Relationship disclosure

MD Financial Management Inc. (MDFM) believes the best way to help you meet your financial goals, and for us to keep serving you as a valued client, is to provide you with access to advice and investments in a way that best suits your needs. We want to help you save and invest in the way that is most comfortable for you in the changing environment in which we live. We think we can do this most successfully if we each know what to expect from the other. For this reason, we would like you to have a good understanding of the services we offer, the features of your accounts and how they operate, and our responsibilities to you.

We also want you to understand how your input through the account documentation you complete is critical to our meeting your expectations. We believe in promoting active client participation for a mutually successful relationship.

As the size and complexity of your investment portfolio increases, so does the amount of time and expertise required to manage it. MD Private Investment Counsel (MDPIC) offers professional and personalized expertise in discretionary investment management. You grant us discretionary investing authority through the Investment Counselling Agreement you will sign as part of the opening of your account. MDPIC’s authority to make investment decisions for your managed account is limited by your investment objectives and goals, including agreed ranges for various asset classes, which will be set out in an Investment Policy Statement. Your executed Investment Counselling Agreement and agreed Investment Policy Statement will be part of your account set-up. We encourage you to read these documents carefully and keep them with your account documents. They establish our relationship, and we will manage your account in accordance with the details in these documents.

With MDPIC, you delegate the day-to-day management of your portfolio to one of our professional portfolio managers to help you preserve and grow your investment portfolio. We will carefully structure an investment portfolio to meet your unique needs and investment goals, and we will manage it with discipline. Your MDPIC Portfolio Manager will work in collaboration with your MD Advisor^* to integrate your MDPIC portfolio within your overall MD financial plan.

As a discretionary portfolio manager, we act in accordance with a fiduciary standard of care, which means we act in your best interests and in accordance with the standards of skill, duty and care expected of a reasonable portfolio manager.

As part of the MDPIC service:

1. An Investment Policy Statement is developed for you after you complete a questionnaire and other necessary “know-your-client” forms with your MDPIC Portfolio Manager. These documents will provide us with a detailed understanding of your goals and financial circumstances and the purpose of your portfolio, as well as any constraints or unique circumstances.
2. Your Investment Policy Statement is an important part of your MDPIC account. Its purpose is to establish and define the investment parameters of our relationship with you. Our goal is to work with you to determine your investment objectives, and to achieve them by providing expert advice based on a well-reasoned and realistic set of investment policies.
3. A portfolio strategy specific to you and diversified across asset classes, investment styles and geographic regions will be followed.
4. Investments in mutual funds managed by MDFM, known as the MDPIM Pools (the Pools) and segregated securities, when considered appropriate, will be made for your account in accordance with your Investment Policy Statement and portfolio strategy. You can ask your MDPIC Portfolio Manager for copies of the applicable offering documents for the Pools.
5. If, through discussion with your MDPIC Portfolio Manager, you decide to invest a portion of your portfolio according to our alternative investment strategies, including our private equity, global real estate and private credit strategies, as part of your overall investment portfolio, you will need to open an MD Platinum^TM You will be given an opportunity to make a commitment of money to be invested in accordance with the alternative investment strategy or strategies that we consider to be suitable for your investment portfolio. Our alternative investment funds, known as the MD Platinum Pools, are open for investment only at specified times and for limited periods. An MD Platinum account is a longterm investment, and you will not be able to withdraw money from the MD Platinum Pools and your MD Platinum account for specified time periods, which may be 10 years or longer. Your MDPIC Portfolio Manager will review your particular personal and financial circumstances to determine whether the MD Platinum Pool(s) is a suitable investment for you. Information about your MD Platinum account is provided in the MD Platinum account documentation referred to below.

Changes to your Investment Policy Statement may be made as your goals evolve and personal circumstances change. Your long-term, target investment strategy will be changed for you if your Investment Policy Statement changes.

