Educating investors for an increasingly complex investment world is the national focus of the second annual Investor Education Week, April 25 to May 1. The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), comprised of the 13 provincial and territorial securities regulatory bodies, have organized events promoting investor education, including release of an investor survey and new educational materials.
Results of the survey, conducted by the Angus Reid Group, will be made public Sunday, April 25. It tested a cross-section of Canadians on their awareness and knowledge of personal investing. The information gathered will help the regulators in their efforts to better protect investors through investor education.
In Prince Edward Island, the Minister of Community Services and Attorney General is responsible for regulating trading in securities through the office of the Registrar of Securities.
"Our department is participating in Investor Education Week because we believe that the education of investors should be a high priority of the Canadian Securities Administrators," stated Attorney General J. Weston MacAleer. "Informed investors will make better investment decisions for their own benefit and this will also be advantageous for the securities industry and the regulatory authorities," said Mr. MacAleer.
The four new educational aids included in a CSA Investor Education Kit include: Mutual Funds – What You Need to Know, a brochure explaining what the average investor needs to know about mutual funds; Look Before You Leap, a brochure concerning exempt market securities such as limited partnerships; an Investment Planning Worksheet, that helps investors review their own financial situation and objectives; and an educational poster "Characteristics of Securities" that describes various types of securities such as shares, bonds, debentures, investment funds, rights and warrants.
Free public seminars on investment, co-sponsored by the CSA and the Canadian Securities Institute, will be held throughout the country. A seminar on Understanding Investment Risk will be held on Monday, April 26, 1999, at the Prince Edward Hotel commencing at 7:00 pm. Copies of the new educational aids will be given free of charge to those attending the seminar and are available from the Securities Section of the Department of Community Services and Attorney General, telephone 368-4550.