Case Studies - Investments

OBSI received multiple complaints over a short period about an investment firm and Mr. V, an investment advisor and branch manager. The complainants had no connection to one another other than having Mr. V as their advisor.

Mr. Y was approached about an investment opportunity by an advisor at his investment firm who was not the person he usually received advice from.

In early 2007, Ms. F was referred to a new investment advisor by a friend. At the time, she was 63 years old and retired. Between February and May, 2007, she invested a total of $470,000 in growth-oriented mutual funds.

In 2005, Mr. and Mrs. N were 57 and 77 years old respectively, retired, and had combined household annual income of about $20,661. They were experiencing financial difficulty and having trouble paying their expenses. Their son introduced them to his advisor by telephone, hoping he could provide advice on how his parents could manage their finances.

In February 1999, Mr. C opened an RRSP account. Five years later, he closed the account when he sold all of his investments to purchase a new home. Mr. C had no further contact with his former advisor until early 2008, when they ran into each other at a local store.

In early 2009, Ms. B was set to receive $59,000 as part of a severance package. On the advice of bank staff Ms. B opened a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) account, into which she deposited the severance payment.

In January 2007 Ms. P was 52 years old. Her ex-husband had recently passed away leaving her about $300,000 in an RRSP at a large bankowned investment firm. She contacted the advisors on the RRSP account to discuss estate transfer matters.

Mr. B complained when his RESP dealer firm refused to return the funds he contributed to an RESP account. Mr. B had been making payments to a scholarship plan for several years, but due to personal circumstances requested his RESP dealer firm place a temporary stop on his required contributions.

On the suggestion of his advisor, Mr. V had purchased special “synthetic" preferred shares of a complex structured investment product offering a principal guarantee at maturity. Its returns depended on the number of future credit defaults, or in other words, the level of net losses within the underlying portfolio. 

When Mrs. K, a 51-year-old life insurance advisor, opened an investment account at Firm ABC, she signed a Know-Your-Client (KYC) form indicating 100% medium risk tolerance and an objective of 100% long-term capital gains. Soon after this, her investment advisor began to purchase higher-risk securities. While Mrs. K was privately concerned, she chose not to complain.