The best response to an ever-changing world is to do things differently. Here’s how our approach to investment management is different from traditional investment approaches—and how it benefits you.
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BELLWETHER'S APPROACH |
THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH |
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You get a team of specialists. Our team has a wide range of expertise. Some will focus on your financial plan, while others will focus on minimizing risk and optimizing reward in your portfolio. |
You get a Jack (or Jill) of all trades. Your point person has to fill every role, regardless of their skill or experience. They may know little about choosing investments or providing tax advice, but they’ll be doing both.
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Your interests come first. Day-to-day decisions about your investments are made by portfolio managers, who are held to the highest standards in the financial industry.
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Your interests are secondary. There’s nothing stopping a financial advisor from putting personal interests or the interests of their employer (such as a big bank or advisory firm) above yours. |
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You get a tailored portfolio. You can access innovative investments that accomplish your goals for income, growth, inflation protection, tax minimization and risk management. We call them our “strategies,” and we create (or seek out) these investment opportunities ourselves.
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Your portfolio is “off-the-rack”. You get offered what everyone else does. Like off-the-rack clothing, these investments are mass-produced and may not be a good fit. They may not even come in your size. But they’re all that’s available to you through a traditional financial advisor or broker. |
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Your investments are reviewed daily. Your personal investment policy statement allows us to take advantage of opportunities and mitigate risks without having to wait for your okay. Acting quickly can be an important factor in portfolio performance, and we don’t have to bother you constantly to do so.
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Your investments are reviewed periodically. Nothing is done without your sign-off, so precious time is wasted when you could be protecting your investments or benefiting from a short-term opportunity. Often, you’ll have to wait for an annual review to make changes. |
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You know exactly what you’re paying in fees. You pay a small, standardized fee each year for our services. This fee is based on your total portfolio value, not the buying or selling of your investments. |
The fees you pay are buried and confusing. Your advisor is paid in ways that aren’t always obvious. Some encourage behaviour—such as frequent transactions or maintaining underperforming funds— that may not be in your best interest. |
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Your investments are held by a third-party custodian. This eliminates the risk that your investments could be illegally used for personal or business purposes by someone who has access to the accounts.
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Your investments may be in the custody of your investment firm. This leaves your account vulnerable to fraud (think Bernie Madoff and Lehman Brothers). |
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You can count on a disciplined, repeatable process. We follow a rigorous methodology that uses strict evaluation criteria, proprietary quantitative models and outside expertise to select the stocks, ETFs and fixed income solutions in your portfolio.
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You may be offered investments without much analysis or rationale. Most financial advisors and brokers offer options for your portfolio based on what’s popular or being promoted by the fund company, not a rigorous selection process. |
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Your portfolio will have global exposure. We use prudent global exposure to minimize the risk that comes from overexposure to one geographical area, sector or industry.
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Your portfolio will focus on Canada. Most advisors and brokers stick with what they know. This leads to overexposure to Canada— and increased risk. |