What Should You Do as a Responsible Investor

  • Educate yourself about securities and the markets. Read whatever you can get your hands on to learn about investing. Read investment magazines and the business section of your newspaper. Here and at other web sites there is plenty of investment information that you can access to better familiarize yourself about investing. You can watch the financial reports of your nightly news programs. There are specialty channels now that deal solely with investments There are courses you can take to advance your knowledge. With such knowledge, you will then be better able to monitor your investments and work with your advisor to find the best products for your financial needs.

  • Be open with your advisor and clearly inform him or her of your financial objectives.

  • Be realistic in your expectations of returns on your investments.

  • Understand that investing involves risk.

  • Read all documents relating to your investment. This will include any offering memorandum and prospectus, all press releases, any of the firm's analyst's reports on the investment.

  • Read and keep all your confirmation slips and statements of account. Any order that you might direct your advisor to make should be recorded in writing to ensure that there was no mistakes in executing your order. If you discover an error, bring it to the attention of your advisor immediately.

  • Don't be afraid to ask questions about your investment. Feel free to call your advisor at any time to keep abreast of your investment. Do not expect that your advisor will always be monitoring your investment.

  • Monitor your investment all the times to ensure that you can react to any good or bad news relating to the investment.

  • If you feel that your advisor has made an error that he is not willing to correct, speak to the firm's manager. If the matter involves misconduct on the part of the advisor, advise the relevant securities regulator. If you have lost money as a result of the advisor misconduct which the firm is not willing to resolve, contact your lawyer or attorney for the appropriate legal advice.

    For more information contact your provincial or state securities commission or agency or the North American Securities Administrators Association in Washington, D.C. at 1-8888-4-NASAA.

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