Fall/Winter 2012 Registered Education Savings PlanDealers Association of Canada

Volume 5, Issue 1

RESPDAC is pleased to announce that theGlobal RESP Corporation has re-joined theassociation after an absence of nearly adecade. Global’s re-entry will boostRESPDAC’s membership to five companies,and over $9.4 billion in combined AssetsUnder Management.

Founded in 1998, the Global RESP Corp. isone of four members of the “Global Familyof Companies”, established by RESP industry

veteran Sam Bouji. The company’s headquar-ters are based in Richmond Hill, ON, withBranch offices across the country.

“We’re very happy RESPDAC is welcoming usback into the association,” said Mr. Bouji. “Weare very supportive of the goals and objectives of RESPDAC and believe that wecan benefit from the association’s collectivevoice and influence. Global was one of thefounding members at the association.”

Peter Lewis, RESPDAC Chair, also expressedthe Board’s pleasure that Global will be “backat the table”. Global’s membership becameeffective February 1st, 2012.

The company will be represented on theRESPDAC Board of Directors by MargaretSingh, Chief Compliance Officer, and FrankGataveckas, Vice President. Mr. Bouji will alsobe invited to attend Board meetings as an ex-officio (non-voting) member, as are all othermember company Chief Executive Officers.

RESPDAC is recognized by regulators and gov-ernments across Canada as the primary voiceof the group RESP industry, and provider of the Canadian Securities Administrators-approved proficiency course for scholarshipplan sales representatives.

GLOBAL RESP CORPORATION COMES BACK TO RESPDACInside this issue:

Global RESP Corporation ComesBack to RESPCDAC 1

Knowledge First is the New Name for USC 2

Saskatchewan Party Win is Good News for Education Savings 2

RESPDAC Looks for HigherInvestment Returns 2

Fewer Group RESP Complaints Handled by Ombudsman 3

No Major Changes in Maclean’sUniversity Rankings 3

RESPDAC Members Report E.A.P.’s for 2010-2011 4

RESPDAC Board Meets in Quebec City 4

Global executives (L to R) Frank Gataveckas, Margaret Singh, and Sam Bouji

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Effective this past September, RESPDAC member USC EducationSavings Plans Inc. officially changed its name to Knowledge FirstFinancial Inc.

The company’s new name is reflective of its firm belief thatknowledge is of primary importance to a child’s future, and thatthe knowledge gained through post-secondary education opensthe door to future possibilities. Knowledge First Financial contin-ues to be the Investment Fund Manager, distributor and adminis-trator of education savings plans. The company’s Mississauga,Ontario head office address and telephone number areunchanged, and its existing national distribution network of

approximately 600 sales representatives will operate under thename Knowledge First Financial.

Knowledge First Financial is a wholly-owned subsidiary of theKnowledge First Foundation, formerly The International ScholarshipFoundation. Since inception in 1965, the company has helped thou-sands of Canadian families make post-secondary education possible.

“The company’s name is changing, but our commitment to helpingyoung Canadians acquire higher education remains as strong asthe day we started in business,” says George Hopkinson, Presidentand CEO.

KNOWLEDGE FIRST IS THE NEW NAME FOR USC

The landslide victory for incumbent Premier Brad Wall and hisSaskatchewan Party in the province’s November 7th election couldprovide an early bonus for families saving for post-secondary education. During the campaign, Premier Wall introduced two new initiatives that his government would introduce if re-elected – theSaskatchewan Advantage Scholarship and the SaskatchewanAdvantage Grant for Education Savings.

According to the party platform, the new Saskatchewan AdvantageScholarship will provide every new Saskatchewan high school graduate with up to $2,000 which can be applied to reduce tuition feesat any Saskatchewan post-secondary institution or any recognizedtraining course in the province. The student can use the scholarship to

reduce his or her tuition cost by as much as $500 in any single year.

The Saskatchewan Advantage Grant for Education Savings builds onRegistered Education Savings Plans, whether individual or group plans.To assist parents with saving for their children’s education, the government will match 10 per cent of contributions to a child’s RESP,to a maximum of $250 each year. That’s on top of the 20 per centgrant already provided by the federal government.

What isn’t widely known is that these initiatives came about largelybecause of an effort by RESPDAC Chair Peter Lewis, who recognizedan opportunity to contact Saskatchewan Party insiders with a concept.Congratulations, Peter... and, families of Saskatchewan!

SASKATCHEWAN PARTY WIN IS GOOD NEWS FOR EDUCATION SAVINGS

The Board of Directors of RESPDAC have made a submission tothe Canadian Securities Administrators (the association of allprovincial securities commissions) to consider a change in therules that govern how the assets in each pool are invested onbehalf of subscribers.

