Interview a few advisers before you choose one. Use this list of questions as a guide during your interviews
1. What are your qualifications?
- How are you qualified to offer investment advice or sell products?
- What designations do you hold (e.g., certified financial planner, chartered financial analyst)?
2. Are you and your firm registered?
- Are you registered and in good standing with a provincial securities regulator or another regulator?
3. How much experience do you have?
- How long have you been working as an adviser?
- How long have you been with this company?
- Do you have experience with a range of products, or do you specialize in just a few?
4. What products and services do you offer?
5. Who are your clients?
- Do you specialize in a certain type of client?
- Do you have other clients like me?
- How long have you worked with most of your clients?
- What results have you achieved for clients like me?
- May I contact a few clients you’ve worked with for at least 5 years?
6. What is your investment philosophy?
- Will you buy and hold fairly safe investments that are likely to make money over a longer period of time?
- Will you buy and sell investments often, even daily, to try to grow my money faster?
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7. How are you paid?
- Do you get paid by salary, commission, fee, or a combination?
- Are you paid a sales fee or commission every time you buy or sell an investment for me?
- Do you charge a flat fee (hourly, annual, or based on a percentage of my assets)?
8. How will you work with me?
- How often will you contact me or meet with me?
- How often will we review my investments together?
- How do I get in touch with you if I need to?
- Will I hear from you directly, or from someone else at your firm?