what/who this forum is intended to serve

[admin]

In respnse to some crticism for what appeared to them to be hiding behind anonymity (the advocate name) another thought occured to me to help explain the use the advocate name

It was not intentional, but keeping it open, impersonal and without registration has helped to allow people to post on the site without identifying themselves for a couple of discovered benefits:

(truth be known I was too lazy to ever complete a registration process)

1. It does not allow personalities, positive, negative or otherwise to clash as I have seen ( and done myself) in some forums. The issues remain issues and not clouded by judgement of who the people are, where they come from etc. People cannot make negative labels or negative comments based on who you are and what you have or have not accomplished in life.

2. It allows anyone from the public at large, to employees of the ASC or OSC, to the prime minister to step in and have his or her say, without having to qualify it, or become embroiled in personal controversy by those who would rather engage in controversy.

3. It may allow some type of a "tip" site to develop where people can speak out without fear of retribution (no slander please) on issues that would otherwise be swept under the carpet.

4. Some of the issues are dangerous to comment on without having droves of corporate lawyers descend on your home, and remove your computer and some of your belongings

I should have called it Advocates Anonymous, in hindsight..........

Yes, there will be some angry, emotional and irrational comments, and I will have to be responsible for weeding them out. Many have already gone away after finding out they will be deleted if they cannot stick closer to the facts. It will never be perfect, nor will it please all, but I hope it sheds some light into the darker corners of the industry. Corners that need a broom taken to them.
cheers
the adocate

[admin]

you are right. When I look over it, it comes across as very negative, almost negative seeking.

I apologize for that, but in the spirit of walking before I can run, I hope to start by shedding light on wrongdoings. Why? Because politicians, regulators, and those involved in industry are fairly heavily vested, or invested right now in supporting the image that there is "nothing wrong" with the investment industry.

Everyone, right down to our good premier, to point out but one example, Ralph Klein, who travels to the United States etc., on trade missions would rather be of the opinion for example, that there is nothing wrong or smelly with the Alberta Securities Commission. So would the ASC. So would many firms who pay for the ASC. Etc., etc. Other examples by vested interest parties abound.

I don't agree, having seen so many investors abused by greedy advisors, and then abused over again, by regulators who refuse to regulate..etc. What I have seen amounts to "financial elder abuse", by the financial services industry overall.

My solution then, for the time being is to build a public venue where abuses can see the light of day until such time that there is some fairer level of balance between what industry participants speak about (highest ethical values, trust and integrity), and what actually happens (sales talk, commission compensatoin, misleading by commission or ommission in hopes of buying a new BMW every year for a few industry members who have achieved social psychopath or financial predator status).
\

I hope the solutions to doing things unethically then become self evident.

was that too much?

[Guest]

just looking over the forum topics, the site appears to be negative in tone

do you have any solutions, or just problems to present?

[admin]

adnin here, and I agree

this forum is not intended to be used to simply name call, nor do we wish to get involved in slander. We will gladly eliminate the angry element that would add nothing but bile, in favor of respect, credibility and facts that others can use to help improve things.................OK, so we cannot claim perfection on this or any other front, we at least can attempt to rid the forum of the worst and save it as a place for solid discussion and illumination of the issues we are interested in. I appreciate those of you with more level heads than mine who have pointed out to me the areas that were in need of pruning.

You cannot please everyone, all the time, so why bother hurting yourself trying.

Those passionate about improving the investment industry in Canada please keep up the helpful work. Those who wish a more lively setting can sign in at www.letsallrant.com

[Guest]

thanks for the heads up from the lawyer, but if I were running the forum, I would prefer to avoid people who sign in and throw flames or allegations at others while hiding behind anonymity. Seems like a rather chickenshit thing to do.

Would the forums not be better served by only attracting the type of submissions based on facts, and perhaps evidence, rather than people who like to call others names. The name calling thing should be left on the playground should it not?

If it became a forum for angry people to say, "john doe is a crook", and have another angry person respond by saying, "yes he is", what exactly have they accomplished besides some public venting of frustrations. Lets pull together and do a better job of correcting abuses, and let the angry boys club sign in elsewhere. Lets keep this forum more credible and professional.
that is my two bits worth

[Lawyer]

You'll get a warning, and have enough time to remove an offending post before someone takes legal action. Less people will post if you edit and delete.

[admin]

I have been advised to edit statements and comments that might trigger visits from legal people on the site. For this reason I will respectfully ask that comments be made based on facts, and not accusations. If what you are saying is true, then it is much harder to get us shut down. But if someone throws out a comment labeling another person a "thief" or some such name, it will likely cause some concern down the road. It is all to easy to slam someone, but we seek wherever possible, real examples, of real situations of abuse and wrongdoing here, and not to slander or defame anyone.

If you have only a thread of proof or example, and you are missing most of it, post what you know to be true, and can back it up, and likely someone else out there can fill in the blanks from their own experience. Remember, the big banks for one example have some tens of thousands of employees, and many of them know what goes on inside. It is not always what their mission statements say they do, and it wil come out eventually if we have a place to allow it.

[Guest]

This forum is intended to be used by those interested in improving ethical standards, and enforcement standards for investors in Canada. Industry, regulators, legislators etc., can all stand to be improved in order to simply deliver a safe, fair and honest investment industry to Canadians.

What we have now is an investment henhouse run by investment foxes, and regulated by the fox's association. The politicians are being told by the foxes that all is well.

If you wish to help improve conditions for the public interest in this regard, please feel free to join in and share your experience, or stand on the shoulders of someone else and build on what they have experienced. It is hoped that a site such as this will allow abuses of individual investors to make their way to the public record, instead of being run over brushed aside and left in the ditch for dead by multi billion dollar companies and thier lawyers.

This site is not intended to be commerical, or investment tip related. If you are looking for or to share hot tips, or debate investment attributes, there are quite a few sites where this is the focus. Unless something is fraudulent, and promoted or allowed by those in positions to promote or allow same, this site is not interested. We seek not to further rumor nor slander, but to share factual examples or experiences that could and or should stand on the public record.

If you have comments on other uses for this site, or abuses which should be avoided, please feel free to post a reply...........just dont post a new topic for each and every comment, we are trying to narrow down the the things that matter most.
thanks
the advocate