Juggling investment accounts at several financial institutions can be a headache. Without an overview of your assets, each of your advisors must work with incomplete information. And you may find yourself holding duplicate investments that detract from diversification.
1. Time is precious
Perhaps you feel the need to review your investments in light of your fast-approaching retirement or, on the contrary, maybe you find your strategy isn’t aggressive enough. If you do business with several financial institutions, reviewing your investments may take longer than you think.
Not only will you have to make multiple appointments, but you’ll also have to repeat the process and answer the same questions each time: risk tolerance, state of your finances, future projects, etc. Doing multiple reviews can be time-consuming and tedious.
With all your investments in one place, you can review all your holdings during a single meeting. If you consolidate your assets in the FÉRIQUE Funds, you’ll enjoy the additional advantage of needing no appointment. With a simple phone call, you can get guidance from the Advisory Services team at FÉRIQUE Investment Services, the main distributor of the FÉRIQUE Funds.
2. Lower costs
In addition to management fees, financial institutions may impose transaction, statement and even mailing charges. Scattering your investments can increase such costs. Moreover, most financial institutions restrict their service offering on the basis of your asset level. If your investments are fragmented among different institutions, you could miss out on financial planning services and get less bang for your buck.
Consolidating your investments could reduce the costs you pay. Moreover, consolidating them at FÉRIQUE Investment Services doesn’t involve any additional costs. If your assets invested with FÉRIQUE Investment Services total $750,000 or more, including the assets of your spouse and your firm, you’ll be entitled to personalized Private Wealth services.
3. Invaluable overview
With all your investments in one place, your mutual fund representative or financial planner has a complete picture of your portfolio holdings and financial situation – an important factor that contributes to informed investment advice and accurate projections. This is especially true if you’re nearing retirement. You’ll need to ensure your withdrawal strategy is adapted to your needs.
4. True diversification
Diversifying the assets in your portfolio is a key way to reduce risk and generate a better return over the long term. But investing with different financial institutions may detract from diversification. You could find yourself holding duplicate investments that increase your risk exposure unduly.
If your accounts are consolidated, your advisor will have a better understanding of your assets and can guide you in your choices more effectively, ensuring your holdings are complementary and correspond to your investor profile.
5. Better control
Even if you manage to diversify your investments properly at different institutions, they will evolve over the years. Depending on their returns, some asset classes or geographic regions may become overweighted. Your portfolio may no longer match your investor profile. With an overview and guidance from an advisor who knows your investments well, you can more easily keep your portfolio in line with your goals and risk tolerance.
Through FÉRIQUE Investment Services, you can also invest in turnkey Portfolios adapted to various investor profiles. In addition to offering excellent diversification, the weight of the various assets in the Portfolios is adjusted on a regular basis to maintain the characteristics for which you chose it.
6. Easier withdrawals
This is the ultimate step and the goal of your many years of investing. Consolidating your investments facilitates the development of a withdrawal strategy as well as transactions such as the transfer of funds from a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) to a registered retirement income fund (RRIF).
