Telemarketing restrictions on advisors not in best interest of anyone: Advocis

Previously, advisors had been exempt from telemarketing rules when contacting their existing clients.

Now, all financial advisors are subject to rules, which require telemarketers to only make calls between certain hours, identify themselves during the call, and accept do not call requests from their clients. In addition, all advisors must register as telemarketers.

“The CRTC has dealt a huge blow to advisors and their clients. Originally, the Commission acknowledged that advisors play a unique role in the lives of consumers and as such, made some accommodations. These exemptions are removed and now, according to the CRTC, we provide no more valuable service than, say, window washers,” says Greg Pollock, president and CEO of Advocis.

The CRTC has offered no evidence that the original exemption for advisors and dealers had caused any problems for consumers, Advocis says, leaving the association to conclude that this is another example of regulation for the sake of regulation.

“Advisors work hard to create long-term, trusting relationships with their clients. Do you really think that they are going to go out and try to annoy their clients?” Pollock asks rhetorically. “Doing that is really not good for business.”

Included among the telemarketing restrictions are defined times when advisors can and cannot call clients, Advocis notes. For example, a shift — good or bad — at securities markets in Toronto and New York cannot be communicated to British Columbia clients until hours after the market has opened because the telemarketing rules restrict telemarketers to only make calls between 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. on weekdays.

IE