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B8 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday August 15, 2001 Business To reach this section call 845-3824 Fax:337-5567 Shoppers Drug Mart raising research funds for juvenile diabetes Oakvillians can help the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) in its fight to find a cure for Juvenile (Type 1) diabetes by visiting their clos est Shoppers Drug M art until Sept. 8. In all participating 800 Shoppers Drug Marts locations across the coun try, $1 paper cutout sneakers will be available for purchase. All proceeds from the campaign will be directed to JDRF, whose sole mission is to find a cure for Type 1 and its complications through the support o f research. Shoppers Drug Mart hopes to raise $ 1.5 million this year. "With Shoppers Drug Mart's sneak er sales, community residents are able to rally together to help stop this devas tating disease," says Ron Forbes, presi dent and CEO, JDRF. "Ev^ry dollar raised through Shoppers Drug Mart sneaker sales gets us one step closer to a Type 1 diabetes cure, and now JDRFfunded researchers are closer -- more than ever before -- to finding a cure for Type 1 diabetes and its complications." Now in its 7th year, the Shoppers Drug Mart Sneaker Sale program has generated more than $6 million to sup port JDRF-funded researchers in their quest for a Type 1 diabetes cure. "Shoppers Drug Mart has a long his tory of supporting diabetes research in Canada and we are committed to help find a cure for Type 1 diabetes through the Sneaker Sale program and the Shoppers Walk for the Cure," says Glenn Murphy, chairman and CEO, Shoppers Drug Mart. Over two million Canadians suffer from diabetes, with thousands of addi tional cases diagnosed each year. This devastating disease affects all Canadians as diabetes and its complica tions costs the Canadian economy more than $9 billion a year in healthcare, absenteeism and lost productivity. Insulin is not a cure for diabetes; it is only a treatment. A cure for Type -1 dia betes is close at hand, but it is only with additional research that a cure can be found. Photo by Peter C. McCusker TOURISM EXPO WINNERS: As part of Tourism Week 2001, the Oakville Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee created a `Go Nuts!' passport. Local area attractions and hostelries came together to encourage local residents to experience all that Oakville has to offer. At each location, passport holders reeived a stamp and when they received three stamps, they became eligible for prizes including a Sterling BBQ, a Jacuzzi suite getaway at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites and a $100 gift certificate from Oakville Place. The winners of the promotion include: Sarah Gregg with mom Mary, Andrea Isaac, Moira Sidney, Diana Parker and Peter Fortin. Go Nuts passport staff Tourism Chair Peter Tosh, Country Inns Sales Manager Dawn Frank and Bronte Creek Provincial Parks representative Sheila Wiebe. Leslie Bell "Do what you love, love what you do" How many employees can boast of During my time at D cor and More, having had a trip to New York that was Leslie was a mentor, counsellor and a Cinderella Story or a five day stay at friend. Her contageous laugh, love for Disney World in Florida, or a Caribean the surprise and hum our were Cruise, all paid for by your employer as matched by inspiring leadership quali a way to say thanks? D cor and More ties. As a public speaker, Leslie always employees can. Leslie Bell, founder captures her audience with her elo and President o f D cor and M ore had a quence, witt and presence. dream to build dreams and after eleven Leslie s strategic thinking is a cata years her company is the lyst for the continued leader in Canada of doing growth and expansion of just that. the company. This and After several years of her strong support system working for a Toronto which includes her hus events planning company, band Tom and her two Leslie decided to take the sons, both o f whom have plunge into entrepreneur been actively involved in ship. On January 1, 1990 the business. D cor and More opened An inspiration, Leslie is its doors. The company an adult who never forgot Recognizing Oakville how to dream, and some grew at a steady pace and Entrepreneurs since 1996 tripled its sales one who makes dreams a and now boasts as many reality, if only for one as 650 various sized events per year. night a Cinderella story. Leslie lives by her motto Do what This article was submitted by Laurie you love, Love what you do, and always Morrison, Executive Director o f The deliver more then they ex pect. Leslie Enterprise Centre also demonstrates this in her strong It is part o f the Pride o f Oakville community support. Her outstanding Series, celebrating our local entrepre generosity is well recognized by The neurs. Make sure to read through the Meeting House (her church), and sever next three weeks and enter our Dine al charity and community organizations. with a CEO contest. Contest rules can I was one o f the employees who had be found in the August 11th Oakville or at the chance to experience two o f the trips Beaver that many can only fantasize about. www.enterprisecentre.com. Employees need time to be creative Tight deadlines have negative impact survey finds Looking for a bright idea? Give yourself some time. In a recent survey of advertising and marketing execu tives, nearly half (47 per cent) said tight deadlines are the single most common source of creative blocks for their employees. Lack of inspiration was the second most prevalent answer, with 14 per cent of the response. The survey was developed by The Creative Group, a specialized staffing service that provides m arketing, advertising, creative and web profes sionals on a project basis. It was con ducted by an independent research firm and includes 250 responses -- 125 from advertising executives and 125 from senior marketing executives. Advertising and marketing execu tives were asked, "Which one of the following would you say is the single most common source o f creative blocks for em ployees?" Their responses: Tight deadlines - 47% Lack of inspiration - 