Skip to main content
NewslettersWatchlist
Globe Advisor

Watchlist FAQs Portfolio FAQs Prostation FAQs

PROSTATION FAQs

For additional help or questions contact our help centre

Is there a quick start guide to Prostation

For the PDF User Guide to the new Globe Advisor platform, please click here.

Back to top

September (2019) Changes

Improvement

The following changes were launched on September 20, 2019:

  • Reintroduction of the Portfolio Compare feature
  • "Investment Proposals" are renamed to "Client Proposals"
  • The Client Proposals screen is now the default view when opening the software. This is your list of clients and prospects
  • "Watchlists" are now "Lists"
  • "Research" is now "Markets" and directs to the main Markets page within Globe Investor

Reminder:

  • If you are looking to conduct a stock or fund screen, click the "Advanced Search" link within a portfolio or list to launch the following modal:

Back to top

Portfolio Compare

New

It is now possible to compare two portfolios when generating a Client Report:

  • In the "Client Proposals" list, click the PDF icon associated with your client under the "Client Report" column.
  • This generates the following modal:
  • Either choose an additional item from the dropdown (optional) or click the Generate Report (PDF) button.

Many Globe Advisor members have noted the "Portfolio Compare" function found in the legacy version of ProStation was an important part of their sales process and onboarding process.

Note: this function is not available on mobile devices (tablet, phone) but will be provided shortly.

Back to top

Client Questionnaire

Improvement

When creating a new client Investment Proposal the first step is completing the 14-step Client Questionnaire. It is also necessary prior to generating an Investment Proposal Statement ("IPS report") for a portfolio migrated from Globe Advisor's legacy ProStation tool.

ProStation features the sample investor profiling questionnaire, scoring methodology, investor profiles and recommended asset allocation published by the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA). The detailed questionnaire features a series of questions to determine an investor profile and a suitable asset allocation.

Client Questionnaire helps document information in keeping with increasing compliance obligations, including Know Your Client (KYC) suitability and Know Your Product (KYP) requirements.

The 14 questions are divided into five categories, including:

  • Time Horizon
  • Investment Knowledge
  • Investment Objectives
  • Risk Capacity
  • Risk Attitude

As questions are completed, your client's profile is automatically updated according to the following objectives:

  1. Very Conservative
  2. Conservative Income
  3. Balanced
  4. Growth
  5. Aggressive Growth

Once established, this risk designation will populate a recommended asset mix in the Customize Portfolio stage of the Investment Proposal setup process. It also automatically displays Deviation (by percentage) from your Proposed Portfolio, making it easy to bring your recommended allocation in-line.

Back to top

Investor Profile Questionnaire (PDF)

New

The first step when setting up a Client Proposal within Prostation is completing The Client Questionnaire.

This questionnaire is completed on-screen and the results update dynamically. Many Advisors have asked for this in a PDF document. To download, click the following link:

Client Questionnaire

While not mandatory, this step is important for determining your client's risk tolerance and subsequent Portfolio proposal. This questionnaire is to help you in assessing your client’s investor profile and is only part of the full “Know-Your-Client” process. This questionnaire is in line with the MFDA bulletin #0611-C published on July 21, 2014.

The questionnaire has 15 questions and is divided into 5 categories: Investment Time Horizon, Investment Knowledge and Investment Objectives with one question in each category, Risk Capacity with 6 questions and Risk Attitude with 5 questions.

Back to top

Portfolio Diagnostic Statement (PDF)

New

It is now possible within the new Globe Advisor ProStation tool to generate a one-page “Portfolio Diagnostic Statement” PDF.

This document is designed to help advisors inform existing clients updated on the status of overall performance of their holdings. It is not necessary to complete the Client Questionnaire (KYC) in order to generate.

This PDF document is offered in addition to the multi-page “Investment Proposal”. To generate:

  • Click the “Investment Proposals” link
  • Click the chart icon in the “Diagnostic” column
  • The report will generate within your web browser

Note that in order to generate the PDF, ProStation requires portfolio must be balanced 100%.

This document is a replica of the document found in our legacy systems; updated with modern Globe and Mail brand standards. Features include:

  • Annualized Returns
  • Historic Returns against a Blended Benchmark
  • Portfolio Breakdown (Sub Class, Region, Market Capitalization, Stock Sector)
  • Holdings

Example:

Back to top

Target Investments by Dollar ($)

New

When in the Customize Portfolio section previously ProStation only allowed advisors the ability to target asset allocation based on Percentage (%). Now it is possible to switch to Dollar ($).

