Wealth management | Things that are often forgotten or overlooked

You have entrusted the management of your wealth to a person you trust, but are you sure that all the elements are well taken care of and that you are really getting the products that meet your needs? Here are elements too often forgotten or neglected.

The good adviser

Investments, savings, mortgage… does the person to whom you have entrusted the management of all your assets really meet your needs? Has she asked all the necessary questions to verify the level of complexity of your situation and thus determine the services and products you really need? “It shouldn’t be up to the consumer to ask questions of complexity, they should be questions we get asked,” says Carl Thibeault, senior vice-president at IG Wealth Management, who also maintains that “a good trustworthy person should bring back the facts without emotion and ask you tough, thought-provoking questions.”

Aware of your financial, professional and family situation, the wealth management expert should also take the lead in order to support and advise you.

“If they have children, we will suggest opening the education savings account, making sure to make the contributions…”, continues Miguel Mediavilla, portfolio manager and co-founder of LM3 wealth management.

In addition to sending you monthly statements and offering you access to your file online at all times, your advisor should invite you to an annual meeting to update your file. “Regulators expect records to be reviewed annually,” says Mediavilla.

The right products

Mutual funds, RRSP, TFSA… Does your portfolio have the right products to meet your needs? Without wanting to say that the offers from the big financial institutions are bad, Miguel Mediavilla points out that customers are not always aware of the products they are being offered: “If you go to see a representative of a financial institution, it may that he pushes you products from his institution because he is not independent. It may not be the best product for the customer. »

On this subject, the senior vice-president of Quebec at IG Wealth Management maintains that there are not many bad products in all Canadian financial institutions, but that there are a lot of bad arrangements. “The thing that must be avoided the most is the one size fits all “, he argues.

Taxation

Who says investments and investments says taxation. Your wealth management expert should always consider this important element.

“An RRSP can be excellent, but maybe for another person whose income, upon retirement, for various reasons, will be at a higher tax rate than it is now, maybe that the TFSA wins,” explains Carl Thibeault.

Miguel Mediavilla agrees. “Sometimes, you can take investments that have a lower return, but which can save the client more taxes,” he explains.

Expenses

Wealth management is not free. Do you know how much you pay for the services you get? “In the Canadian financial system, the vast majority of people are going to pay through their investments, unless they’re using completely standalone platforms,” ​​said the Senior Vice President at IG Wealth Management. “The best recommendation I have is to make sure you ask the person you work with: what is the pricing based on the service I have? What service do I have? What is it about ? “, he adds.

For his part, Miguel Mediavilla maintains that the client who pays his adviser directly has a better chance of obtaining the best products for him. “What advisors tend to do is sell the funds that pay the highest commission. Often these are riskier funds. There are mutual funds that do not pay commission. You can sell mutual funds and charge fees directly to the client. I think that’s much more desirable than commissions. This avoids, in my view, a major conflict of interest. »

According to him, it is worth shopping around. “You can easily charge half of what banks charge for the same thing. It’s a very big difference,” he said.