The investor rights group FAIR Canada has released a series of seven videos to explain the new annual reports investors will receive now that CRM2 is in force.

The second phase of the Canadian Securities Administrators' Client Relationship Model (CRM2) came into effect on July 15. As a result, investment dealers will begin sending clients two new annual reports over the next year: one to show them how their investments have performed, and the other to disclose the various fees and amounts of compensation that have been paid on their accounts.

Using benchmarks

To help explain these new reports, FAIR has launched its "How Much You Made and What You Paid" series of videos. They cover such subjects as the difference between money-weighted and time-weighted returns, and how investors can use benchmarks to evaluate how their portfolios have performed.

FAIR Canada's videos also discuss how advisors are compensated: one video shows how mutual fund trailing commissions work, and the effect that costs have on a portfolio over time, while another explains deferred sales charges (DSC) on mutual funds, and why there are costs for selling these kinds of investments too early.

All of the videos have been posted to YouTube.