Investors Group
Review of the Business

Core Business: Consultants

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 located in 113 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 entering the business, or are experienced Consultants with considerable assets under management.

Recruiting 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 becoming successful financial planners. In 2004, we saw a significant improvement in Consultant retention. Our work in strengthening the competitiveness of our Consultant and field management compensation, recognition and support programs has been successful, evidenced by the growth of our Consultant network.

At the end of 2004, Investors Group had 3,496 Consultants, compared with 3,223 in 2003. The number of Consultants with more than four years experience was 2,030 compared to 1,949 a year earlier.

Consultant Development

Management continues to focus on Consultant development systems. 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 a mix of centralized and region office training, 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, business development 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 2004, Investors Group continued to enhance its training and development programs for Consultants. The Field Development Program was introduced to provide enhanced coaching and mentorship to Consultants in their early years in the business. Experienced Consultants continued to benefit from programs which were introduced in 2003, including The 8 Best Practices of High-Performing Advisors† Program. These programs are focused on helping Consultants take their practices to higher levels of productivity. Annual advanced educational conferences, featuring internal and external industry-leading professionals, were expanded and made available to the entire Consultant network.

In keeping with Investors Group’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of ethical business practices and conduct, Consultants also receive ongoing training, information and guidance regarding business standards, and regulatory and compliance matters.

Investors Group also supports industry initiatives to introduce uniform qualification requirements for use of the “financial planner” designation. Enrollment in programs to achieve a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation, or the equivalent designation in the province of Quebec (Pl. Fin.), is encouraged and supported.

Productivity

Investors Group implemented a number of significant changes in 2004 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:

• The Field Development Program was introduced, enhancing the in-field training of new Consultants to increase the likelihood for success in their first two years.
• The Symphony Strategic Investment Planning™ program was enhanced to include a new component, Portfolio Tuner, which is designed to help Consultants rebalance clients’ investment portfolios.
• The mutual fund offering was broadened with the introduction of seven new income-oriented mandates, including two new Masterseries™ funds (Investors Real Return Bond Fund and Investors Income Trust Fund), two new Corporate Class offerings (Investors Capital Yield Class and Investors Short-term Capital Yield Class), as well as three new Alto™ portfolio funds called Alto Monthly Income Portfolios.
• The introduction of a series of comprehensive enhancements to our insurance offering, under the umbrella of Insurance for the Future, which included the addition of Canada Life term and universal life options to the product shelf in conjunction with the introduction of a streamlined application process.
• The Variable Rate Mortgage and the Lock & Roll Mortgage were added to bring expanded choice to the mortgage product shelf.

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.