If you’ve never used the services of an investment advisor, you may be wondering what to expect.

We work with a five-step “getting started” system that allows plenty of room for your input, which ensures that your goals are front and center at every stage. No two people have exactly the same financial objectives, so we begin by discussing what you want your money to do for you.

First, we determine your investment objectives and define your investor profile. We’ll start by answering two very simple questions: What do you want to do with your money, and when do you want to do it?

People invest money for all kinds of reasons: to ensure a comfortable retirement, provide for their children’s university education, buy a home, start a business or launch a project. When you achieve these goals will depend on your age, income and personal situation. For example, you might want to have a down payment for a house accumulated in two or three years, whereas your anticipated retirement date might be twenty-five years away. What you have to do is determine your investment objectives and your investment horizon. Let’s say you want to save X thousand dollars so that you can retire comfortably. That is your investment objective. How far away that retirement is will determine your investment horizon. If you are now 40 and you want to retire at 60, you’re looking at an investment horizon of 20 years.

Now you have to consider the objectives / horizon relationship in terms of your own personality. Ambitious objectives and a short horizon will steer you toward investments with a potential for high returns... and equally high volatility. Are you prepared to deal with the fluctuations and higher risk factor, or would you be better off extending your horizon — or reducing your objectives — and lowering the volatility of your investment returns? The answers to these questions makes it possible to define your investor profile: cautious (you want a reasonable return, but protecting your capital is the top priority); balanced (you’re prepared to consider some investments that are more growth-oriented, accepting that their rates of return will not be guaranteed from the outset); or dynamic (increasing your capital is your top priority, even if that means greater volatility).

Based on this profile, we can establish your investment policy. At this point, we need to set the guidelines that will determine what goes into your portfolio. Your investment policy is like a mission statement to which we refer whenever it’s time to make an investment decision. It reflects your objectives, your investment horizon, your investor profile and other specific details, such as personal tax considerations, other investments held (pension fund, real estate, small business, etc.) or current income needs. Your investment policy can also take into account any other criteria that are important to you (for example, you may decide to avoid investing in companies whose policies or actions you disagree with).

Next, we determine your asset mix. To make sure that you meet your objectives, your portfolio will include a variety of securities (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.) in different markets (Canada, the US, Europe, etc.). The term “asset mix” refers to the proportion in which each type is purchased. Don’t underestimate the importance of this stage! The asset mix decision is actually far more important than the choice of individual securities, in terms of your investment strategy’s overall success. As explained in step 5, this asset mix decision is reviewed regularly to take into account current market conditions, as well as any changes to your personal financial situation.

Now we can make the investments best suited to your particular situation. Based on our experience and the research conducted by National Bank Financial’s analysts and economists, you’ll be presented with a specific list of investments, given the criteria established in steps 1-3. You’ll probably have lots of questions, and you will get straightforward answers. With all the support and input needed, we will help you make the final decisions and implement them.

Once your investments are made, we’ll be sure to keep an eye on them. Your portfolio will be reviewed regularly to make sure it is consistent with your objectives, and to take advantage of any new investment opportunities that may be of interest to you. Over time, your personal situation may change (you may inherit money, lose your job, etc.); there may also be changes in the economy, securities markets and tax laws. We keep a close eye on such developments, and any necessary adjustments to your portfolio will be brought to your attention. At this stage, we’ll make good use of the information services developed by National Bank Financial to help you make the best decisions. Remember that the entire National Bank Financial team is available to you whenever you need it.