Opening an MD Private Investment Counsel account

You will be asked to complete a Client Investor Profile Questionnaire which will allow us to understand your personal and financial circumstances and your investment goals. Understanding these circumstances and your goals allows us to develop your Investment Policy Statement and recommend a portfolio strategy. Your Investment Policy Statement will be based on our assessment that the proposed investment strategy is suitable for you according to your financial circumstances, investment needs and goals.

The factors that guide us in our decision as to an appropriate Investment Policy Statement and investment strategy include what we understand to be your current:

• Personal circumstances: We will consider your date of birth, civil status or family situation, number of dependants, employment status and occupation, and other personal circumstances as part of our recommendation.
• Financial situation: What financial assets (deposits, investments) and liabilities (debt, mortgage) you have and the sources and amount of your income. We will consider the overall value of your net financial assets (assets minus liabilities) as part of our recommendation.
• Investment knowledge and experience: Whether you consider yourself, or we understand you to be, a novice investor, an investor with some knowledge and experience, or an investor who understands some of the new, more complex financial products and has experience with investing in such products.
• Investment objectives: What you tell us are your specific financial goals. This will help us determine how to balance the desire to keep your money safe (not lose principal), earn income, and increase your capital through growth in the market value of your holdings/account.
• Time horizon: When you expect to need your financial assets — for example, to buy a house, pay for education or retire. In retirement, this will be a consideration of the length of time you will need to access your investments to fund your retirement and a consideration of tax requirements to withdraw minimum amounts from your registered accounts.
• Tolerance to risk of loss: Whether, even if you have many years to earn and save, you feel comfortable with the possibility of experiencing a decline in the market value of your investments in some years.
• Risk capacity: How much risk you can comfortably take on given your financial circumstances. This takes into consideration your investment time horizon, your income and cash flow needs and your net worth, among other matters.
• Investment portfolio composition and risk level: How the purchase or sale of particular securities affects holdings in your overall account(s) in terms of allocation of holdings between debt, equity and other classes, and the riskiness of the assets held.

Our understanding of your personal and financial profile is critical. Some of the above factors are relatively easily summed up with a “yes” or “no” or a number on a scale. However, some are more complex, particularly your risk profile (tolerance to the risk of loss and risk capacity). A combination of these factors that make up your profile will help us suggest the Investment Policy Statement and portfolio strategy that is suitable for you and puts your interests first.

It is your responsibility to notify us whenever there is a significant change in your personal or financial circumstances so that we can update this information. We will reach out to you at least annually to remind you to notify us if there have been any significant changes to your profile. We also endeavour to review your profile information and the suitability of your account with you on an annual basis.

We will provide you with a copy of the information that we collect from you at the time your account is opened and anytime you notify us of a significant change to this information. We will ask you to confirm this information at such times.

Given the long-term nature of investing for most clients, significant market fluctuations will not lead us necessarily to recommend changes to your Investment Policy Statement or your investment strategy. Your MDPIC Portfolio Manager will be ready to discuss the effect of market fluctuations on your portfolio with you when you request such a discussion. We encourage you to speak with your MDPIC Portfolio Manager, especially if you expect to need to convert your assets to cash in the near future (for example, for a major purchase such as a house), if you want to change your time of retirement or in the case of other significant changes to your investing profile.

A new account application form and Investment Counselling Agreement will also need to be completed to open your MDPIC account, along with other forms as needed, depending on the type of account opened. The Investment Counselling Agreement outlines the terms of our discretionary management relationship as well as the fees, mailing preferences, and other important information about your account.

If you set up an MD Platinum account, you will be asked to complete additional documentation and sign off on an MD Platinum account agreement, which will contain specific details on the MD Platinum Pool(s) in which you will be committing to invest.

