Fee-based investing has become increasingly desirable by investors in recent years, as a growing number of Canadians find these services have many advantages compared to traditional commission-based accounts.

Successful investing is more than just a series of transactions. That's why fee-based accounts do not charge transaction fees every time a trade is made. Instead, a monthly or quarterly fee is charged based on the assets in your account. Benefiting from the advice of an investment professional and knowing that someone you trust is looking out for your best interests is the foundation of a fee-based account. This includes investment advice, portfolio construction, rebalancing, keeping you informed and ongoing monitoring – giving you the freedom to focus on what's most important to you.

When looking for a Financial Advisor you are looking for someone who is going to give you sound financial advice. If the advisor is compensated based on the sale of a product, then it becomes difficult to assess the value and objectivity of the advice.

The main advantage of fee-based advice is simple: if your advisor is paid the same fee by you no matter which strategy or investment product that they recommend, then they will put your interest ahead of their own. Clearly a fee-based approach to financial advice better aligns the Advisors' interest with those of their clients. So our success is tied directly to the success of our clients', and not to the sale of an opaque commission product.

There are other advantages. First, fees are easy to understand. They also offer greater transparency and are reported to you on a regular basis.

The fee-based option also eliminates the worry about being locked-in by back-end commissions or deferred sales charges.

Finally, in certain circumstances, fees may be tax deductible against income, which can result in significant savings, especially for high net worth clients.