14% Stress - 12% Long hours - 8% Fatigue - 6% Lack of clear direction - 4% Lack o f information - 3% Don't know/other - 6% 100% "Innovative ideas are the driving force behind every successful busi ness. Therefore, managers should do their best to cultivate employee cre ativity," said Tracey Turner, executive director o f The C reative Group. "Padding schedules to allow for brain storming sessions and other creative exercises helps staff members break away from day-to-day activities and gain a better sense of the big picture." Turner offers the following tips for maximizing creative output: - Make it business as unusual. Continuously solicit employee feed back on how to work more efficiently and effectively. For example, ask each member of your team to identify one creative solution to a current chal lenge in their jobs. - Avoid burnout. M ake sure em ployees are provided sufficient time not only to do their jobs but to do them well. Overburdened workers can quickly slip into "auto pilot," which can stall innovation. If neces sary, bring in extra help during peak times. - Promote collaboration. If your office environment is too competitive, staff members may hesitate to share ideas. Create policies that support the exchange of information and reward team efforts. Pride of Oakville New Start helping women entrepreneurs Thinking of starting your own busi ness? Not sure where to start? Need support and mentoring? The New Start program designed especially for women can help you. Through this three-month training program, you'll learn the skills to successfully launch your own small business. Sponsored by the W omen's Information & Support Centre of Halton in partnership with The Enterprise Centre, successful business owners and trainers will share their expertise to help you with your busi ness idea. To learn more about the New Start Program, what's involved and how to start your own business, join us at one o f the free orientation sessions. Orientation sessions will be held Wednesday, Aug. 22, 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: Tuesday, Aug. 28, 7 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Orientation will be held at The W omen's Information & Support Centre of Halton. To register, phone our administration line at 905-847-9104. It pays to understand how your mutual fund fees work There is a strong chance that you do not understand your mutual fund fees and that part of those fees are for the advice and services that your invest ment advisor provides. We should start with the basics. The fee on mutual funds is referred to as the management expense ratio (MER). On a typical equity mutual fund, the MER can be around 2.5%. Surprisingly enough, investor sur veys have indicated that as many as half the owners of mutual funds do not real ize they pay any management fees. I believe this misunderstanding is a result of fees not being shown on mutuaffund statements. If a return is shown on your state ment, it is a net return, after the fee is deducted. Investors would be better informed if the total return was report ed and then the management fee was deducted leaving the net return. Now, we need to examine what you get for the mutual fund fees you pay. The MER not only covers the costs to manage the fund, it also includes payment to your financial advisor. First, the money managers are paid. They are the individuals that decide which investments to buy, how long to hold them, and when to sell. Then, there is the administrative side of the fund business that required remu neration as well. They send you your statements and do all the normal administration and client services things that go on at any major company. The third and final component is your financial advisor. While the aver age MER may be 2.5%, the mutual fund cost is closer to 1.5% - 2% with the advisor's part the final 0.5% - 1%. When you purchase a "deferred sales charge" (DSC) mutual fund, the advisor who sells you the fund gets a PETER WATSON Dollars & Sense commission from the fund company of approximately 5%. If you withdraw your investment from that firm within seven years, the company charges you a fee. The advisor also receives an annu al "service fee" of 0.5% from the mutu al fund company to provide ongoing service to you. Alternatively, if the DSC option is not used and the fund company does not have to pay the initial 5% commis sion, the service fee paid to the advisor increases to 1%. So, the apparently free service that you get from your advisor is not so free after all and that raises a number of issues. If you are paying your advisor each year for service - are they worth it? Consumers normally evaluate the cost paid for goods and services com pared to the value they receive but to evaluate the worth of a service, you must know the actual cost. Burying the financial advisor's cost in the MER leads you to believe there is no cost. Why spend the time to evaluate a service that you get for free? The hidden advisor fee also impacts the "do-it-yourselfers." If you have a discount brokerage account, why are you paying the additional advisor fee on your mutual fund MER? The cost of your advisor is your per sonal cost for advice, which is no dif ferent than legal or accounting advice. Wt Your financial planner should be help ing you achieve all your financial objectives and to expense the fee for that help against the investments might not be the best option. Currently, including the advisor's fee in the MER distorts your investor returns. It would be better to reduce that MER to the actual 1.5% and report a fairer investment return. In the next article, we will consider some of the changes that have occurred in the investment business that allow the consumer to more fairly purchase investments. These new options will allow you to understand the actual costs and what you are getting for your money. Peter Watson, MBA, CFP, RFP is the president of Peter Watson Investments -- an Oakville firm specializing in retirement planning, RRSPs, and investment plan ning. He can be reached at 842-2100. There's a whole new world out there... discover it today. 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