Investment Planning Services
When it comes to your investments, clarity matters. We are one of the few places in Canada you can get truly independent advice and strategy with no product sales, no commissions, and no hidden agendas. Our goal is simple. We help you make informed decisions that align with your goals, minimize your fees, and keep your portfolio on track.
Unlike traditional advisors, we do not sell investments or earn commissions. That means our advice is unbiased and focused entirely on your best interests. You stay in control. We help you feel confident about the big picture whether you are a self-directed, do-it-yourself investor looking for structure, or you prefer to work with a portfolio manager. We are not biased towards one approach or the other because we are fee-only, advice-only financial planners and do not manage investments or accept referral fees.
Why Investment Planning Matters
Comprehensive investment planning should not be about picking stocks or chasing returns. It is about making sure your portfolio supports your life and long-term plan. That means:
- Understanding your risk tolerance and building a structure that fits your goals.
- Integrating tax implications so you keep more of what you earn.
- Optional coordination with your financial plan, including retirement, cash flow, and, if applicable, corporate surplus. Check out our financial planning services here.
- Avoiding costly mistakes that come from guesswork or conflicted advice.
We act as a second set of eyes, ensuring your investment strategy aligns with your financial plan, all without telling you what to buy or sell.
What We Do
Risk Assessment
A formal review of your investment risk tolerance and capacity for risk to guide your portfolio’s mix of growth and defensive assets.
Portfolio Review & Oversight
We evaluate your current investments for diversification, cost efficiency, and alignment with your goals and timeline. We focus on structure, fees, tax efficiency, and simplicity.
Tax Integration
Strategies for tax efficient investing across accounts (RRSP/RRIF, TFSA, non-registered, corporate). Learn more about our retirement planning expertise.
Collaboration
We coordinate with your portfolio manager, investment advisor, or for DIY investor, with you, so planning assumptions and portfolio strategy stay aligned. You remain in charge of implementation.
DIY Investor Support
We cannot recommend specific securities, but we can help you understand the framework required to develop a self-directed portfolio.
For example:
- Where should you open a self-directed brokerage account?
- How much should you have in stocks versus bonds?
- How many investments should you hold?
- How frequently should you rebalance?
- How should your strategy change as you move from saving to retirement?
- Should you stick with only Canadian stocks?
- Is it better to focus on dividend stocks?
- Should you buy hedged or unhedged foreign investments?
- Should you hold the same investments in each account?
- Should you buy Canadian listed or U.S. listed foreign stocks or exchange traded funds (ETFs)?
- Should you buy individual stocks or ETFs?
- Should you consider all-in-one ETFs?
Portfolio Manager Search
We can help identify potential portfolio managers in our network who may be a good fit for investors. We can also participate in portfolio manager interviews to ask the questions you need to hear the answers to – questions we would ask if it was our money being invested.
Certain portfolio managers may offer discounted fees to our clients because of the planning work that we complete up front. In many cases, these fee reductions more than cover our cost to you. We do not accept referral fees and are paid only by our clients.
The Investment Plan: What You Receive
- A plain language written report summarizing your goals, risk profile, and current holdings.
- A portfolio assessment covering asset mix, diversification, fees, and tax implications.
- A target portfolio structure considering stock/bond mix and account location that fits your plan and risk tolerance.
- Action items you can implement directly or with your chosen portfolio manager, or on your own as a self-directed investor.
- An implementation checklist following our strategy meeting to address questions.
We do not recommend specific securities for purchase or sale, and we do not manage investments for our clients. Our role is oversight, planning, and coordination.
Who We Help
We work with clients who want independent advice and a clear plan for their investments:
- Incorporated professionals managing corporate investments and surplus. See our corporate services here.
- Retirees seeking smart income strategies and peace of mind.
- DIY investors who prefer to manage their own portfolios but want expert oversight.
- Families looking for a “family-office-lite” approach without the complexity or cost of a full family office.
- Rental property investors trying to assess whether they should buy or sell their real estate investments and how that compares to traditional stocks and bonds.
We also help clients navigating major life transitions who want someone they can trust:
- Financial windfalls: inheritance, business sale, stock options, rental property sale, or sudden wealth.
- Business owners after a sale: cash management, corporate surplus, tax efficient investing, and planning your next chapter.
- Loss of a spouse or a change in capacity: guidance when taking over investment decisions.
- Young professionals getting started: simple steps to build an investment plan and avoid common mistakes.
- Retirees in decumulation: investment planning becomes even more important when you are in draw-down mode, and we can combine your investment strategy with tax efficient retirement funding and coordinating CPP, OAS, and RRIF timing.
- Complex tax situations: cross-border families, holding companies, multiple income sources, or cross-account planning.
How We Work
1. Discovery & Goal Setting
Understand your goals, timeline, comfort with risk, and knowledge level.
2. Portfolio Review
Assess your current holdings, fees, asset mix, and account location with an awareness of tax implications.
3. Plan & Recommendations
Deliver a personalized report with a target structure, decumulation or funding strategy, and clear next steps.
4. Coordination & Follow-Up
We work with you, and your portfolio manager, if applicable, to keep your plan and portfolio aligned.
Transparent Pricing
Our Investment Plan starts at $3,500, with fees based on complexity. Engagements including cross-border situations, corporate structures, or multiple entities typically starting at $5,000.
Factors influencing fees:
- Number of accounts and entities
- Corporate vs. personal planning
- Tax considerations
What is included:
- Analysis, meeting, written report, and action items
- Optional ongoing portfolio oversight scoped as periodic or annual reviews
We are paid only by clients, do not accept referral fees, and some portfolio managers may offer discounted investment management fees to our clients because of the planning completed up front. These discounts may cover our cost to you many times over.
What is not included:
- We do not recommend specific securities or provide discretionary portfolio management
- We do not sell investment products or accept commissions
- Implementation decisions remain with you as a self-directed investor or your chosen portfolio manager
This keeps our role clear and our advice free from conflicts of interest.
Ready to Take Control of Your Investments?
Book a consultation to see how independent oversight can help you with your investment plan without the typical pressure to buy products. In our first conversation, we will talk about your goals, your current portfolio, and what a potential engagement looks like for you.
FAQs
Compliance Note
Objective Financial Partners provides independent financial planning, investment oversight, and tax planning. We are not a registrant and do not provide discretionary portfolio management or recommend specific securities. All investment implementation decisions remain with a DIY client or their chosen portfolio manager.