We will also ask you to provide us with the name and contact information of a trusted contact person, who is an individual we may contact in accordance with your written consent. You may appoint a trusted contact person, decline to appoint a trusted contact person, or revoke or change a previously appointed trusted contact person, by completing a Trusted contact person (TCP) – consent form. We may contact your trusted contact person and/or disclose information about you or your account to your trusted contact person in one or more of the following circumstances:

• If we are concerned about your possible financial exploitation. Financial exploitation means the use or control of, or deprivation of the use or control of, a financial asset of an individual by a person or company through undue influence, unlawful conduct or another wrongful act.
• If we are concerned about your mental capacity as it relates to your ability to make decisions involving financial matters.
• To obtain the name and contact information of your legal representative, if any.
• To obtain your contact information, if we are unable to communicate with you using the information we have on file.

When you provide us with a name of a trusted contact person, you confirm to us that you have the consent of that person to provide us with their name and contact information and that the person knows you are naming them as your trusted contact.

Risks

There are various risks that can apply to your investment accounts:

• Market fluctuation impacting the value of your holdings. Price fluctuations up or down can last for extended periods.
• Interest rate fluctuation impacting your returns or the value of your fixed income investments.
• Credit or default risk impacting an issuer’s ability to keep paying interest or dividends on the securities of that issuer held directly by you or through one of the Pools; this may also impact its market value.
• Foreign currency risk impacting cash conversions between currency or buys or sells of securities in an account of a different currency than that of the security (example: selling a U.S. currency investment in a Canadian currency account will require an exchange to Canadian currency to post the proceeds of the sell to the cash position).
• Illiquidity of investments impacting your ability to sell your investment (no market to sell or no buyers to purchase your securities). This generally will apply only to the MD Platinum Pools and your MD Platinum account, and any securities you hold in your account that are not one of the Pools.
• The MD Platinum Pools are subject to unique risks associated with their investment strategies. Alternative investments may include strategies that employ leverage for hedging and non-hedging purposes as MDPIC deems appropriate. Also certain risks are involved in investing in private equity, real estate and private credit markets that are not applicable to typical investments in the public equity markets, such as but not limited to the following: the more speculative nature of such an investment can lead to losses of all or a substantial amount of the investment; private investments are generally illiquid, given the lack of a secondary market; the significant restrictions on transferring these investments; performance of such investments is volatile; and private equity investments are often concentrated, lack diversification and have little if any regulatory oversight.
• For all investment risks, MDPIC has in place processes to monitor and manage the risks in your portfolio; however, the risks cannot be completely eliminated. You may receive additional information related to specific risks for your account holdings from your MDPIC Portfolio Manager.
• Specific risks associated with the Pools in which you will have your MDPIC account invested are disclosed in the offering documents for the Pools, which are available from your MDPIC Portfolio Manager.

Risk of using borrowed money to finance an investment

We do not lend money, extend credit or provide margin to our clients. If at any time you use borrowed money to finance any part of a purchase of a security, it is important to know that using borrowed money to finance the purchase of securities involves greater risk than a purchase using cash resources only. If you borrow money to purchase securities, your responsibility to repay the loan and pay interest as required by its terms remains the same even if the value of the securities purchased declines.

Fair allocation of investment opportunities

We ensure the fair treatment of our clients through the highest standards of integrity and ethical business conduct. The principle of fair treatment must be recognized by all officers and employees of MDFM in order to provide a true benefit to our clients. Our clients have the right to be assured that their interests will always take precedence over the personal trading activities of MDPIC Portfolio Managers and other MDFM access persons.

When your MDPIC account is primarily invested in the Pools, there will generally not be any issues with respect to our ability to ensure that your MDPIC account is fully invested, since the securities of the Pools are issued on a daily basis.

Fees

As part of our MDPIC offering, you will be charged a fee that will cover services such as advice, discretionary management and administrative costs associated with your account (e.g., statement printing and distribution, recordkeeping and custodianship). This fee will be discussed with you before you agree to open your account.

Fee calculations are based on the total combined market value of your accounts with MDPIC, including those of your spouse and dependent children. Family discounts may be applicable; however they continue to be subject to the stated minimum threshold values for MDPIC services. Fees are calculated upon the average monthly market value of the combined accounts in Canadian dollars. Management fees are levied at month-end and are debited from the applicable MDPIC account.

