A hallmark of the 2008/2009 financial crisis was a plethora of fraudsters preying on the fears of those with legitimate investments that were down with their bogus offerings (fake land deals, gold deals, etc.). You need to do your homework when dealing with an advisors, financial planner or anyone selling investments.
Anyone in Canada (outside of Quebec) can call themselves a financial planner – even if they have zero qualifications. If you’re wanting help from a pro, make to look for two acronyms – CFP and QAFP - a Certified Financial Planner or Qualified Associate Financial Planner.
You need to ask questions like: what are you registered to sell? What regulator oversees your work? Will I get the offering in writing and so much more. A full list of questions a videos can be found at www.financialplanningforcanadians.ca as well, check with your provincial regulators FIRST before investing such as the Ontario Securities Commission or the Alberta Securities Commission for example. They all have loads of great info on their websites too.
Red Flags:
Catch my full segment from Global News here.