www.portfolio4less.com | Canadian Mutual Fund Portfolios

Copy of email that was sent from an existing client to a prospective client!

Gavin, it is my pleasure to be able to provide my experience with Paul, Tracy and the portfolio4less.com approach.

Fortunately, I have not had a bad experience with brokers. However, I do fully understand your concerns and applaud your cautious approach for investing your money.

I will provide you with a bit of background on how I ended up with p4less and why I chose to do so.

I was not happy with my portfolio performance. It was not bad, probably average, but I did not feel I was getting any value from my relationship with my advisor. Amongst other disciplines, I am educated as a Certified Financial Planner but I do not practice. I have a good understanding of the business. I consider the planner that I left to be part of the better group of practicing planners. However, I was not satisfied.

My belief and I think some of what you may have experienced, stems from the fact that planners need to have a very large sum of money under management to make a living. In my experience, there is no consistency in what most advisors recommend for their clients, making it very difficult for them to offer any kind of personal service or attention to the broad spectrum of their clientele. Therefore, and understandably so, the clients that generate the most income, get the attention. This leaves most clients to their own devices, even though they have a planner that supposedly will look after their interests. I feel that p4less has addressed this issue through a very simplistic approach. The standardization of funds selected through all of their portfolios, from Conservative to Aggressive. This allows them the capability to monitor the performance for every client. They focus on ensuring that their portfolios are competitive in the industry and therefore all their clients receive the personal attention they deserve.

I did a lot of research before making my decision. The research process took about 6-8 months before I made the final decision. I wanted control. I wanted to optimize my performance at the lowest possible risk. I wanted flexibility to move between funds and not be locked into a specific fund family. I wanted low or no fees. I wanted good service.

I looked at all the full service brokerage firms, mutual fund families, discount brokerage firms, boutique shops and on the internet. I read articles in investment magazines, newspapers and the internet. After all of this, I narrowed my search to a few prospects and contacted them to learn more. I liked the p4less approach best. The flexibility, cost structure, responsiveness and comparative reporting, I feel is better than anything that I saw offered by the competitors. Paul was very responsive to all my questioning and challenging. He was very supportive an applied no pressure to make a move. Tracy is a pleasure to deal with - efficient, effective, friendly; all and all, very customer focused.

As you may be aware, many of the larger firms offer portfolio creation similar to what p4less offers. However, as p4less state and have proven, they outperform. Most, if not all, of the other firms offerings are confined solely to their family of offerings versus the best that the industry has to offer. As no fund family has all of the best performers in each category, this restriction does not provide you with the flexibility or performance that you deserve. Also, the risk level of the other company portfolios is traditionally higher with lower performance.

I also investigated Index funds as they are maturing and have a greater breadth in their offerings with a lower MER. Again, even with a diversified offering I was unable to match the performance risk combination provide by p4less.

I was also concerned with transferring my investments as they are an internet based company. I like the online capability but had a healthy scepticism about giving my money to a company on the net; based across the country; to people I have never met. How did I know that they wouldn't run off with my money? I checked this out fully, as well. They have all the industry available insurances and coverage in the event of failure. The purchases are actually held in an account with the fund companies and held in Trust. You receive statements and have accounts with the fund companies that you select. On this basis, they are as safe as any other institution. Fraud can be committed in any organization large or small. I believe there are enough checks and balances available to you in order to feel comfortable that you money is invested based on your instructions.

I have been with p4less for just over 6 months. With my background and keen interest in this area, I wanted to pick my own portfolio using the p4less formula. I wanted to see if I could do better or at least, just as well. I also did this as there were certain funds, due to my own bias, that I was not convinced were the best or I was not sold on the sector specific approach. I did come up with a selection of funds that was in performance and risk equivalent to the p4less offerings. Paul did the analysis for me, compared to his portfolios and allowed me full flexibility in determining the route I wish to pursue. I ended up going with my selection. They are performing well but slightly less than the p4less equivalent over the same period. I have made refinements to my portfolio in this period and they have been very responsive and helpful in completing my requests.

I also convinced my parents to move their assets. They completed their transfer within the past month. Dad is a very cautious guy and in spite of my months of research, he wanted to due his due diligence as well and was satisfied.

I believe that Paul and Tracy have done a great job researching the funds and selecting complimentary funds that optimize performance and minimize risk. Based on my experience and research, I feel that they have the best offering on the market today. This, coupled with their customer focus ethic, is a winning combination. I have been completely satisfied with my experience to date. It has been everything that I expected.

I apologize for the length of the note. I hope you find it to be of value. If there is anything else that you would like to address that I missed, I would be glad to provide my experience or perspective.

Best wishes in whatever course you choose.

R. M., Ontario

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