By Tom Bradley

The wealth management industry is heading into a period of involuntary, but positive change. Dealers are being forced by the regulators to improve their reporting and show clients how they’ve done and what they’re paying. It feels funny saying this (because it’s so ridiculous), but it’s the most important industry development in decades. Canadians are finally going to have the information they need to be successful investors. Remarkable, really.

The new rules will take another couple of years to take effect, but we wanted to give readers a sneak preview. The Steadyhand statements have been telling clients what they need to know for 6½ years now, but we’ve made some improvements that are worth highlighting. In addition to reporting performance in percentage terms (annualized), we now report it in dollar terms as well, both in table form and graphically.

We’re always encouraging investors to do a thorough review of their performance once a year and have published a report on how to do it - How is Your Portfolio doing? A Framework for Assessing Investment Performance. The account statement is a key part of the process.

For readers who aren’t Steadyhand clients (yet), I invite you to look at a sample of what our clients received last week and what all dealers will hopefully be providing by 2016.