For clients with segregated securities the following fees will be charged:

• Equity trades — a commission of 2% on the total traded amount, or C$0.01 per share (depending on the broker) will be charged for all sells or buys of equity securities. For clients with segregated securities in US$ equities, a commission of US$0.01 per share will be charged for all sells or buys of equity securities.
• Fixed income trades — clients will be charged a minimum fee of $50 to a maximum fee of 0.05% for any fixed income trade over $100,000.

The Pools also include modest operating expenses to cover the costs of regulatory filings, auditors, valuation and custody. The MDPIM International Equity Pool and the MDPIM Emerging Markets Equity Pool also pay an advisory surcharge for those portfolios. Surcharges are the responsibility of the client in addition to any management fees. For further information on the applicable operating costs, please read the Pools’ offering documents. There are also costs associated with investing in the MD Platinum Pools, which are outlined in the Offering Memorandum or term sheet, as applicable, for the applicable Pool.

Your MDPIC management fees are tax deductible for non-registered accounts, which includes personal non-registered accounts, corporate accounts and trust accounts. All MDPIC fees are subject to applicable taxes.

You should note that every dollar taken out to cover fees is one dollar less to invest in your account. The impact of these fees compound over time as a deduction to the overall value of your account, and over larger periods of time, this impact increases. Your MDPIC Portfolio Manager can answer any questions you may have about the fees and expenses payable by each mutual fund in which you invest.

We will provide you with at least 60 days’ written notice of any new fee or changes in charges in connection with your MDPIC account. We will provide you with an annual fee and compensation report that will provide a summary of all fees and charges paid to MDFM for the operation and administration of your account over specified periods. We will include in this report the operating costs you indirectly pay through your investment in the Pools and, as applicable, the MD Platinum Pools.

You also may be subject to other costs relating to services that you use that are not our service offerings. There may be registered plan costs and penalties related to the early withdrawal from certain registered accounts.

Account reporting

You will receive account statements from us on a quarterly basis. Your quarterly account statement will confirm all account activity, including purchases and sales of securities, contributions, withdrawals, dividends, interest earned and paid, transfers, fees and any other transactions that occurred in your account over the previous period. These statements also list your current holdings, book cost, and the net value of your portfolio as of the date on the statement. You may ask us to provide these statements to you on a monthly basis.

As we have discretionary authority over your account, MDPIC will not provide you with separate trade confirmations.

Please note: We do our utmost to avoid errors; however, misunderstandings and mistakes can happen. Please let us know within 45 days if you see any transactions that appear unusual or you identify any errors.

We will also provide you with information about your return on your investments over various periods. Return numbers will be available on your quarterly statements and on your annual performance reports. The performance of your account will be displayed using a money-weighted rate of return, and we will include information to outline your net deposits/withdrawals and the change in market value of your account. Please note that you may earn more or less than others have on the same investments or that you may read in market commentary due to differences in when you set up your account and your investments are made.

Benchmarks

You can assess the performance of your investment by comparing the performance with an investment performance benchmark. Investment performance benchmarks illustrate the performance over time of a select group of securities. There are many different benchmarks, so it is important to select one that is comparable to the investments you hold.

Example: The S&P/TSX Capped Composite Index may be a good benchmark for assessing the performance of a Pool that invests only in large Canadian companies. However, it would be a poor benchmark if the Pool is diversified in other products, sectors or geographic areas.

We provide annualized index returns for your information in our account reporting, using benchmarks that we consider best suit your account. Please speak to your MDPIC Portfolio Manager if you have questions about the performance of your portfolio.

Qualification to open an account

Any person or company who is a “Qualified Investor” may open an MDPIC account.  

