MoneySense launches advisor marketing service

Canada’s best-selling personal finance magazine has a new way for you to reach prospects.

MoneySense has launched MoneySense Approved, a marketing seal “that provides the credible third-party endorsement that consumers seek when searching for a new advisor or evaluating their existing one,” it says.

The seal is granted to advisors who, after applying for the program, meet the magazine’s criteria for “high standards of client service and performance.”

These criteria include:

• having a transparent and reasonable fee structure;
• offering services such as custom financial plans and performance reports; and
• having at least three years’ experience and no regulatory violations or pending complaints.

To be eligible, financial planners or mutual fund salespeople must hold at least a CFP, RFP, CFA or CIM. And advisors who manage portfolios (e.g., buy/sell stocks on behalf of clients) must hold at least the CFA or CIM.

The application process asks advisors to complete a questionnaire describing their services, fees and service delivery model. Advisors must also send clients a satisfaction survey, for which MoneySense will receive the results. MoneySense will then interview the advisor before making its decision on whether to award the seal.

The application fee is $499 plus tax, which includes the client satisfaction survey template and a report detailing the survey’s results. Should an advisor be named MoneySense Approved, the first year’s licensing fee for the program is $2,499 plus tax. Learn more here.

Disclosure: MoneySense magazine and Advisor.ca are both owned by Rogers Media.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.