A persistent weak spot for Canada’s investment dealers has been their tools and portals tied to client account statements and reporting. But, in Investment Executive’s (IE) Brokerage Report Card for 2025, several of the firms graded were making moves to meet the needs of advisors and clients in that area.
The performance average for firms’ “client account statements & portals” increased to 7.9 out of 10 from 7.7 a year ago. Meanwhile, the category’s importance average remained the same, at 8.6. (Read How we did it for rating definitions.)
Five firms in the Report Card saw a significant shift (by half a point or more) in their ratings by advisors for the account statements and portals category. Those were: CG Wealth Management, rated 8.0 from 7.4; Odlum Brown Ltd., rated 7.4 from 6.6; Richardson Wealth Ltd, rated 8.4 from 7.9; BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. (Nesbitt Burns), rated 8.2 from 7.5; and National Bank Financial Inc. (NBF), rated 8.4 from 7.6.
For all five, advisors gave mixed reviews about their experience with providing and presenting account statements to clients — that’s one reason the category remains among the lowest-rated areas out of all 27, as well as one of the 10 categories where advisors see a gap in service to be addressed by their firms. (Read Wanted: greater wealth planning support, for more on those areas to improve.)
Yet, advisors who were satisfied with their firms’ account statements and reporting processes said the documents were becoming less confusing and more flexible, helped by ongoing investment. For example, an advisor in Ontario with Nesbitt Burns described their client statement resources and portal as “light-years better” than in past years, adding, “Consolidated reports are easy to read for clients. … The reports can be detailed, or you can have a summarized report.”
Other Nesbitt Burns advisors wished for fewer documents but understood that regulatory requirements were strict. They said clients get overwhelmed by the data in all of their statements but, as a Nesbitt Burns advisor in the Prairies said, there’s a growing ability at the firm to “slice and dice” information in different ways.
Improvements are on the way for these Nesbitt Burns advisors, according to Craig Meeds, head of wealth advice in Canada with BMO Private Wealth. He referenced that business’s move in autumn 2023 to transition to global wealth management platform FNZ, starting in 2026. The bank aims to go beyond “the regulatory responsibility,” leaning on the platform to deliver timely account information in new, user-friendly ways.
One challenge is many advisors and investors are still digesting changes brought about by the client-focused reforms and CRM2, Meeds said. “Enhancing transparency is a key part of our decision to [move to] FNZ. A modern platform, combined with [listening to] feedback from our advisors, will give us the opportunity to offer something unique.”
Setting a new ‘gold standard’
The ratings by advisors for both NBF and Odlum Brown rose by 0.8, compared with 2024, in the account statements and portals category. Those two firms saw the greatest year-over-year improvement, out of all 14 firms, in that category’s results.
Advisors with both firms weren’t shy about sharing their challenges, with clients’ account statements being called “confusing” and “complicated.”
“Our statements need context around them basically,” or even the most interested clients ignore them, said an NBF advisor in Atlantic Canada. On the upside, this advisor felt their client-facing technology and dashboards were useful and that the bank was “making progress.” (Read more on this bank’s developments in Finding shortcuts without cutting client service.)
Odlum Brown advisors also said that client account statements could be simplified to help with client conversations around investments, fees and account details.
However, that firm’s advisors shifted much of the responsibility to industry regulators and technology vendors: “I realize [these reports] have to follow regulation but [they] need improvement,” said one respondent, while another Odlum Brown advisor said, “Our hands are tied. … The service provider we use isn’t budging.”
The firm is improving by upgrading its digital infrastructure tied to client reporting: “The firm is aware and focusing on this in the future,” said another Odlum Brown advisor, who looked forward to more competitive technology that leveraged AI.
“Our clients are asking for more,” said Trevor Short, president of Odlum Brown. “They’re asking for transparency,” he added, and they “deserve to understand what they own and why, and how [their portfolios are] doing. Those are table stakes.”
The firm has a working group comprised of advisors and executives who analyze internal and client-facing reporting, and discuss what competitors are doing. The group’s goal, according to chief strategy and business development officer Warren Beach, is to figure out an account statement and portal “gold standard” that not only meets but exceeds evolving regulations and data best practices.
Design for the future
Edward Jones was the only firm out of 14 to see a significant drop in its account statements and portals category rating compared with a year ago (its result was 7.4 from 8.2).
Nearly every Edward Jones advisor interviewed for the 2025 Report Card sought improvement in their clients’ account statements and portals, but the firm was not solely responsible. These advisors struggled with clients who didn’t take the time to read the statements, though they did cite some missing details that clients ask for as well as technology glitches in the firm’s client portal.
On the digital front, clients’ online access is complicated by a “complex” set up process as well as by strict security protocols, said an advisor with Edward Jones in Ontario. This advisor added, “The[ir] online access on a laptop or phone is not user-friendly,” and the visuals in the dashboard are dated.
Yet change is on the way, with many of the firm’s advisors acknowledging that development. Niki Prodanović, a principal with the firm who handles Canada client and branch operations, said the client portal is being retooled, to make it user-friendly for advisors and investors. Branch teams and clients are being consulted as part of the process.
The next step for the industry is complying with total cost reporting rules, or CRM3, said Prodanović. She and other executives with Edward Jones participate with regulators during consultations to help “influence change.” She sees an opportunity to create better client statements in years to come.