Currently, funds that are deposited into a group plan (including subscriber contributions, and federal and provincial grants, whereapplicable) must be invested in a prescribed way – in accordancewith National Policy 15, which has “governed” the investments ingroup RESPs for decades.

RESPDAC, however, is asking the regulators to modernize the rules,allowing greater flexibility to enable scholarship plans to ensure that

investors receive the best return possible while continuing to protect their capital.

“Our objective is strictly to provide the best returns on earningsthat we can for our subscribers and their children, while continuingto ensure that the funds they contribute directly will always be100% secure” says Peter Lewis, Chair of RESPDAC. “We believethat a modernized approach to regulating how funds may beinvested will be in the best interest of Canadian families.”

RESPDAC has written to the CSA, and is currently undertakingindependent research to bolster the case. The Directors hopes tomeet with the regulators sometime in 2012 to discuss the issuein person.

RESPDAC LOOKS FOR HIGHER INVESTMENT RETURNS

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Since 2008, the members of RESPDAC have joined other sectors ofthe financial services industry by subscribing to the complaint resolution services of the Ombudsman for Banking Services andInvestments (OBSI). Group RESP subscribers who have matters indispute with RESPDAC companies are invited to take their cases toOBSI, if efforts to resolve their disagreements reach an impasse.Fortunately for all involved, the number of cases is extremely smalleach year, and this past year was no exception. For the year endedOctober 31, 2011 there were only 16 complaint files opened byOBSI. This represents a slight decrease from the previous year, anda reduction of 36% compared to 2008.

In fact, 16 cases represents .001% of the number of group RESPscurrently in existence among the members of RESPDAC.

FEWER GROUP RESP COMPLAINTS HANDLED BY OMBUDSMAN

The highly-influential Canadian university rankings, compiled annually byMaclean’s magazine were published again in late October. Perhaps notsurprisingly, they indicated no change in the top three positions in thethree main categories over 2010.

In the Medical Doctoral cate-gory – listing the larger univer-sities that offer comprehensiveundergraduate and post-grad-

uate studies, including medical schools – McGill came out on top again,edging the University of Toronto and University of British Columbia.

The Comprehensive category includes schools that have a significantdegree of research activity and a wide range of programs at the

undergraduate and graduate levels, including professional degrees. Inthis group, BC’s Simon Fraser University was ranked first, followed bythe University of Victoria and University of Waterloo.

And finally, two Atlantic Canada institutions, Mount Allison Universityand Acadia University, finished one-two in the Primarily Undergraduategroup, followed by the University of Northern British Columbia inPrince George, BC.

Maclean’s has been ranking Canada’s universities for 21 years, basedprimarily on student input. Students applying to university often rely onthe rankings to determine their choices, and it’s generally recognizedthat a good showing in the annual list can boost a university’s fund-raising efforts.

NO MAJOR CHANGES IN MACLEAN’S UNIVERSITY RANKINGS

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RESPDAC BOARD MEETS IN QUEBEC CITY

The members of RESPDAC (not including Global RESP Corp.) delivered an impressive $210,282,309 dollars in Education AssistancePayments to more than 98,000 post-secondary students across Canadain the twelve months ending October 31st, 2011. Additionally, nearly90,000 new plans were established in the same time period, bringing thetotal number of group plans currently managed by these companies tojust over 1.4 million.

Together, C.S.T. Consultants Inc., Heritage Education Funds Inc.,Knowledge First Financial Inc., and Universitas Management Inc.

represent over 85% of the total assets under management in groupRESPs in Canada.

“These are impressive numbers, especially in view of the currenteconomy,” said Peter Lewis, Chair of RESPDAC. “Canadian families areclearly understanding the need for higher education to help ensurefuture success and economic well-being for their children. And withthe cost of post-secondary education rising steadily each year, it’sincreasingly more important for families to begin saving as early aspossible in a child’s life.”

RESPDAC MEMBERS REPORT E.A.P.’s FOR 2010-2011

It wasn’t the very first time, but the first time in a long time. The Boardof Directors of RESPDAC were pleased to hold their September 29thmeeting in Quebec City. The capital of La Belle Province is also hometo Gestion Universitas Inc., which re-joined the association in July ofthis past year. Peter Lewis and Richard Schuetz of C.S.T. ConsultantsInc., George Hopkinson and Paul Renaud of Knowledge First FinancialInc. all made the trip, along with RESPDAC Executive Director Jim

Deeks. Onofrio Loduca, President of Heritage Education Funds Inc.joined the group by telephone, as did Regulatory Affairs counselRebecca Cowdery. And of course, the meeting was hosted by RichardGarneau, Isabelle Grenier and Sonia Dupèré of Universitas.

The Quebec City trip was confirmed as part of the annual Boardmeeting schedule from now on.

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