A Qualified Investor is any of the following:

1. any Canadian physician, which includes practising physicians, retired physicians, medical students and residents, and their immediate families^*;
2. corporations or other entities, which are either controlled by one or more Canadian physicians or by the spouse or child of a Canadian physician, or where no less than 80% of the participants in such entities are Canadian physicians;
3. the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) and its divisions, Affiliates and Affiliate Societies^** and their respective directors, officers, employees^*** and immediate families;
4. employees^*** of MD Financial Management Inc. and its Affiliates and their immediate families;
5. a non-physician employee of a professional corporation, or other entity, through which a Canadian physician or physicians engage in the practice of medicine. The spouse of the non-physician employee is also a Qualified Investor;
6. such other persons, individuals and entities which, in the reasonable and sole opinion of MD Financial Management Inc. or its Affiliate, have a significant and continuing connection with or relationship to MD Financial Management Inc., an MD Financial Management Inc. Affiliate, the Canadian physician community or persons, individuals or entities referred to in (a) through (e) above; and
7. tax-deferred savings plans established by the individuals referred to in (a), (c), (d), (e) or (f) above.

*“Immediate family” of a Qualified Investor includes their spouse, child, parent, brother, sister, grandchild, grandparent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, niece and nephew, as well as the spouse of their child, grandchild, grandparent, niece and nephew.

**“Affiliate Society” includes any Canadian medical organization that has been accepted by the General Council of CMA as an Affiliate Society.

***Employees of MD Financial Management Inc. and employees of its subsidiaries and the CMA, its Affiliates and its Affiliate Societies includes any individual employed on a permanent parttime or permanent full-time basis.

Custodianship of your account

Your MDPIC account will be primarily invested in securities of the Pools and, as applicable, the MD Platinum Pools and in accordance with your Investment Policy Statement. Your holdings in the Pools and MD Platinum Pools will be registered in your name (the name of your account) on the records maintained by MDFM, as manager, for each of the Pools and the MD Platinum Pools. We will also keep records of your overall MDPIC account (cash, Pools, MD Platinum Pools and segregated securities, if applicable).

If you hold all or a portion of your MDPIC account in segregated securities other than the Pools and MD Platinum Pools, these other segregated securities will be held in custody by The Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Company (Scotiatrust), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bank of Nova Scotia and an affiliate to MDFM. Scotiatrust is based in Toronto. MDFM has trading authority over any client assets held at Scotiatrust but is not authorized to transfer securities into or out of client accounts held at Scotiatrust. We are not authorized to debit the account other than with respect to our management fees. Scotiatrust will confirm to us each trade that we direct on behalf of your account, and we reconcile our trading records against theirs daily.

The risk associated with assets being held by Scotiatrust is that the assets are subject to risk of loss (i) if Scotiatrust becomes bankrupt or insolvent; (ii) if there is a breakdown in Scotiatrust’s information technology systems; or (iii) due to the fraud, willful or reckless misconduct, negligence or error of Scotiatrust or its personnel.

We have reviewed Scotiatrust’s reputation, financial stability, relevant internal controls and ability to deliver custodial services and have concluded that Scotiatrust’s system of controls and supervision is sufficient to manage risks of loss to client assets in accordance with prudent business practice.

We hold cash for your MDPIC account with The Bank of Nova Scotia in a separate and “in trust for” account. The Bank of Nova Scotia is our ultimate parent company.

Registered plans

The following account types are available with MDPIC:

• an individual registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) account, an individual locked-in RRSP or locked-in retirement (LIRA) account, an individual registered retirement income fund (RRIF) account or an individual locked-in RIF
• a spousal RRSP account and a spousal RRIF account
• a tax-free savings account (TFSA)

Payments to third parties

Except where legal requirements demand it, MDFM will not accept any instructions to make payments to anyone other than the individual(s) or entity(ies) whose name(s) appear(s) on the MDPIC accounts.

Pre-authorized contributions

A pre-authorized contribution (PAC) plan can be established by completing a PAC authorization form, and is used to make regular contributions to your MDPIC account. With a PAC, your bank account will be debited automatically on the day of the contribution.

