A new online glossary that will help clients better understand their advisors’ financial designations and certifications is set to launch this fall, says Susan Wolburgh Jenah, president and CEO of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). Wolburgh Jenah made the announcement at the 2013 IFIE-IOSCO Global Investor Education Conference in Toronto on Thursday.
“We had been hearing quite a bit from the investor advocates for years that this is an issue for investors,” Wolburgh Jenah said in an interview. “They are finding it very confusing to distinguish between all the different advisors that are out there today and our goal is to try and make it easier for people to demystify all the titles that are out in the industry and have that information all in one place.”
Earlier this year, IIROC issued new draft guidance paper that calls on dealers to examine the job titles they allow their retail advisors to use as well as the professional designations advisors are permitted to advertise to clients. The final guidance paper is expected to be released along with the the online glossary.
IIROC’s research found that a number of financial advisors use a wide range of professional designations, with vastly different qualifications, yet most firms don’t explain the meaning of these designations to their clients.
In setting up the platform, IIROC met with a focus group to determine which information would be most helpful to clients. It plans to continue using focus groups to further enhance the platform.
“As a regulator, we really want to go out there and help clear up the confusion,” Wolburgh Jenah said. “We want to give people an accessible tool that will allow them to perform a basic check and, hopefully, protect them against people who are not registered.
“We see signs,” Wolburgh Jenah continued, “that investors are beginning to ask more questions of their financial service professionals and we hope this will prompt them to ask more.”