Brian Jones of TD Wealth Private Investment Advice is part of Wealth Professional Canada's Portfolio Management Powerhouses 2017
Vice-president, portfolio manager, investment advisor
TD WEALTH PRIVATE INVESTMENT ADVICE
Years in the industry: 20
Years as a PM: 15
Industry accreditations: PFP, CIM, FMA, FCSI, ChP Strategic Wealth
Typical clients: $1 million to $5 million in assets
Celebrating two decades in the investment industry this year, Brian Jones of TD Wealth believes standards need to be raised across the board for portfolio managers. “I believe there needs to be a much higher level of education and experience to become a PM,” he says. “All firms have different levels of technology, supervision and requirements. Something that is awesome at one firm may not be at another, but the client may believe that everything is equal.”
In that respect, Jones welcomes regulators’ efforts to improve standards in the wealth management space. “I like the moves regulators have made to ensure a best interest standard,” he says. “The process is slow, but steady. Fulfilling transparency and high-level regulation and supervision will ensure a level playing field for all.”
A veteran of the business, Jones has been plying his trade as a discretionary portfolio manager for 15 years now. Having that fiduciary responsibility brings with it many advantages, but also challenges. “Not having to contact the client to place trades is good for timing and trade execution, but can lead to lack of client contact, education and relationship-building,” he says. “A good contact management system is a must.”
Looking at the changing investment climate over the past year, Jones has rebalanced his portfolios to reflect the stellar performance of Canadian stocks throughout 2016. “Investment strategy and pools have basically remained the same,” he says. “There has been overweighting of the US sector and an overweighting of financials, with movement back toward energy.”
As the Fed increases interest rates and speculation mounts that the Bank of Canada will follow suit early next year, many money managers are updating their fixed-income strategies. For his part, Jones says that while bonds may have lost their allure for many in the low-interest-rate environment, they remain a key part of any portfolio.
“Fixed income has been a challenge, but it will always be the core,” he says. “ETFs, alternative fixed-income products and preferred shares have been added to increase return, but that’s not to lose sight that principal protection is the main goal of fixed income.”
TD WEALTH PRIVATE INVESTMENT ADVICE
Years in the industry: 20
Years as a PM: 15
Industry accreditations: PFP, CIM, FMA, FCSI, ChP Strategic Wealth
Typical clients: $1 million to $5 million in assets
Celebrating two decades in the investment industry this year, Brian Jones of TD Wealth believes standards need to be raised across the board for portfolio managers. “I believe there needs to be a much higher level of education and experience to become a PM,” he says. “All firms have different levels of technology, supervision and requirements. Something that is awesome at one firm may not be at another, but the client may believe that everything is equal.”
In that respect, Jones welcomes regulators’ efforts to improve standards in the wealth management space. “I like the moves regulators have made to ensure a best interest standard,” he says. “The process is slow, but steady. Fulfilling transparency and high-level regulation and supervision will ensure a level playing field for all.”
A veteran of the business, Jones has been plying his trade as a discretionary portfolio manager for 15 years now. Having that fiduciary responsibility brings with it many advantages, but also challenges. “Not having to contact the client to place trades is good for timing and trade execution, but can lead to lack of client contact, education and relationship-building,” he says. “A good contact management system is a must.”
Looking at the changing investment climate over the past year, Jones has rebalanced his portfolios to reflect the stellar performance of Canadian stocks throughout 2016. “Investment strategy and pools have basically remained the same,” he says. “There has been overweighting of the US sector and an overweighting of financials, with movement back toward energy.”
As the Fed increases interest rates and speculation mounts that the Bank of Canada will follow suit early next year, many money managers are updating their fixed-income strategies. For his part, Jones says that while bonds may have lost their allure for many in the low-interest-rate environment, they remain a key part of any portfolio.
“Fixed income has been a challenge, but it will always be the core,” he says. “ETFs, alternative fixed-income products and preferred shares have been added to increase return, but that’s not to lose sight that principal protection is the main goal of fixed income.”
