Manager Research & Selection

ScotiaMcLeod firmly believes the key to investment success is a team of experienced and skilled professionals focused on each investor's needs. ScotiaMcLeod has identified what they consider to be the best professional money managers available. We place particular emphasis on those managers who would not otherwise be available to private investors, usually because of prohibitive minimum investment requirements - as high as $25 million.

Money managers of The Summit* Program are selected from among hundreds of firms around the world for their clear investment discipline and focus, professional credentials and experience, investment risk management, historical performance and expressed desire to participate in this innovative program for private investors. We are convinced that they are among the best professional money managers available anywhere.

Asset Allocation Analysis

Studies have shown, and the experience of large investors confirms, that the most important long-term decision an investor makes is the allocation of assets among investment classes. The first critical consideration is the percentage of assets to be invested, on average, in stocks versus bonds. This asset mix determination is the first step in investment policy planning and is ultimately a personal decision.

Investors have discovered that one way to reduce the volatility of stocks is to diversify their stock portfolios geographically. Analysis has shown that the addition of U.S. and international stocks materially reduced the variability of returns of a portfolio that was previously invested only in Canada and improved the return. The Summit* Program is designed to provide multiple sources of asset class diversification to the private investor.

Manager Review & Program Mentoring

ScotiaMcLeod employs one of Canada’s foremost investment consultants, Northern Trust Global Advisors, Inc (NTGA), to assist in management review and program mentoring. NTGA and its associated companies in the U.S. and the U.K. have provided consulting and investment supervisory services to large pension funds, foundations and endowments since 1976. Today, they manage assets of more than $21 billion worldwide. NTGA is unique in that it actively monitors and maintains the investment program that it helped design and continues to make critical recommendations to ensure the ongoing success of the program.

ScotiaMcLeod has appointed a key executive as the Summit* Program Portfolio Manager. This Portfolio Manager's role is to ensure that all aspects of the Program work together to meet your goals and objectives.

ScotiaMcLeod and NTGA have developed individual mandates for each manager which they must follow in the investment of Summit Program portfolios. These mandates are in place to ensure that manager styles and philosophies do not change over time.

Developing Investment Policy

The development of your investment plan through The Summit* Program begins with a questionnaire. The completion of this carefully designed document together with our proprietary optimization software allows your ScotiaMcLeod advisor to assess your asset mix.

The assessment forms the basis of an Investment Policy Statement that serves as a guide for implementing your asset mix today and as a permanent record for future reference and potential revision as circumstances change.

Portfolio Monitoring & Adjustments

Every quarter a Portfolio Monitor is produced to show the asset mix, allocation between investment managers and the overall performance of your portfolio as well as the performance of the individual money managers in your portfolio.

The Portfolio Monitor should be reviewed in conjunction with your Investment Policy Statement. Your ScotiaMcLeod advisor will advise you of any opportunities to rebalance your portfolio asset mix or manager weightings. The manager mix for your portfolio can be changed at any time with no additional charge to you.

The information contained on this website is for use by persons resident in Canada only.