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Gillian Kunza, co-founder and chief executive officer of Designed Securities Ltd. in Toronto, says her dealer, which has more than $1-billion in assets and close to 40 advisors, was the first to be completely approved for dual registration in March. Before the merger, if a mutual fund advisor wanted to move to an investment dealer, it involved a lengthy 270-day program and upgrading to new proficiency guidelines required of an investment registered representative, Ms. Gallagher says.
A more efficient and less time-consuming process is beneficial to those advisor teams that want to bring new advisors on board, she adds. “Without that information, we won’t exactly know what a merger on the corporate level would look like. And while the two dealers haven’t merged businesses, we do combine our efforts to ensure the needs of our clients are well served.”