Investors Group
Review of the Business

Investors Group distinguishes itself from its competition by offering personal, long-term financial planning to its clients. At the centre of this relationship is a national distribution network of highly skilled Consultants working from 111 Financial Planning Centres across Canada.

At Investors Group we are focused on growing our distribution network through the retention of existing Consultants and the attraction of new industry professionals. This is accomplished through the offering of a comprehensive and state-of-the-art financial planning practice support platform. Management believes that Consultant compensation and the constant evolution of our support services provide one of the best environments in which our Consultants can build their practices – whether they are newly entering the business, or are an experienced Consultant with considerable assets under management.

During the last half of 2003, Investors Group witnessed an improvement in the retention of existing Consultants and in the recruitment of new individuals. This positions us for growth in our distribution network in the future.

Recruting and Retention

Investors Group combines a number of proven interview and testing techniques to identify high quality people who demonstrate a blend of experience, education and aptitude that makes them well suited to a career in financial planning. Although the financial markets and the overall business environment improved in 2003, investor confidence was slow to recover. While this affected our recruitment efforts, our enhancements to the Consultant offering improved our retention levels in the second half of the year as the number of Consultants grew by 37 in that period. The Consultant network grew in both the third and fourth quarters of 2003, the first consecutive quarters of growth since 1998.

At the end of 2003, Investors Group had 3,223 Consultants, compared with 3,324 in 2002. The percentage of Consultants with more than four years experience remained steady at 60.5% compared to 60.9% a year earlier.

Consultant Development

Management continues to focus on development of the financial planning industry’s premier consultant development system. Each year, the curriculum is reviewed and refreshed to offer all Consultants the essential building blocks they require to develop their individual businesses.

Consultants begin their relationship with Investors Group by attending a five week training program which is designed to combine technical education with field experience. As Consultants progress, they develop their skills as financial planners and business managers by attending a selection of focused educational programs including financial planning skills, product knowledge, client service, sales skills, compliance, technology, practice management and other related topics. Supplemental training, coaching and mentorship are top priorities for the Consultant network’s Regional Directors and Division Directors across Canada.

In 2003, Investors Group further enhanced its educational opportunities for established Consultants. New programs were added including the Navigator Practice Management Program, The 8 Best Practices of High-Performing Advisors Program and TruQuest Strategies; programs that are focused on helping Consultants take their practices to higher levels of productivity. Access to annual advanced educational conferences featuring internal and external industry-leading professionals was also expanded.

Investors Group also supports industry initiatives to introduce uniform qualification requirements for use of the “financial planner” designation. Enrolment in these programs is encouraged and a policy is in place requiring Consultants to achieve their Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation, or the equivalent designation in the province of Quebec (Pl. Fin.), by the end of their fifth year with Investors Group.

Productivity

Investors Group implemented a number of significant changes in 2003 designed to enhance the competitiveness of the product and service offering to our clients as well as changes aimed at providing greater value to our Consultants. These included:

• A comprehensive review and realignment of our pricing structure to enhance competitiveness.
• A realignment of our Consultant’s compensation and support to be more competitive, including a deferred compensation component designed to promote Consultant retention.
• The introduction of Symphony™, a strategic investment planning tool to assist Consultants in the construction of client portfolios.
• The enhancement of the Investors Group Advantage™ technology platform, which delivers additional flexibility, capability and productivity.
• The introduction of Solutions Banking, a suite of banking products and services through National Bank of Canada that expands Investors Group’s financial planning platform to include a greater proportion of our clients’ balance sheets.

Management believes that these initiatives make Investors Group more attractive and competitive to Consultants and potential Consultants, and will lead to greater recruitment, productivity and asset growth into the future.