OVERVIEW

PMAC’s mission statement is “advancing standards”; we are consistently supportive of measures that improve standards for the benefit of investors (the clients of asset managers). Portfolio managers have a fiduciary duty to act with care, honestly and in good faith, always in the best interest of their clients, and securities regulation requires that portfolio managers have the highest levels of education and experience in the investment industry. Portfolio managers provide ongoing management of clients’ investments, on a discretionary basis, based on objectives and risk tolerance outlined in the client’s Investment Policy Statement (IPS). Ensuring broad access to discretionary investment management through a wide variety of portfolio manager business models – including on-line and traditional – is beneficial to Canadians and to the Canadian economy. As is further discussed below, privacy laws must be sufficiently flexible to ensure that PMs are able to carry out their responsibilities to clients without undue restrictions, such as the need to frequently obtain client consent.

As set out in our September 2019 comment letter on the discussion paper Strengthening Privacy for the Digital Age (the 2019 Consultation), we applaud the Federal government’s aim of ensuring that Canadians can trust that their privacy is protected, that their data will not be misused, and that companies communicate privacy matters in a simple and straightforward manner. We agree that Canada’s privacy regime should be modernized and streamlined in a way that simultaneously supports innovation and protects the privacy expectations of Canadians.

The submission can be read in full here.