This Investor News issue is our annual look back at our most notable and most popular articles, tools, calculators, interviews and educational resources.

In addition to the health-related challenges from the pandemic, it has been a financially difficult year for many Canadians. In case you missed it, visit our COVID-19 & Your Money hub on GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca to get the latest information to help you with your finances and investments, protect your money from emerging scams, and learn how the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is responding to investor concerns.

COVID-19 & Your Money

For answers to your financial questions and evaluating your financial preparedness during the pandemic, visit our new COVID-19 & Your Money information hub. Read the latest articles:

🆕 COVID-19 and unemployment
🆕 COVID-19 and the impact on RRIFs
🆕 COVID-19 and the impact on retirement savings

Research

Investor research is key to improving our knowledge and understanding of important investor needs and issues. The OSC's Investor Office conducts and publishes timely and responsive investor research. 

Financial Literacy: A Foundation of the Investor Experience
The OSC conducted a survey to better understand investor knowledge of key topics including diversification, inflation, and interest. Preliminary results from the survey revealed that 34% of Canadians have high financial literacy and 24% of investors may be overconfident in their knowledge. Learn more

Improving Fee Disclosure Through Behavioural Insights
The OSC conducted a research study which identified behaviourally informed ways to improve how investment fees are communicated to investors by their registered dealers, advisers, and their registered representatives. Learn more

Investing in the Stock Market

All-in-one ETFs. These products may provide more diversification than a regular ETF as it bundles many individual ETFs together. It may also offer lower fees and the convenience of automatic rebalancing.

Dividends. Passive income from investments can be reinvested or used to pay for daily living expenses.

Market volatility. Volatility measures the degree of change in the price of an investment over a period of time, and higher volatility may continue as financial markets adjust to new information and COVID-19 health measures.

Risks of stocks. All investments have some degree of risk. When you invest in a stock, you could lose some or all of your money.

Planning Ahead

Making a will. It is a legal document that outlines how you want your money, property and other assets to be handled after your death.

Choosing an executor. It is one of the most important decisions you'll make when preparing your will. Your executor will be responsible for protecting and administering your estate, and distributing your assets to your beneficiaries.

Preparing for the unexpected. Ensuring that your personal and financial affairs are well organized in advance will make it easier for someone to step in and help out if needed.

Budgeting

Seniors and tax. Filing your return could allow you to access certain benefits or credits, even if you don't have income.

Retirement money tips. Making the most of your government benefits and tax credits are among some of the ways to successfully manage your retirement finances.

Trim your budget. Take control of your finances by finding ways to save money.

How COVID-19 Impacts Your Investments

There has been increased volatility in the stock market given the impact of COVID-19, especially during the early months of the pandemic. As you review your finances, you may be thinking about what you should and shouldn’t do, and how a pandemic could impact your investments in the months ahead.

While each market downturn is unique and it is difficult to predict the future, there is evidence to support being optimistic when thinking about the long-term. Markets have historically recovered from downturns and continued to grow. Learn more

Investor Education & Information Hubs

We've added new information hubs for important topics to help Canadians with their finances and investments. Here are some recent additions.

Canadian Armed Forces Members hub
Find financial information and resources for the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces and their families. Learn more

Understanding Financial Statements hub
Financial statements can help current and potential investors make informed decisions about buying, selling or holding an investment. Find information about financial statement basics. Learn more  

Interviews

We regularly sit down with key figures in Canada’s financial services industry to discuss their work and how it impacts investors.

Grant Vingoe shared his thoughts and priorities soon after assuming the role of the OSC’s new Acting Chair and Chief Executive Officer. For more interviews, visit our Interviews page on GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca.

Tools, Calculators & Worksheets

Find the tools, calculators and worksheets to help you with your finances. Here are some of our most popular recent additions.

🆕 Education Cost Calculator
🆕 Emergency Fund Calculator
🆕 Spending Habits Calculator

Visit GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca for more free articles, tools and calculators to help you with your finances.

InvestingFundamentals.ca

For many people investing is complex. There can be a lot of unfamiliar terms and concepts, and people might not know where to start. To help with this, we’ve created InvestingFundamentals.ca, a new interactive microsite dedicated to some of the investing fundamentals. Visit InvestingFundamentals.ca

OSC Staff released a report on QuadrigaCX in June.

The downfall of crypto asset trading platform QuadrigaCX resulted from a fraud committed by Quadriga’s co-founder and CEO Gerald Cotten. On January 14, 2019, Quadriga announced that Cotten had died in India the previous month. By February 5, the Quadriga platform had ceased operations and filed for creditor protection. Over 76,000 clients were owed a combined $215 million in assets. The bulk of the asset shortfall—approximately $115 million—arose from Cotten's fraudulent trading on the Quadriga platform. In effect, Quadriga operated like a Ponzi scheme.

Read the entire report at www.quadrigacxreport.ca

The OSC's independent Investor Advisory Panel (IAP) released its 2019 Annual Report summarizing its activities, submissions, consultations, and meetings during the calendar year. All of its submissions and comment letters from the past year can be found here.

Earlier this year, the OSC also welcomed Serge Kalloghlian and Leslie Wood as new members of the IAP.

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. Learn more

Regulatory Updates & Initiatives

Subscribing to Investor News is a good way to stay informed about regulatory initiatives that affect investors. Here are some notable developments and publications:

• The OSC released its 2020-2021 Statement of Priorities.
• The OSC coordinated its response to the impact of COVID-19 with the CSA and other regulators. Read the latest developments here.
• The CSA, which includes the OSC, released its 2019/20 Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) Enforcement Report.
• The CSA provided an update to investors in response to COVID-19.
• The CSA published for comment proposed amendments designed to clearly outline how registrants can address situations involving diminished mental capacity or the potential financial exploitation of vulnerable clients.
• The OSC provided a status update on its 107 specific actions to reduce burden for market participants doing business in Ontario’s capital markets.
• Grant Vingoe assumed the role of the OSC’s Acting Chair and CEO earlier this year.
• The OSC welcomed Wendy Berman as Vice-Chair for a one-year term, and Cathy Singer as part-time Commissioner for a two-year term.
• The OSC announced the leadership of its newly-established Office of Economic Growth and Innovation.
• The OSC awarded over half a million dollars to a whistleblower, a company outsider who used their industry expertise to identify irregularities.
• FSRA and the OSC provided updates on regulatory oversight of certain syndicated mortgage investments.
• The CSA published rule amendments to implement the Client Focused Reforms across Canada. The reforms are based on the fundamental concept that clients’ interests come first in their dealings with firms and individuals that are registered to give investment advice and trade in securities.
• The CSA moved forward with embedded commissions bans. Ontario will participate only in the ban on trailing commissions to dealers who only execute orders.
• The OSC published for comment a proposed rule that would restrict the use of the deferred sales charge option in the sale of mutual funds.
• The Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce published its initial consultation report.