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Ontario Securites Commision - Investor offices
Investor News
August 16, 2017

It's the dog days of summer once again, and a good time to catch up on some reading from the Investor Office and the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). This issue of Investor News revisits some of our most notable and most visited articles, tools and resources from the past year. Take a few minutes to learn about a variety of investing topics in case you missed them the first time.

In June the OSC launched a newly redesigned and mobile-friendly GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca, its award-winning investor website and one of Canada's leading financial education resources. GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca has hundreds of articles, calculators, tools, videos and other resources to help you make more informed investing decisions.

Behavioural Insights

Behavioural insights recognize how people actually behave versus traditional economic and market theory of people as rational actors. The OSC recently published the Investor Office report Behavioural Insights: Key Concepts, Applications and Regulatory Considerations (OSC Staff Notice 11-778) that describes key principles and concepts of behavioural insights, and examines how leading practitioners are using these insights to improve government policy and financial regulation. 

Over the coming year, the OSC will conduct pilot projects using a behavioural insights lens and will use the report to build awareness, understanding and capacity in the use of behavioural insights.

The Investor Office regularly sits down for interviews with people whose work impacts investors to learn more about them and help explain their roles and the work that they do. In case you missed them, read the interviews we conducted over the past year, including with our own Director of the Investor Office, Tyler Fleming.

Recent interviews:

All other interviews can be found in our interview archive.

Resources for Older Investors

This past year the OSC appointed fifteen individuals who make up our new Seniors Expert Advisory Committee (SEAC). The SEAC advises OSC staff on securities-related policy and operational developments that impact older investors and will provide input on the OSC’s related education and outreach activities. Among other activities, the Investor Office is working with SEAC members as we develop the OSC's Seniors Strategy, to be published in the coming year.

We published a national research study of Canadians 50 years of age and older that examined topics such as retirement readiness and anticipated retirement security. The study was a continuation of the OSC’s efforts to better understand and address the unique needs of older investors.

We also have many resources for investors as they age. Visit our Growing Older hub to help you answer financial questions related to this stage in life. This section of GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca includes articles, Fact Cards, calculators and other financial resources related to this stage of life.

The Investor Office marked its first anniversary in October. Read all about our activities and results for our first year in the Investor Office Activity Report for 2015-16 (OSC Staff Notice 11-776). You can also learn more about our activities and resources at InvestorOffice.ca.

Our aim is to achieve better investor outcomes by expanding and modernizing the OSC’s efforts in investor engagement, research, education and outreach, and by bringing new perspectives to the organization’s policy-making and operations. The response we’ve received thus far tells us we’re on the right track.

Regulatory Initiatives

Subscribing to Investor News is a good way to stay informed about regulatory initiatives that affect investors. Some notable publications from the past year include:

For more information on these and other initiatives, visit the OSC's website.

The OSC recently announced seven new members of its independent Investor Advisory Panel (IAP), as well as the appointment of a new Chair. Learn more about the IAP's members.

The IAP is an important voice for investors in the regulatory process. The IAP advises and comments on proposed rules, policies and investor protection initiatives, while considering the views of a broad range of investors through consultation with investors and organizations representing investors. You can read their submissions and comment letters as well as find information on how they operate in the IAP's section of the OSC website. 

This year the IAP also published the facilitator's report from the risk profiling roundtable that it jointly organized with the Investor Office in September 2016. The roundtable was held to explore the findings of the research study commissioned by the IAP on the risk profiling used in the retail investment advice process.

Check Before You Invest

The OSC and the Investor Office remind you to always check the registration of any person or business trying to sell you an investment or give you investment advice. 

Visit CheckBeforeYouInvest.ca to learn more about checking registration and disciplinary histories, spotting the warning signs of fraud and receiving investor alerts and warnings from the OSC.

InvestmentReporting.ca

The Investor Office launched a new website to help investors navigate their new annual reports on investment performance and the cost of advice (a regulatory initiative known as CRM2). Investors began to receive this information for the first time earlier this year – make sure you understand what the reports are telling you about your investment accounts.

New Multilingual Website

InvestingIntroduction.ca is a new multilingual website that provides investing information in 22 languages. Topics include Canadian investment products and terminology, warning signs of fraud, how to check advisor and firm registrations, the role of the OSC, our investor education website GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca, and how to contact the OSC with inquiries or complaints. It’s important information for people to know, and it’s not often provided in multiple languages.

Some of our other most-visited articles from the past year include Understanding Real Estate Investments, How Much You Need to Save for Retirement, Factors That Can Affect Stock Prices (including rising interest rates), the Risk-Return Relationship, Herd Behaviour, Guide to Online Investment Advisors (Robo-Advisors) and How to Better Handle a Bear Market.

We also continue to receive and answer many questions through our website Re: Investing, which offers clear, unbiased answers to your questions about investing. Ask a question or see what others are curious about.

OSC in the Community

OSC staff are taking the Commission's regulatory mandate from Bay Street to Main Street with seminars on preventing fraud and making informed investment decisions.

We hosted 60 OSC in the Community events over the past year in places such as Ottawa, London, Windsor, Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins. We also held an additional 6 teletownhalls with investors from across Ontario, including one with special guests from IIROC and the MFDA.

Visit the OSC in the Community page to find an event near you.

> Here's a tip!

Oscar's tips are often the most popular part of Investor News. Here is a list of Oscar's most popular tips from the past year!

  • Here are 9 things to know about GICs.
  • Learn about different types of mutual fund fees and expenses.
  • Here are 5 key steps to assess how well your advisor is managing your investments.
  • Transitioning to retirement requires planning. Here are 7 ways to financially prepare for retirement.
  • As interest rates rise, some people might be looking to get rid of debt faster. Here are 5 steps to paying down debt.

Investor News archive

Visit InvestorOffice.ca to find past issues of Investor News.

 

© Ontario Securities Commission 2017

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