Knowledge Centre

Provisus, pronounced [pro•ve•sus] is Latin for "to foresee and provide for the future" and is also our company motto.

Provisus manages investment portfolios on a discretionary basis. We work with a dozen well regarded Canadian money managers which allow us to offer a wide range of investment styles and specialties. Our process starts with an analysis of your goals and objectives as well as your tolerance for risk. Then we design a portfolio consisting of stocks, bonds, and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) which are held in an account in your name at an independent custodian. We set up, trade and monitor your portfolio on an ongoing basis to ensure that your objectives are met.

Our clients include individual investors, corporations, estates, trusts and individual pension plans. Our clients are referred to us by their investment advisor and most of our clients have assets in excess of $100,000.

We do not take clients directly. You will need to speak with your investment advisor and ask if they have a referral arrangement with Provisus. Provisus has referral arrangements with a large number of Canadian mutual fund dealers, along with exempt market advisors, insurance advisors and financial strategists. We do not have referral arrangements with the major banks.

Your assets are held in accounts in your name at an independent custodian. These are not pooled monies like mutual funds. The custodian is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund which has been set up to protect your account. Provisus does not take possession of your cash or securities.

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is our primary regulator and we are registered as a Portfolio Manager and Investment Fund Manager in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. Portfolio Managers are unique in that they are subject to a fiduciary obligation which is the highest Canadian regulatory standard. This means that by law we are required to act in the best interests of our clients. In addition Provisus' key Portfolio Managers hold the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and must also abide by the CFA Institute's strict code of ethics.

We prepare a quarterly statement which includes your transactions, holdings and benchmarked investment performance. The custodian also sends their statements, usually monthly or at least quarterly if there are no transactions in the period, which further confirms your transactions and portfolio holdings. Clients also have online access to transaction information, daily portfolio updates and report printing.

We earn our fees by structuring portfolios in a cost effective manner designed to improve the rate of return earned by your portfolio. Our all-inclusive fee includes all investment manager, custody and trading costs. Certain in-house portfolios have a low fee and earn a performance bonus for outperforming the benchmark which directly aligns our fees with the results we achieve for our clients. Furthermore our fees may be tax deductible for non-registered accounts.

We craft individual customized portfolios for every client. Holdings must be diversified and of high quality as we are very conscientious of protecting capital, especially in down markets. All of our proposals include a thorough analysis including placement on the efficient frontier, historic performance in up and down markets and relative quartile rankings.

There are simple forms available online to add or withdraw money from your account which should be sent to Provisus. It is very straightforward to have a regular monthly deposit or payment set up. For a lump sum deposit, cheques must be payable to the custodian. Payments from your account can only be made directly to a bank account in the same name as the account at the custodian or mailed to your home address listed on file.