in more than 55 million unitholder accounts.

Source: The Investment Funds Institute of Canada

Mutual Fund Assets under Management 1992 - 2012($billions)

For the period ended July 31 of each year

Independent. Strong. Focused.

AGFhas partnered withWWF-Canada since the 1980s to helpsave the highly endangeredSumatran tiger and support otherconservationefforts.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutualfunds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. What are you doing after work? and the AGF logo are trademarks of AGFManagement Limited and used under licence.

What does it take to invest in todays markets?It takes a keen focus.

It takes a readiness to seize opportunity.

It takes strength to be independent.

It takes a tiger.

For more than 50 years, AGF has embodied this approach when investing the savings of millions

of investors. As one of the oldest independent investment management firms in Canada, we are

committed to partnering with you to help your clients reach their financial goals.

Talk to your AGF sales representative or visit AGFadvisor.com

to find out how we can help your clients succeed.

7/30/2019 IFICOct.3.12

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till smarting from thedownturn in equity mar-kets that took place in

2008 and 2009, and increasinglywary in todays climate of sloweconomic growth, Canadianinvestors have become decid-edly risk-averse, says GoshkaFolda, senior managing directorof Investor Economics. The phe-nomenon is particularly evidentamong Canadas baby boomers,

who are suddenly fearfu l of th eloss of their life-earned nesteggs.

The investment industry hasbeen responding to these tenta-tive investors by developing newchannels for communicating

with dig ital-savv y consumers,says Ms. Folda, and introducinguniquely designed mutual fundproducts that focus on income

delivery and managing down-side risk.

In addition to ramping uptheir social media and digitalpresence, companies are increas-ingly focusing on fund wrap so-lutions, a basket of mutual fundsthat are rebalanced automati-cally, based on the objectivesand time frames of individualinvestors, she explains.

Gordon Forrester, executivevice president of product andmarketing and head of retail forAGF Investments, agrees thataging Canadians are demand-ing more predictability aroundincome. The response, he says, isthe introduction of more mutualfund products with a tacticalaspect to them.

These are more of a go-anywhere equity-bond mix, with

more nimbleness, he explains.Youre seeing more corporateclass structures on the incomeside, because they are moreefficient from a capital gainsperspective.

New product developmentis also providing alternativesto long-duration fixed-incomefunds. Youre also starting tosee more floating-rate funds thatprovide protection against infla-tion, adds Mr. Forrester.

Regardless of the economicclimate, mutual funds continueto provide the kind of growthand security that Canadians aregoing to need now and in thefuture, says Harvey Sliwowicz,

vice president of relation shipmanagement at CIBC Mellon.

Not only do mutual fundsenable investors to diversify

among a wide variety of invest-ment choices, but Canadianmutual funds are subject to solidoversight by banks, custodiansand regulators, he notes. The

whole str ucture around mutualfunds provides investors withthe assurance that their portfo-lios are held in safekeeping by aregulated trustee.

Taking advantage of the ben-efits that mutual funds offer hasnever been easier, he comments,

with auto matic cont ributionplans and the ready availabilityof qualified investment advisors.

A regular payment plannot only makes it easier forCanadians to save over the longterm, it also enables dollar-costaveraging, says Mr. Sliwowicz.Investing a set amount weeklyor monthly into a mutual fundmeans you buy a larger num-ber of units when the marketis down, and fewer when themarket goes up and prices rise.As a result, you pay lower priceson average for each unit.

He points out that Canadianinvestment firms have beenparticularly adept at protecting

wealth an d developing the kindsof vehicles that investors need tocarry them into the future.

Economies of scale and com-

petition between providers havedriven participants to respondever more quickly to the varyingneeds of Canadian investors,Mr. Sliwowicz says. We are see-ing better and clearer reportingand a plethora of new strategies,tools and vehicles everythingfrom alternative investmentportfolios to low-cost indexedETFs.

In the aftermath of the 2008financial crisis, Canada hasserved as an example to the

world, he adds. We have veryrobust regulatory and report-ing requirements, stable marketinfrastructure and stronggovernance among the industryplayers including some of thestrongest banks in the world.

INVESTMENT FUNDS

YOUR FUN D, YOUR WAY

Careful investors benefit from new mutual fund products

that preserve capital, promote growth

I FI C 4 AN INFORMATION FEATURE FOR THE INVESTMENT FUNDS INSTITUTE OF CANADA T H E G L O B E A N D M A IL W E D N E S DAY, O C T O B E R 3 , 2 01 2

Taking advantage of the benefits of mutual funds has never been easier.PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

A regular payment plannot only makes it easierfor Canadians to saveover the long term, italso enables dollar-costaveraging.

Harvey Sliwowiczis vice president of relationshipmanagement at CIBC Mellon

ONLINE?

For more information, visitwww.ific.ca

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hile policy-makers

disagree on many issues,they share one growing

concern: Canadians arent sav-ing enough for retirement andare carrying too much personaldebt.

