I have seen your RBC services and found it good for my business but also thinking like how much you guys take for giving it to other business. My friends suggested me to take financial advice from your RBC Company because I think it will be good to have some professional aspects on my side.

http://www.roygavra.com/

My advice is to ask. I work at RBC as a branch FP. We are salary + bonus, bonus not being tied to any particluar transaction. RBC also has Investment and Retirement Planners in the branches that are non-relationship managers (ie they get you set up and then find the best person to take care of your needs going forward) and they are 100% commssion. RBC has many arms....example RBC Dominion Securities advisors would be commission based....so its different depending on what RBC channel you are using. Compensation should be transparent....so if you are not told as part of your intro meeting just ask, my experience is that RBC advisors are happy to discuss that with you. As for designations, anyone who holds themselves out as a "Financial Planner" must have a designation. I beleive that you can find the various ones that would qualify on the BC Securities Commission site....PFP, CFP, FMA, Etc Etc. Good luck!

I thought all RBC advisors had to have a CFP certificate, but looking at some of the business cards I have from the bank, I don't see this certificate listed on them.

I'll check more into this soon.

If there is no cost for me to at least sit down for a little bit to discuss options, then I guess I can't complain too much. I was just afraid that they would take a hefty cut from my stock/bonds earnings in order to pay for the so-called consultation services since there was no hourly fee.

There are basically two types of Financial Planners:

1. Fee based only. These Financial Planners are generally self-employed, independent professionals whose sole source of income is from consulting fees charged to clients on an hourly or sometimes contract basis. They have no financial product to sell because generally, they are not licensed to sell a financial product. By far, the vast majority of them hold the CFP ( Certified Financial Planner ) designation which means that they have spent several years in the financial services industry together with studying various financial subjects and successfully passing rigorous examinations that test their knowledge and skills as a financial planner. I would highly recommend these financial planners over the ones that are employed by the banks

2. Commission only or a combination of salary plus commission. These financial planners are usually employed by a financial institution, such as a bank, and they have an agenda. To move as much financial product of their employer as possible. Generally speaking, many of them do not hold the CFP designation and with some exceptions for those located in the larger centres and branches, most of these so-called "financial planners" are nothing more than glorified "loans officers" with a title. They may have taken some community college based courses at night but their training is minimal compared to a financial planner who holds a CFP designation. It's like comparing a bookkeeper to a Chartered Accountant. They have a role to play and probably serve their employer very well. But remember, you are not "paying the freight"; their employer is. Where do you think their loyalty lies.........you, the client, or their employer? Something to think about.

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Educating one Consumer at a time

I've looked over the RBC site on their Financial Planners, but for the life of me I can't figure out how they are paid. I see nothing listing their hourly wage, so this leads me to then think they skim off some of their clients profits as payment. But since this isn't explained well, I then wonder if the bank simply supplies them as free to the clients.

But since there is nothing mentioned about their advisors being FREE, I am again confused. I've talked to others, and always get a different story.