You will see some changes in your 2016 year-end statements regarding your mutual fund holdings. These statements are typically mailed out to you at the beginning of each year and beginning in January 2017, your mutual fund statement for the fourth quarter of 2016 will include two new sections.

This section will reflect several new pieces of information, including amounts invested and withdrawals made over the past year. Among others, it will also provide a graphic illustration of the market value, net investments and the gain or loss in your account for the year. 

In this section, you will also see information on your personal rate of return - over various time periods - for each account type that you hold. Your rate of return is calculated using the money-weighted rate of return calculation method, which is consistent across the industry and considers the timing of when you deposited or redeemed money from your account. Of note, the inception date of your account is set to January 1, 2009, or as of the first transaction date of your account if it was opened after that date.  If your account was started prior to January 1, 2009 the historical reporting will be available from our office as usual and can be requested at any time from us.

This section will reflect the fees paid and compensation received by our dealer -- IPC Investment Corporation. These costs will be stated by ‘type’ for each account that you hold and displayed in dollar terms. These are not new or additional charges, they have been part of your Management Expense Ratio since you began investing with us. The only change is the reporting of these fees & compensation figures directly on your statement.

It is worth remembering that the compensation received goes towards a variety of expenses, including the overall cost of providing you with on-going financial advice, liability insurance, licensing, professional association fees, education, all office related costs, staff, technology, reporting, costs of processing, regulatory compliance and operational oversight. 

Overall, the addition of these new sections to your year-end statement aims to enhance your understanding of the overall performance of your investments as well as the cost and compensation related to your accounts.  Again, the disclosed fees & compensation have always been part of the management fees charged to your account.  

If you would like to discuss the new reporting or any other aspect of your portfolio and financial plan, please feel free to contact us.  Thank you for your continued trust and commitment.