If you have authorized us to electronically debit or credit your bank account, which includes starting a PAC, you warrant that everyone who has signing authority on your account has signed the application to authorize withdrawals from, and deposits to, the account. By giving us this authorization, you have also, in effect, given authorization to the financial institution indicated on the application. You may revoke this authorization at any time. In doing so, you must inform us, in writing, a minimum of 15 days prior to the date you want to terminate your PAC or terminate your authorization to electronically debit or credit your bank account. Your financial institution may need longer notice before the termination can take effect.

If you revoke this authorization, it has no bearing on any existing contract for goods or services between you and us. Your authorization applies only to the method of payment.

You are solely responsible for any service fees your bank may charge for electronic debit or credit operations.

You must inform us, in writing, of any change in the bank account information provided in this authorization a minimum of fifteen 15 business days prior to the next pre-authorized withdrawal date. Your financial institution may require longer notice before the changes take effect. Your financial institution is not required to ensure that withdrawals are made according to the particulars of this authorization, including the amount or frequency of payments. You acknowledge that your financial institution is not required to verify that we are fulfilling any particular purpose with these pre-authorized payments as a condition toward honouring a pre-authorized withdrawal, issued or caused to be issued by us on your account.

A pre-authorized debit may be disputed if:

1. an authorization was never provided to us;
2. the debit was not made according to this authorization; e.g., if we failed to provide prior notification in case of variable amounts; or
3. the debit was posted to the wrong account because we supplied invalid or incorrect information.

If you want to be reimbursed, you must present a signed declaration to the financial institution that you indicated in your application that (a), (b) or (c) took place. Your financial institution will, up to 90 days after the item in dispute was posted to your bank account, reimburse the amount to you.

If it is after 90 days, you agree that a claim on the basis that this authorization was revoked, or for any other reason, must be resolved solely between you and us.

A bank account includes an account opened to deposit and withdraw money with a member of Payments Canada.

Systematic withdrawals

You can set up a systematic withdrawal plan (SWP), under which withdrawals from your MDPIC account are made on a regular basis, to provide you with an income.

The following terms and conditions apply:

• You must complete the SWP form required to set up the SWP. Proceeds will generally be transferred to your bank account within three business days of the settlement of the redemption.
• If you have not indicated a termination date on the SWP form, the SWP will remain in effect until the holdings in your account are depleted. You can change your SWP at any time by contacting your MDPIC Portfolio Manager.

Temporary hold

We may place a temporary hold on the withdrawal or transfer of cash or securities from your account, where we reasonably believe one or more of the following:

• You might have an illness, impairment, disability or aging-process limitation that places you at risk of financial exploitation, and your financial exploitation has occurred, is occurring, has been attempted or will be attempted.
• You do not have the mental capacity to make decisions involving financial matters.

If we place a temporary hold on your account in either of these situations, a notice of the temporary hold and the reasons for the temporary hold will be provided to you as soon as possible after we place the temporary hold. Unless the hold is revoked, we will provide you with a notice of the decision to continue the hold and the reasons for that decision within 30 days of our placing the temporary hold and within every subsequent 30-day period. We may also contact your trusted contact person in these circumstances.

Complaints

At MD, we pride ourselves on the quality of the products and service we deliver to our clients. However, instances may arise where there are problems with your accounts or your requests. When a problem occurs, the earlier you contact us, the faster we can begin working on a solution. In order to facilitate resolving your concern, we recommend you follow these suggestions:

• Gather all supporting documents and relevant information regarding your concern.
• Pay special attention to the dates of the occurrence and the names of the employees involved.
• Clearly define what action you would like us to take.
• Please keep in mind that requests that you wish us to formally address or correct must be in writing.

If you are having difficulty finding the appropriate person or company you should be addressing your concern to or need further information to contact the individual, you can contact MD Client Services for assistance at 1 800 267-2332.

