Desjardins Group is the largest cooperative financial group in North America and the sixth largest in the world, with assets of $487.9 billion as at March 31, 2025. It has been named one of the top employers in Canada by both Forbes magazine and Mediacorp. It has also been recognized as one of the World’s Best Banks in 2025 by Forbes. The organization has more than 56,100 skilled employees. To meet the diverse needs of its members and clients, Desjardins offers a full range of products and services to individuals and businesses through its extensive distribution network, its online platforms, and its subsidiaries across Canada. Ranked among the world’s strongest banks, according to The Banker magazine, Desjardins has one of the highest capital ratios and one of the highest credit ratings in the industry. In 2025, Desjardins Group is celebrating its 125th anniversary, marking more than a century of focusing its ambitions and expertise on being there for members and clients.

CMI Mortgage Investments (CMI) specializes in delivering competitive fixed income returns through high-quality mortgage investment solutions backed by real estate. Tailoring its approach to align with investors' objectives and risk tolerances, CMI simplifies the mortgage investment process with its exclusive, full-service program. The firm offers compelling risk-adjusted returns, with yields ranging from 7-16% based on individual investor profiles.

As a division of CMI Financial Group, CMI Mortgage Investments benefits from the expertise of an award-winning leader in the Canadian non-bank financial services market. CMI Financial Group comprises four synergistic companies – CMI Canadian Mortgages Inc., CMI Mortgage Investments, CMI MIC Funds, and CMI Mortgage Servicing – which collectively manage the end-to-end process of originating, underwriting, funding, and servicing private mortgages for brokers and investors.

With nearly $3 billion in lifetime fundings and more than $1 billion in assets under management, CMI stands as one of Canada’s largest and fastest-growing private lending firms, renowned for its robust growth and innovative financial solutions.

TD Asset Management Inc. (TDAM) is a leading asset manager in Canada with an expanding global presence. We offer an extensive suite of innovative solutions designed to provide better risk-adjusted returns and have a long track record of helping investors reach their investment goals. We have been in business for more than three decades, and over that time the investment landscape, investor needs, and our range of offerings have all evolved. What has remained consistent is our focus on quality, our risk management discipline, and our commitment to our clients. TDAM manages assets on behalf of about 3 million retail investors and offers a broadly diversified suite of investment solutions including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and professionally managed portfolios. Collectively, TDAM manages C$408 billion in assets as of September 30, 2023.

Fundata offers mutual fund, ETF and stock information through a suite of highly customizable products and services for mutual fund companies, back-office, investment brokerages, financial advisors, data vendors and retail investors.

Founded in 1996, RFA (Realty Financial Advisors) is a Canadian-owned real estate investment firm grounded in the Commercial and Asset Management segments. RFA and its investment partners are active participants in a wide array of real estate focused portfolios, including debt financing transactions, REITs, retirement homes, and direct investments in office, retail, industrial and multifamily residential properties. Combined, the RFA group of companies have over $65 Billion in assets under management and an additional $25+ Billion in assets under administration.

In 2018, RFA expanded into the residential lending market and accelerated its growth plans through the acquisition of Street Capital Bank of Canada. RFA Bank offers a full range of Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) options, including non-registered, registered and commercial, all available through Nominee/Self Directed dealer platforms. Our GICs are eligible for deposit insurance protection, to applicable limits, from the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC).

For more information on RFA Bank, please visit: https://www.rfa.ca

For more information on CDIC, please visit: https://www.cdic.ca

SGGG Fund Services Inc. is a financial operations provider that has delivered third-party administration services, solutions and expertise to asset managers since 1997. Our comprehensive services are seamlessly integrated with our clients’ operations, and our commitment to helping our partners reach their goals has gained us the position as Canada’s largest administrator of alternative investment products.

Through our Toronto head office, and our offshore affiliate office in Cayman and registered office in the United States, we can provide immediate and total administrative solutions for any type and size of asset manager, at any phase of development.

Drawing upon the depth of talent and breadth of experience of our 385+ employees, we have developed a sophisticated understanding of our clients’ needs. SGGG Fund Services Inc. is a true administrative partner that allows its clients to focus on managing their portfolios.

We can offer comprehensive fund administration or an à la carte selection of services based upon your needs. Our committed and knowledgeable professionals have the know-how, resources and experience to deliver exceptional results consistently and effectively.

