Guidance to Meet Your Requirements
Do I have to redo the comparison work for a product each time I recommend it to a client?
No, not unless your last comparison was done over a year ago or there has been a significant change to the product.
How often does the product comparison have to be done on a single product?
Consideration of a reasonable range of alternative products must be completed prior to any investment action or recommendation, etc.
However, your physical comparison of a product only needs to be completed on an annual basis or when there has been a significant change to the product. If your previous comparison (which was completed less than 12 months ago) is still applicable and valid, and there have been no significant changes to any of the products used in the comparison, you only need to reference your past comparison as opposed to re-doing the actual comparison.
Please note your completed comparisons in CapIntel will re-set after a year, turning the green checkmark (which indicates a comparison was done) back to the grey checkmark (indicating a new comparison must be completed).
Does a comparison need to be completed on the different series of each fund?
Yes, if you are recommending a series F fund to one client, and the series A of the same fund to another client, there would need to be a comparison completed on each series.
What are some examples of significant changes to products?
Some examples of significant changes to products include the following:
Change in the risk rating;
Change in cost/fee structure;
Change to withdrawal terms that may affect the liquidity of the product;
Credit rating change;
Major financial performance shift (quarterly earnings largely above or below expectations; significant changes in profit margins);
Corporate actions (mergers, acquisitions, share buybacks, new equity issuance);
Regulatory/legal events (major lawsuits or legal settlements);
Leadership changes (that may affect the strategic direction);
Market or sector shifts – (technological advancements affecting the industry);
Change in economic conditions (interest rate changes, inflation/recession; announcements, currency volatility);
Price volatility (unusual price movements).
What are some possible justifications for choosing my product?
Below are some examples of commonly recorded reasons for choosing a product over others:
Lower Expense Ratio
Lower Drawdowns
Lower Volatility
Manager Experience
Investment Sector
Turnover Ratio
Multimanager/Strategy
Downside Protection Focus
Access to Concentrated Mandates
Blend of Specialized Growth Managers
Economic Condition (i.e. market conditions/interest rates)
Costs/Fees
If I am using a different system/process to meet my suitability requirements, how do I know if I am meeting all the requirements?
Please reach out to your CE team to review your current process to ensure that all requirements are met. The following criteria would need to be reviewed:
Comparing product against at least 2 other products;
Using consistent metrics each time to bring up comparable products:
Share Class
Risk
Classification (Fund Category)
Type (Product Type)
Separate Manufacturer
Closest MER
Return/Performance
Time stamping your comparison
Recording a justification for your recommendation; as well as recording whether the comparison is still valid/applicable each time you continue to recommend/trade the product
Monitor for any significant changes to products, that may require a new comparison
CapIntel Features
Will there be comparisons available for alternative investments?
The data feed for alternative investments is currently provided by Preqin, which is a third party source, that provides financial data and information within the alternative asset marketplace. The automated comparison functionality for exempt products is on the roadmap for 2026.
Will there be comparisons available for stocks?
Yes, the automated comparison for stocks will be available hopefully before year-end (2025).
Do the product comparisons have to be provided to the client?
No, the comparisons are part of the advisor’s suitability requirements and must be recorded in a manner that will show they were completed prior to a recommendation/trade.
Will assistants have access to CapIntel?
Yes, advisors will be able to have up to 2 delegate accesses. Please note, the delegate will be able to view all clients in CapIntel that are linked to your Wealth Platform access. There is no ability at this time to limit the access to certain rep codes for delegates.
If there is a team of advisors, is there an ability to link access among them?
Yes, there is an ability to link the access which will create a toggle button that will allow you to access clients of the other advisor(s) on your team. This would be considered delegate access. Please note, the delegate will be able to view all clients in CapIntel that are linked to your Wealth Platform access. There is no ability at this time to limit the access to certain rep codes for delegates.
Is there an additional cost to advisors?
No, CapIntel is part of the existing tech fee.
What are the metrics used in CapIntel to compare products?
The following metrics are used for comparison of mutual funds and ETFs:
Share Class
Risk
Classification (Fund Category)
Type (Product Type)
Separate Manufacturer
Closest MER
Return/Performance
Once the automated process is built for stocks, we will include the key metrics used for stock comparisons. In the meantime, the following list provides some possible metrics that may be used to bring up comparable stocks:
Sector
Risk Rating/Beta
Market Capitalization
Price to Earnings Ratio
Earnings Per Share
Revenue Growth
Debt to Equity Ratio
Is CapIntel mandatory?
No, this tool is not mandatory, but it is strongly recommended. If you are using a different system/method for completing your reasonable range of alternatives and KYP, please ensure to work with your CE Team to ensure your process is in line with the CapIntel process. You need to ensure your current process includes a comparison against at least 2 other comparable products based on key metrics that are outlined above. You will also need to ensure that your comparison is time stamped, and there is a note for your justification for the recommendation as well as a note of your consideration of reasonable range of alternatives on every investment action.
You may also document your notes and justifications outside of CapIntel, as long as the notes are fulsome, consistent, and time stamped.
Is there an ability to save model portfolios that can be used for new prospects?
Yes, there is an ability to create and save model portfolios which can be used for comparisons or for sending them to clients/prospects in a proposal.
Advisors can input a prospect’s current portfolio and compare it against the advisor’s recommended model portfolio.
Does the tool support advisors with pooled funds?
Using the above model portfolio option, advisors will be able to complete their comparisons for the products within their pooled funds. For pooled funds that contain stocks, comparisons are anticipated to be available in 2025 and for those with alternatives, projected availability is 2026.
What does the “confirm shelf” mean when you hover over the grey check mark on products?
Currently CapIntel does have products within the tool that ACPI may not have approved for trading. ACPI does have an open shelf when it comes to stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs (except for leveraged and inverse products). However, for exempt products, you must refer to ACPI’s shelf to see whether a product is approved prior to recommending it.
What is the most efficient way to search for funds?
The most efficient way to search for funds and ETFs is using the fund code versus the name.
What is the most efficient way to save manual stock comparisons?
The most efficient way to save manual comparisons is by naming these comparisons by the fund codes, fund name, or stock tickers. This will let you easily type in a fund code, fund name, or ticker in the search bar to quickly pull up the comparisons.
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