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March 2017

Spring is here! A new season brings warm weather and exciting news for our HollisWealth office. We have outlined some recent changes and updates. If you would like to discuss anything you read in our newsletter feel free to call our office or stop in. We enjoy the break from a busy day to talk to clients. We are a small office but enjoy the company. We look forward to seeing you again!

Now for the big news, you may have heard by now that Industrial Alliance is poised to purchase HollisWealth from Scotiabank. This is true, and after much research, meetings with various other firms, our office has decided to stay on with the new Parent Company Industrial Alliance. This decision was not made overnight and did not come about easily. Some of the main reasons for staying with the new Parent Company Industrial Alliance were based on feedback from clients. “We do not want any more changes, we like consistency, far too many changes going on in your industry please keep things simple”. We heard you and we are committed to keeping this transition smooth for all of our clients. Despite the foreseeable administrative challenges, we feel prepared to handle them with great care and minimal impact to you. That said Industrial Alliance has promised NO significant changes if we remain part of the organization for the next few years. We expect the name HollisWealth to stay, updated reporting systems, upgraded online reporting systems but best of all our ability to continue to be able to WAIVE FEES based on our current guidelines, this was significant to us. Remaining with HollisWealth under Industrial Alliance is our best bet to keep life simple and to minimize changes to you.

That said, we have been told of one change that we are already working with clients to stay ahead of, involving clients with Nominee RESP Plans. If you currently hold any RESP plans with our office we will be contacting you within the next few months (before August) to convert your plan to the new system. We will require sitting down briefly with subscribers to make this conversion which will involve a bit of paperwork for us to complete, however nothing difficult for our clients just a few signatures. Investments etc. to remain the same.

Our goal is for you to experience a seamless transition so please feel free to contact our office to discuss this further. We want to assure clients we have made a commitment not to change companies in the best interest of our clients. Incentives to change companies were great financially but I, Roman, could not justify such a move to another dealership given the changes in service and costs our clients would bear. I will leave the words of wisdom of one of our clients who unfortunately passed away last year. She told me the following “Roman sometimes the grass is greener on the other side of the fence because of the septic tank it is over” Excellent insight; miss her dearly but following her words of wisdom.

Annual Reviews:

When booking your Annual Review with our office, Ashley, Mike and Sarah require 7-14 business days to properly prepare your Annual Review and scrutinize suitability to your financial needs and goals. The purpose of Annual Reviews is not only to review portfolios and performance, but to keep your financial future on track despite any life changes. A personalized relationship with our clients helps us to better serve the various needs that arise. We look forward to sitting with you once a year to ensure we continue to work with your best interests as our top priority. If returning our call after hours feel free to leave a detailed message on how best to reach you. We genuinely look forward to hearing from you.

Office Updates:

Since returning to our office at the end of her maternity leave, Sarah has settled in and continues to work diligently in our office. Her single biggest project during the months of January and February has been generating your Capital Gains reports. Anyone with an Open or In-Trust plan that sold units during 2016 should have received a report detailing the Gains/Losses for your tax reporting purposes. Sarah Hardt is now officially registered with the Mutual Fund Dealers Association as a Licensed Assistant to Roman. In this role she will now be able to further assist Roman with transactions, receiving orders and compliance in our office.

Since her start here in 2016 Ashley has been hard at work organizing the office to try and make your visit go smoothly and to help the advisors stay on track. Ashley’s biggest project for the next few months will be getting together paperwork for our RESP clients and organizing everything with the various Investment Companies. Since the merger is happening in August she is putting together all of the packages that we will have to get the RESP accounts switched over to the new software system before August.

Michael R. Rutka, continues to cultivate new relationships with new and existing clients. Mike is now officially registered with the Mutual Fund Dealers Association as a Licensed Assistant to Roman as well. The first few weeks of 2017 have indeed been very busy for Michael to ensure our client’s needs are met without any delay. Michael continues to assist Roman and the office with coordination of our daily activities, reaching out to clients and further developing our relationships.

Benefits & Health Insurances:

Every year Canadians are faced with thousands of dollars in unexpected health costs. We at HollisWealth would like to try and make your lives easier and let you know that we offer Health and Dental Plan for our clients through Manulife Flexcare Plans. There are three Flexcare Plan options that you are able to choose from that can be customized to you and your family’s needs – DrugPlus™, Dental Plus™, or ComboPlus™.

The Flexcare Plans offer coverage for expenses such as:

Effective May 1, 2017 Psychotherapist coverage, and extended travel benefits to age 70 will be added to all three plans.

There is also a plan called FollowMe, which can be started if your company’s health and dental benefits are ending, or if you’re in between jobs or retiring and you still want continuous benefits. It provides affordable health insurance coverage. You can choose one of the four plans within 60 days after the end of your employer’s plan to benefit. *Information sources from Manulife Flexcare plans.

Genetic Testing Bill Threatening Insurance Companies

The Senate has adopted Bill S-201 that would prevent insurance companies and employers from obtaining their clients/employees results of genetic testing, which may reveal genetic diseases or conditions.

Having these test results can help people reduce the likelihood of getting this disease or to help doctors monitor and treat it early on which may help lessen the side effects of the disease. Many people do not get tested for genetic conditions because they are worried that they will become uninsurable due to test results.

We are now waiting on the House of Commons for their approval on this Bill, which can help many Canadians worried about not being able to keep a job or being pushed through early retirement. If passed, Bill S-201 will help curb the worry about not being able to pay for anything upon death.

The Client Relationship Model – Phase 2 (CRM2): :

We are now entering a new age of reporting standards where Canadian investors are able to see advisor fees expressed in dollar amounts as well as percentages. As shocking as this may be for investors concerned with seeing the actual dollar amounts they pay in fees, this has to be taken into context with the overall service provided by advisors. Investors looking to leave their advisor for the do-it-yourself world of exchange traded funds and discount brokerages may want to reconsider or at least seek more education.

Below is the link to an article in the Globe and Mail which sheds some light on the extra value that you can receive from your advisor. With the talk of fees at the forefront, areas of service (other than your current investments) can be overlooked. This article is a very good read, which expands on the value brought to you by your advisor.

Globe and Mail: Quest for lower fees could backfire in retirement

Finding Yourself

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” -Mahatma Gandhi

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“This newsletter was prepared by Roman A. Groch who is a registered representative of HollisWealth Advisory Services Inc. (a member of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada and the MFDA Investor Protection Corporation). This newsletter is not a publication of HollisWealth Advisory Services Inc. and the views and opinions, including any recommendations, expressed in this newsletter are those of Roman A. Groch alone and not those of HollisWealth Advisory Services Inc.

HollisWealth Advisory Services Inc. does not provide income tax preparation services nor does it supervise or review other persons who may provide such services.

® Registered trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia, used under licence.