Canadians confuse financial planning with investing, say professional planners

July 20, 1999, Toronto - The mistake most frequently made by Canadians seeking the advice of financial planners is confusing financial planning with investing, according to a recent survey conducted by the Financial Planners Standards Council (FPSC) of 472 planners across the country. Neglecting to evaluate financial plans periodically is the second most common mistake made by clients.

Neglecting to set measurable financial goals is the third. Planners rated these top three mistakes at 7.41, 7.25 and 7.19 respectively in a range from 10 to I, with 10 indicating a very high frequency and 1 very low.

Eighty-seven percent of the survey respondents retain clients with net worth upwards of $100 thousand and the majority of these clients (77 %) fall in the $100 to $500 thousand range. All the planners surveyed hold the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation awarded by the FPSC.

"The survey results are a very good indication that even Canadians who know enough to seek the advice of financial professionals need more information about the financial planning process and how it can help them attain their goals," says FPSC President Don Johnston.

FPSC has commissioned additional research to be conducted this summer by Hart and Associates, an independent research and consulting firm in Toronto. In this new study, a random sample of 750 adult Canadians are being interviewed about their views and knowledge of financial planning and professionals offering planning advice.

"This kind of research is fundamental to our mission of ensuring the financial planning needs of Canadians are being met and that Canadians have the information they need to make prudent choices about the professional from whom they seek guidance," says Johnston. "The more they know, the more likely they will seek qualified professional financial planning advice from the almost 10,000 individuals who have earned their CFP designation by meeting FPSC's very high standards in education, knowledge and skills, experience and ethics in all areas of the planning process."

Other significant misconceptions identified in the survey of planners are that clients:

* Think financial planning is the same as retirement planning (average rating 6.85);
* Expect unrealistic returns on investments (average rating 6.54);
* Don't understand how advisor's are compensated (average rating 6.34);
* Are looking for a quick financial fix instead of a long term strategy (average rating 6.23);
* Don't understand that good professional planning advice is largely dependent on good information from clients (average rating 6.15);
* Believe financial planning is primarily tax planning (average rating 4.63);
* Think they'll lose control over their decisions if they use a planner (average rating 4.51).

The Financial Planners Standards Council is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to benefiting and protecting the Canadian consumer by establishing and enforcing education, examination, experience and ethics requirements for financial planners who choose to earn the CFP designation. The FPSC is the Canadian licensor of the internationally recognised CFP certification marks currently used by almost 10,000 planners in Canada and 50,000 planners in 11 countries around the world.