What Should You Know About Your Investment Advisor?

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IIROC’s AdvisorReport can help you learn more

When it comes to decisions about investing our hard-earned savings, many of us rely on the knowledge and advice of an investment advisor. That’s a lot of trust to put in anyone so it makes sense to first ask some questions when choosing your advisor.

We want to help make choosing your advisor an informed decision.

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), the national regulator of Canadian investment firms and advisors, publishes detailed information on all the registered investment advisors we regulate.

IIROC-registered advisors must pass a series of background checks and tests to ensure they meet our experience requirements and professional and ethical standards. Through our online database, you can discover the areas in which they are licensed to provide advice and services; recent industry courses they have taken to stay current and to meet our mandatory continuing education requirements, and how often they’ve moved between different firms. We record any disciplinary actions, if they are working under any disciplinary restrictions or whether there are conditions on their approval with IIROC.

Go to www.iiroc.ca and click on “IIROC AdvisorReport” to find out more about your advisor.

If your advisor’s name does not appear on AdvisorReport, you can also check the Enforcement section on our website. IIROC keeps a permanent record of any disciplinary action against advisors even if they no longer work for an IIROC-regulated firm.

If the individual and their firm are regulated by another regulatory authority in Canada, you will also find helpful links on our website or go directly to www.securities-administrators.ca.

Some questions you may consider when choosing an investment advisor:

How long have you been an investment advisor?

How are you compensated?

What is your educational background, including industry exams/courses?

How do you decide on appropriate investments for your clients?

Are you licensed for any other activity (i.e., to sell insurance)?

What is your employment history?

What roles or functions has IIROC approved you to perform or what are your current registration/approval categories?

Why did you choose the investment firm you are currently licensed with?

Are there any restrictions, terms or conditions placed on your registration/approval now or ever?

Have you ever been disciplined by a regulator and if so, why? How was it resolved?

Are you currently under investigation by IIROC or other securities regulatory authorities in Canada or outside Canada?

Are you involved in any regulatory proceedings, criminal – civil or financial – that I ought to be aware of?

Who we are

IIROC is the national self-regulatory organization, which oversees all investment dealers and trading activity on debt and equity marketplaces in Canada. There are more than 28,000 individuals and 180 investment firms under IIROC regulation across the country.

Learn more about your investment advisor by visiting us here http://www.iiroc.ca/