No room for emotion in matters of money No-vember b event h helps l fight f h human h trafficking ff k Oakville's free-them organization, which works to stop human trafficking, is getting some help from cosmetics consultants. Arbonne independent consultants are joining freethem's fight and are hosting a No-vember Human Trafficking event on Thursday, Nov. 24 in Toronto. The event will feature presentations of Arbonne cosmetics and skin care products. All commissions made from sales of the day will be donated to free-them. Free-them founder Shae Invidiata said, "Human trafficking is the world's fastest growing crime. People are in slavery all over the globe, in Canada in our own backyards. At free-them we are excited to have Arbonne independent consultants join the fight to end human trafficking by hosting, No-vember Human Trafficking." The event will take place at Agora Café, located at 3015 Dundas St. W., in the High Park area from 7 to 10 p.m. 23 · Thursday, November 24, 2011 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com N ow is the perfect time to dislike your investment advisor. If you don't just dislike them a little, maybe you dislike them a lot. Your negative feelings might just be a timing matter. Research has been done on client approval ratings of advisors showing a correlation between your portfolio's performance and the level of satisfaction you have with your advisor. So from that perspective, this has been the perfect storm. We've had the sub-prime mortgage problems in the United Sates that started the 2008 recession. Now we have the European debt crisis. Recessions tend to come and go. Historically we've had a period of recovery between recessions so we could recharge our investment batteries. This time there are continuing economic challenges and it seems as though we are still fatigued from the last crisis. The United States bailed out some large financial firms and prevented the car manufacturers from going bankrupt. By today's standards that was just the warm-up act. Europe has had to rescue entire countries. When one financially-troubled country was dealt with, another larger one was in line for financial aid. The problem appeared small to begin with and spread to Greece. Now Italy has become a concern and France seems to be next in line. Some think another recession is just around the corner. Stock markets are affected by this speculation, and last week the S&P TSX lost three percent of its value. So that means if you are going to be dissatisfied with your advisor when the stock market's performance is in decline, then this is the time. There is a parallel to this phenomenon in sports. We have a perfect example with this year's performance by the Toronto Maple Leafs. A common expression in hockey when evaluating a coach's performance is "show me a good goaltender and I'll show you a good coach." Our emotional volatility expressed towards our investment Dollars & Sense By Peter Watson advisor or the Leaf's coach is similar. This year the Leafs got off to a spectacular start at the beginning of f the season. After the first 10 games they were one of the top teams in the NHL. Fans thought Ron Wilson was a great coach. Finally, all was looking well. Then James Reimer, the Leaf's number one goaltender, was injured. The team began losing and until last Saturday night they lost four home games in a row. Suddenly Wilson was back to being a bad coach. Ron Wilson's four-year contract is up at the end of the season. Although he is a lifelong friend of f the general manager, he has yet to take the Leafs to the post-season. Ron Wilson's coaching skills haven't changed; however, the perception of his ability was based on whether or not the team was winning. If the stock market suddenly turned around and the value of your portfolio increased, you would likely feel more confident with the abilities of the person giving you financial advice. Did the advice change? Not likely. Good advisors deliver a consistent message. Maybe this comes down to not shooting the messenger whether it is your advisor or the hockey coach. When assessing your investment advisor, try to look beyond the stock market's performance and focus on your advisor's service. You do not control the market but you do control which advisor you choose to deal with and what you ask your advisor to do for you. Regardless of the market's performance, try to evaluate the benefits of your relationship with your advisor. Make sure your expectations are high. Then make sure your advisor is living up to your expectations. -- Submitted by Peter Watson, MBA, CFP, R.F.P., CIM, FCSI. THOUGHTFUL & THRIFTY Brought to you by your Local Newspaper