MD complaints procedures

Our goal is to be able to resolve all client issues and concerns through our own internal escalation processes. However, should a situation not be resolved to your satisfaction through these means, you can refer the matter to the Customer Complaints Appeals Office for review. Should the situation still not be resolved to your satisfaction, we have also included information for external dispute resolution resources.

Please let us know when we have not met your expectations so that we can improve our products and services to meet your needs.

MDFM is responsible for supervising the activity of its representatives to ensure they comply with regulatory requirements.

MDFM will investigate your complaint and respond back to you with the results of its investigation, in most cases, within 90 days of receipt of the complaint. It is helpful if your complaint is in writing.

Complaints concerning MDFM may be sent by customers directly to:

mdcomplaints@scotiabank.com
4 King St. W., 12th floor
Toronto ON M5H 1B6

If a situation is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can contact:

Customer Complaints Appeals Office
44 King St. W.
Toronto ON M5H 1H1
1 800 785-8772 | Fax: 1 866 787-7061
ccao@scotiabank.com

If after dealing with the above you are still not satisfied, you can contact the following external resolution resources at our expense:

Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI)
2400–20 Queen St. W.
Toronto ON M5H 3R3
1 888 451-4519

Quebec residents (additional external complaint resolution resources):

Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF)
Place de la Cité Tour Cominar
2640, Laurier Boulevard, bureau 400
Québec (Québec) G1V 5C1
1 418 525-0337
www.lautorite.qc.ca

You should deliver your complaint to us as soon as possible. We will acknowledge your complaint, in writing, typically within five business days of receiving your complaint. We may ask you to provide clarification or more information to help us fully understand your complaint. Please reply promptly if we ask you for more information. 

We will normally be able to provide our decision for addressing your complaint within 90 days after receipt of your complaint. We will provide a summary of the complaint, the results of our investigation and our decision to either offer to resolve or deny the complaint, along with an explanation. If we need more time to consider your complaint, we will send you an explanation and provide a new date for providing our decision. 

You may be eligible for the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments’ (OBSI’s) free and independent dispute resolution service (or, if you are a Quebec resident, you may consider the free mediation service offered by the Autorité des marchés financiers). You are eligible for OBSI’s service if (1) your complaint relates to an advising activity of our firm or one of our representatives; (2) you bring your complaint to us within six years from the day that you first knew, or ought to have known, about the act or omission that caused or contributed to your complaint; (3) either (a) we do not provide you with our decision within 90 days after you made your complaint and you thereafter notify OBSI that you wish to have OBSI consider your complaint, or, (b) you are not satisfied with our decision and you file your complaint with OBSI within 180 days after we provided you with the decision; and (4) your claim does not exceed $350,000. 

Keep in mind that OBSI’s dispute resolution service does not restrict your ability to take your complaint to a dispute resolution service of your choosing at your own expense. 

Furthermore, you always have the right to seek independent legal advice at your own expense. However, there are time limits for legal action so delays could limit your options and legal rights.

To file a complaint with OBSI, you can either call them at 1  451-4519 or 416 287-2877 in Toronto, or email ombudsman@obsi.ca. OBSI works confidentially and in an informal manner. It is not like going to court, and you do not need a lawyer. During its investigation, OBSI may interview you and representatives of our firm. We are required to cooperate in OBSI’s investigations. Once OBSI has completed its investigation, it will provide its recommendations to you and us. OBSI's recommendations are not binding on you or us. OBSI can recommend compensation of up to $350,000. If your claim is higher, you will have to agree to that limit on any compensation you seek through OBSI. If you want to recover more than $350,000, you may want to consider another option, such as legal action as noted above, to resolve your complaint. 

For more information about OBSI, visit www.obsi.ca.

Privacy-related concerns:

Chief Privacy Officer
MD Financial Management Inc.
1870 Alta Vista Dr.
Ottawa ON K1G 6R7
1 800 267-4022
privacy-md@md.ca