Getting Started
One of the first services you will receive from NPMC is the Account Opening Process. This process is described in the following steps:
- Pocket Risk – Risk Profiling Questionnaire: This questionnaire helps to determine your comfort level with risk and helps to identify a potential, ideal asset mix for your new portfolio.
- NPMC Know Your Client Document (KYC): This document assists in collecting important information about you, your time horizon, investment knowledge, income and net worth. This information is required to open your new account.
- Portfolio Allocation Plan: The Pocket Risk Questionnaire and the KYC, combined with any other conversations and custom analysis, help NPMC prepare for you a Portfolio Allocation Plan. This plan provides to you an overview as to how your new NPMC portfolio will be structured across your various investment accounts and the fees to be charged based on this plan. The Plan illustrates the extent to which you will be invested into the NFC Tactical Asset Allocation Pool as well as other individual securities, exchange traded funds or investment fund.
- Investment Policy Statement (IPS): If you are comfortable with the proposed Portfolio Allocation Plan, NPMC will then prepare for you a personalized Investment Policy Statement (IPS). The purpose of the IPS is to summarize how your NPMC portfolio will be managed for your unique circumstances. The IPS summarizes the information collected on the Risk Profile Questionnaire and the KYC and transitions this information into a personalized action plan.
- NPMC Portfolio Management Agreement: To implement the IPS, we begin with the NPMC Portfolio Management Agreement. The purpose of the agreement is to formalize our working relationship and to provide further disclosure as to the responsibilities of both the client and the portfolio manager.
- NPMC Relationship Disclosure Document: At the time you sign the NPMC Portfolio Management Agreement you are also reconfirming that you have received and read the NPMC Relationship Disclosure Document. This Document is part of the NPMC Custom Portfolio Management Binder and can be found in the 2nd tab titled “The Solution”. The Relationship Disclosure Document contains additional information related to some of the additional forms and documentation required for the account set-up process.
The above noted steps and documents are all required by NPMC to set up your new portfolio. Should you have any questions or concerns, please let us know prior to signing any NPMC document.
In addition to these steps and documents, to open your new NPMC accounts you will also need to sign forms to set up your accounts with the firm that will hold your accounts.
NOTE: NPMC is a portfolio management firm. NPMC does not hold your investment accounts nor does NPMC accept your cheques into a trust account on your behalf. All cheques and correspondence is directly with the custodian. NPMC coordinates these activities on your behalf but never physically holds any of your investment savings. As a result, specific forms need to be signed so as to set up your accounts with the custodian.
The custodian of your accounts is National Bank Independent Network (NBIN). NBIN is a division of National Bank Financial, which is a division of the National Bank of Canada. The National Bank of Canada is Canada’s 6th largest tier 1 chartered bank in Canada. For more information on NBIN, see the Custodian tab in your NPMC Custom Portfolio Management binder or on-line at www.nbin.ca. Please also read more about your relationship with NBIN through the following links (Welcome to National Bank Independent Network; Understanding The Fees You Pay).
The NBIN forms that you may need to sign include:
- New Client Account Form: This form is used to set up each of your new accounts and to assign NPMC as the portfolio manager on these accounts.
- Transfer Authorization Forms: If you are transferring money from another institution then your signature will likely be required on one or more of these forms.
- Supplementary Documentation: Other additional forms may need to be signed to address US tax withholding issues and / or supplementary disclosure documents relating to locked-in pension funds and / or foreign account tax reporting issues, to name a few. NBIN also requires current picture ID and a void cheque to be provided at account opening. Ideally this would be a driver license and a void cheque that contains your name and home address.
Should you have any questions or concerns about any of these documents, please contact us immediately. You will receive copies of all forms signed by you.
Once The New Portfolios Are Set Up:
Once your new portfolios are set up:
- We will meet to review the statements you are receiving from NBIN.
- You will receive from NPMC a quarterly portfolio package that includes a commentary of the most recent market activity and how our client portfolios performed during this period. You will also receive a portfolio statement that includes a month by month summary of your deposits, withdrawals, fees and portfolio value. This report will also include a summary of your investments as well as a list of all of your transactions over the past three months.
- We will communicate to you regularly (typically via letter or e-mail) of changes we are making to the portfolios.
- We will meet face to face 1 to 4 times annually, depending on your desires and your needs. If you would like to pre-establish your portfolio review meeting times for the coming year, in advance, we can accommodate that as well.
- Over time we will ask you to update your personal information. This helps to make sure that we are up to date on changes in your personal life and that changes are made to the management of your portfolio if required.