ForAll Investment Research develops quantitative investment indices, including the ForAll Core & More U.S. Equity Index. Its flagship index is tracked by the FORU ETF, offering a data-driven, rules-based strategy designed to enhance long-term returns through dynamic asset allocation.

The Optimist Fund is an investment partnership that employs a concentrated global growth-oriented value investing philosophy on behalf of accredited investors.

The Optimist Fund is an affiliate of BloombergSen Investment Partners, an independent, partner-owned investment counselling firm that manages over $2 billion in assets under management on behalf of individuals, families, endowments and pensions.

Qtrade Direct Investing^® is among Canada’s top-ranked online trading platforms having secured more than 28 wins in online investment excellence over the past 18 years in industry evaluations of online brokerages. Qtrade offers self-directed investors a preferred online trading option that complements their overall investment portfolio to achieve their financial goals and secure their financial health.

With more than 25 years’ experience, Qtrade operates direct to consumer and through over 300 strategic partnerships with some of Canada’s largest financial services institutions. Qtrade believes that Canadian investors should have confidence in their financial decisions, confidence in the tools we provide to help them make those decisions, and confidence in the support we offer.

Learn more about how you can take control of your financial future at qtrade.ca

Take advantage of the exclusive promotional offers to provide even more value to your clients. Explore the opportunities and elevate your clients’ investing journey with Qtrade today! Visit: https://www.qtrade.ca/en/investor/offers

The CIFP Retirement Institute has a mission to research and develop the knowledge base of retirement planning and, financial planning more generally, in the best interest of Canadians.

The Institute is evolving into the pre-eminent source to obtain unbiased, high quality, topical information about retirement and retirement planning. Education programs supporting the various CIFP designations supplement technical content with a focus on the more qualitative aspects of retirement and financial planning. Despite the importance of incorporating qualitative factors into a plan, unfortunately, it is often overlooked in a typical client-planner meeting or, may not be discussed in sufficient detail because far too often the client-planner interaction revolves around all things quantitative. To counter this deficiency, topics such as lifestyle planning, client engagement skills, retirement trends, considerations as part of estate and succession planning, how to prepare for retirement and intergenerational wealth transfers are fundamental learning objectives within the RRC, RFRA and RRA curricula.

Learn more at www.retirementinstitute.ca

The Chartered Institute of Financial Planning provides professional education and certification for financial planners and financial advisors in Canada.

Under license from the Canadian Institute of Financial Planning (CIFP), the Chartered Institute of Financial Planning offers professional credentials including the Chartered Financial Planner® designation, and Registered Life Insurance Specialist® (RLIS®) designation.

The Chartered Institute of Financial Planning aims to enhance the professional standards of financial planning and financial advising through comprehensive educational programs.

CIFP and the Chartered Institute of Financial Planning are headquartered in Burlington, Ontario, and CIFP is an approved credentialling body under the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario’s (FSRA) Financial Planning Title Protection framework.

Learn more at www.charteredinstitute.ca

The Canadian Institute of Financial Planners is a non-profit association for Certified Financial Planner^® professionals. The association is an independent, effective, and powerful advocate for the CFP^®/ certification marks and the financial planning profession in Canada.

Membership is open to all Canadian CFP professionals, Registered Retirement Consultants^®/Conseillers en Retraite^® and Conseillères en Retraite^®, associates who have completed their pre-CFP certification education requirements, students who are currently enrolled in a qualified education program leading to CFP certification and concerned and interested investors.

CIFPs advocates on behalf of its members, retirement planners holding the RRC/CR credential and the CFP certification marks with regulators and the public. We won't let them forget that the CFP and RRC/CR marks represent the highest standard for financial planners and retirement planners—here at home, and abroad.

Learn more at www.cifps.ca

Canadian ETF Watch is an independent organization which provides comprehensive market intelligence, news and fundamental research solutions strongly focused on the ETF markets. We are covering the ETF market globally and have launched the first global, high-end exchange traded funds magazine in Canada.

Canadian ETF Watch’s news stories focus intently on educating investors regarding specific offerings, current market trends, sectors, economies, and sentiment about every ETF market we track for our clients. We hope you find this information insightful, intelligent and in time to help you make the most of ETF investing. You will find a wealth of information in our archives, and can search for keywords targeting articles relevant to you. Please feel free to comment on any of these articles, our community appreciates every-one’s views, and outlooks.

Learn more at CanadianETFWatch.com