So far, a tsunami of personalfinance books and websiteshasnt been enough to shiftthat trend, says Gary Rabbior,president of the Canadian Foun-dation for Economic Education(CFEE). There is a need fornew methods and resources. Wenow know, for example, thatindividuals dont want to beoverwhelmed with information,and that quality is better thanquantity.

Online, there is recognitionthat financial literacy tools mustbe interactive and engaging. Wecant just take words off paperand put them on the screen, hestresses.

Financial literacy expertshave also determined that it iscritical to start early, notes Mr.Rabbior. We know that we canmake the biggest difference

when we provide educat ion inthe key formative years, with age7 through 15. When we do that,

we can h elp develop appropriatebehaviours, rather than trying toundo unhelpful behaviour later,

which is much harder.In light of this new under-

standing, many organizationsare formulating new financialliteracy initiatives, he says. We

are very optimistic that theseprograms will make a differencein helping people behave in

ways that will give them bet tercontrol of their money.

The CFEE is partnering withthe provinces of Manitoba andSaskatchewan, for example, inThe Building Futures Project,

which integrates financial educa-tion into the core education cur-riculum and has been generouslyfunded by Investors Group.

The foundation is also work-ing on efforts to help parentsget more involved in theirchildrens financial education. It

will launch a new program dur-

ing Financial Literacy Month toprovide resources to help sparkthose essential conversations.

In Ontario, The InvestmentFunds Institute of Canada issponsoring the Junior EconomicClub, which brings high schoolstudents for a day to Bay Street,

where the y learn about savin gsand investing. There are edu-cational speakers, and studentscan also go through some simu-lated games and exercises, says

Joanne De Laurentiis, presidentand CEO of the InvestmentFunds Institute of Canada.

The aim of the event is to givestudents a greater sense of theimportance of learning how tosave, she says, and an under-standing of how they can makemoney work for them.

The mutual fund industry isalso helping Canadians man-age the challenge of retirementsavings through other initiativesthat advance financial literacy.

In 2011, for example, theOntario government addedfinancial literacy to its schoolcurriculum. To help educatorsteach students about com-pound interest, debt, the valueof investing young and moneymanagement skills, the CFEE,sponsored by DundeeWealth,conducted 14 workshops for over1,000 teachers.

Terri Williams, vice presidentmarketing at Dynamic Fundsand DundeeWealth, says the

eventual target is 22 workshopsfor 1,500 teachers.While some of the educational

focus is on students, fund com-panies are also training advisorsto guide their clients throughmajor life events. In 2009, Dy-namic Funds launched Snap-shots, a major financial literacyprogram for financial advisorsand their clients.

Eighty per cent of the timepeople are seekingfinancial ad-

vice because of a major life event,says Ms. Williams. Dynamic hasidentified 14 such events,includ-ing marriage, divorceand the

death of a loved one.In response, the organization

introduced a large educationalcomponent to its website, of-fering free courses for advisorsthroughout Canada. The courses

cover taxation, insurance, in-vestments an d money manage-ment, and provide criticallyimportant checklists to helppeople through significant lifechanges.

Advisors are taking advantageof the opportunity. The programoffers 30 credits on differing lifeevents, and Ms. Williams saysthat the education program (in-cluding the Snapshots courses)gave out 150,000 credits last yearalone.

DundeeWealth took a differentapproach, she says, conduct-ing a five-city workshop tour

called Coping with Care. Thewell-received tour, Ms. Williamssays, focused on dealing withailing parents. People needto understand the advice theiradvisor is giving them. A key is

to take the jargon out and useplain language, taking it back toteachable moments.

These initiatives have thepotential to help Canadiansachieve their financial goalsthroughout life, says Ms. DeLaurentiis. Individuals whounderstand the impact of learn-ing to save early in life, and ofhaving a financial plan, are ableto achieve a much more com-fortable retirement. They canprovide their children with abetter education, own a home,afford a vacation. Their qualityof life is increased.

AN INFORMATION FEATURE FOR THE INVESTMENT FUNDS INSTITUTE OF CANADA I FI C 5T H E G L O B E A N D M AI L W E D N E SD AY, O C T O B E R 3 , 2 01 2

INVESTMENT FUNDS

LEARNING

Improving financial literacy its never too early ortoo late to start

We know that wecan make the biggestdifference when weprovide education in thekey formative years, with

age 7 through 15.

Gary Rabbioris president of the CanadianFoundation for Economic Education

A number of provinces are adding financial literacy to their education curriculum through partnerships with theCanadian Foundation for Economic Education and the investment industry. PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

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7/30/2019 IFICOct.3.12

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n investment terms,resource-rich Canada hasbecome the new prom-

isedland,and Canadianmutualfundcompanies areplayinga keyrole in helping investorsbenefit.

Despitethe global slowdown,Canada continues to be atop performer among the G8countries, and is in the enviableposition of having the raw ma-terials the world needs coupled

with one of the globes soundestbanking systems.

Its important for equity-shyCanadians to recognize Canadas

prosperity relative to othercountries and remember thata well-diversified portfolio willgenerate superior returns overtime, says Nevin Markwart,president and CEO of CanoeFinancial.

The average person needsto know that if we make it to aretirement age of 65, our life ex-pectancy extends to 90 years ofage, Mr. Markwart says. Thats25 years of life that your savingsand investments will have tocarry you through.

Mutual fund companies

such as Canoe Financial takethat investment challenge veryseriously, he says, and try to aidinvestor confidence by shiningthe light on the exciting oppor-tunities in Canada.

Mr. Markwart says he does alot of teaching when he talks topotential mutual fund investors.Investing is difficult for mostof us, he says, and if we candevelop a simple story aroundit that creates confidence, thatsthe most important thing a Ca-nadian investment firm can do.

To illustrate Canadas eco-

nomic potential, Mr. Markwartpoints to the millions of peoplein the world in countries likeChina, India and Brazil who

want to live the way we do. Thiseagerness is creating a hugedemand for Canadian resourcesand Canadian-made products.

For example, a vast migra-tion of 40,000 people fromfarms into the cities is nowtaking place in China every day,and, according to the United Na-tions, will continue for at leastanother decade, Mr. Markwartnotes. China will need to build

places for people to live, facto-ries for them to work in, roadsand bridges to get them there,and provide bicycles, scootersand cars.

He says Chinese public policyis focused on minimizing socialunrest associated with thisunprecedented level of urbanmigration.

Canada wins in that environ-ment. As Canadian investors, weshould expect superior returnsif we invest in Canadian goodsand resources within a well-diversified portfolio.

FROM PAGE IFIC 1

Retirement puzzle: Planning is key to confidence and comfort

The retirement planningprocess can help pre-retireesdevelop an informed vision forthe next phase of their lives, hesays. People often have a visionof retirement as a time youllstop working, but it is impor-tant to have a sense of your newcareer. How will you define

yourself in ret irement ? How willyou spe nd your time?

Only when those key ques-tions are answered should theconversation turn to the num-bers required to achieve thosegoals, he says.

Retirement planning alsohelps prevent two of the mostcommon retirement pitfalls:spending too much, or too little,in the first few years. A lot ofpeople are overly conservative,and therefore dont enjoy life,because theyre too worried

about running out of moneyat some point down the road,says Mr. Round. Others spendtoo much early on in retire-ment, and put themselves in adifficult situation later on.

Dave Ablett, a director of taxand estate planning at Inves-tors Group, says that a lot ofcompanies, including his, havedeveloped financial planningsoftware to analyze the clients

ability to achieve the statedretirement goals, based on aninventory of the retirementincome sources and the antici-pated retirement expenses.

That information allows in-dividuals to see how long theirretirement expenses can be sus-

tained. You might determinethat there is a need to postponeretirement, or to reduce thelevel of expenses during retire-ment to make sure that youdon't outlive your money, heexplains, adding that with low

yields on bond s and GICs, andsubdued equity performance,income sustainability must alsobe a key consideration.

Segregated funds, whichInvestors Group offers in part-nership with Great West Life,provide certain minimum pay-out guarantees over time, whichmay be particularly attractiveto retirees without access to aguaranteed pension plan with

which to meet their basic ex-penses.

Other mutual fund innova-tions can also be importanttools in the transition to retire-

ment, says Mr. Ablett. Theseinclude systematic withdrawalprograms, which allow retireesto make redemptions thatinclude return of capital tominimize taxes, and corporate-class funds, which allow in-

vestors to switch betweenasset classes without trig-gering capital gains.

Mutual funds are also an im-portant conduit to the financial

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advice that is proven tohelp Canadians savemore and accumulatemore wealth, saysCharles Sims, presi-dent and CEOof MackenzieInvestments.In more than85 per cent ofcases, mu-tual fundproductsincorporatea fee thatreimbursesa financialadvisor fortheir work

with the in -vestor.

INVESTMENT FUNDS

OUTLOOK

Investing in Canadas economic promise

I FI C 6 AN INFORMATION FEATURE FOR THE INVESTMENT FUNDS INSTITUTE OF CANADA T H E G L O B E A N D M AI L W E D N E SD AY, O C T 0 B E R 3 , 2 0 1 2

IFIC is proud to represent the industry as it reaches this

milestone. Welookorwardto continuingto work with our

members to helpCanadians achieve their fnancialgoals.

We saluteCanadas mutual unds companies or

helping individual Canadians achieve

fnancial security or the past

80YE ARS1932 2012

The arrival o mutual unds in Canada in 1932 was noth-

ing short o revolutionary. For the frst time, ordinary in-

vestors with small amounts o money could participate

in a proessionally managed, diversifedinvestment plan,

complete with advice to help them make decisions best

suited to their needs.

Eighty years later, mutual unds rank number one in

investor confdence in fnancial products.

#

1

11 King Street West, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON M5H 4C7 IFIC.CA

Post-retirement budget planning helpsprevent two of the most commonretirement pitfalls: s pending too much,or too little to enjoy life, in the firstfew years. PHOTO: I STOCKPHOTO.COM

People often have avision of retirementas a time youll stopworking, but it isimportant to have asense of your newcareer. How will youdefine yourself inretirement? How willyou spend your time?

Jason Roundis head of financial planningsupport, RBC Financial Planning