  • The page default is percentage. Choose the "$" button to work in dollars.
  • In the Portfolio Diagnostic PDF (one-page) for the historical performance, the Initial amount will be based on the amount invest (% option) or the total amount of the holdings ($ options) depending of the option selected.

Back to top

Blended Benchmarks in Investment Proposals

Improvement

The Investment Proposal PDF simulates the Historical Return of your proposed portfolio going back 10-years using the Initial value entered. Additionally, it plots portfolio performance against a relative Blended Benchmark:

  • The Blended Benchmark is comprised of market indices representing each specific asset in the same proportion as the proposed portfolio.
  • The Blended Benchmark is designed to provide insight in the periodic return behavior and the resulting end value of the proposed portfolio assets relative to the blended benchmark indicies over a specified period.

For example:

  • If your client is equally diversified Canadian and US and equities, only using a Canadian index would not be a true measure of asset performance relative to all markets.
  • Rather, you may want to use an average of the TSX Composite and S&P 500 Index combined.

See the following for more details on how a Blended Benchmark works with simulated portfolio valuation: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/how-to-create-your-own-weighted-average-benchmark/article624919/

Back to top

Model Portfolios versus Investment Proposals

New

The new ProStation gives advisors the ability to create "Model" Portfolios. The intent is that these can easily be reused while generating future client proposals. Note that no data from the legacy ProStation software was migrated as a "Model" Portfolio - this is a new feature.

Legacy Portfolio and Watchlist data was migrated into "Investment Proposals". Think of an Investment Proposal as a customized Portfolio created a specific, individual client.

In summary:

  • Model Portfolio: create once, use often. New functionality.
  • Investment Proposal: customized and client-specific. Replicates all Portfolios created in the legacy ProStation tool.

Notes:

  • Model Portfolios are new functionality; it is not possible to migrate a legacy Portfolio as a Model Portfolio..
  • While in a migrated Investment Proposal, if you choose to apply a Model Portfolio, it will overwrite whatever holdings you have entered..
  • The "Profile" label (Very Conservative, Conservative, Balanced, Growth, Aggressive Growth) is for reference only and does not enforce allocation requirements on holdings you enter.

Back to top

Generating Fund Reports

Improvement

Generating a Mutual Funds product sheet is in Globe Investor. From within ProStation, to generate, click a fund name within ProStation to generate a profile page:

This generates a fund profile page on Globe Investor: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/funds/GWL3005.CF

Scroll to the middle of the page to locate buttons for both Basic and Premium Reports.

Use other Globe Investor utilities to search for Mutual Funds (in addition to ProStation Advanced Search): https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/funds/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/funds/market-leaders/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/funds/market-movers/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/funds/screener/

Back to top

Customize a Portfolio

Improvement

To recap the PDF Investment Policy Statement creation process:

  • Create a new Investment Proposal (Client)
  • Complete the Client Questionnaire
  • Select a Model Portfolio (optional)
  • Customize to create a bespoke Portfolio for your client

At the point of customization, ProStation will prompt you to balance the Portfolio you have created against the Asset Mix recommended by the Questionnaire.

Add/remove holdings and change instrument allocations to match your client's risk tolerance. The Proposed Portfolio will automatically update as you make alterations.

Back to top

Research in ProStation

New

The new ProStation contains both Quick and Advanced Search integrated in Portfolio and Watchlist tools.

Quick Search

Add Current Portfolio holdings by typing asset code or asset name. By default, the system will search for assets whose name or code begins with the characters entered in the Quick Search field (minimum 3 characters).

Advanced Search

ProStation contains a powerful "all in one" screener tool that is directly-integrated within the software. While building a Model or Customized Portfolio, of Watchlist, click the Advanced Search button to launch the following:

All search returns can be automatically added to a Portfolio or Watchlist.

Asset codes include:

  • Currency
  • Category
  • Company
  • Asset Name
  • Load Type
  • Year To Date
  • Last Return
  • Last Return Sharpe
  • Standard Deviation
  • Alpha
  • Beta
  • Management Expense Ratio
  • Minimum Investment
  • Average Maturity
  • Stock Exchange

In contrast, the legacy ProStation tool contained links to "Basic/Advanced" Stock and Fund Filters. These did not contain integration with the ProStation software. As an alternative to Advanced Search, upgraded versions of the legacy tools can be found in Globe Investor under the following links:

  • www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/screener/
  • www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/funds/screener/
  • www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/etfs/screener/

Back to top

Entering Cash, GICs, and Bonds

New

The legacy version of Globe Advisor simulated Cash, GIC or Bond holdings by allowing users to create a synthetic instrument with a randomly-assigned return called "Custom Assets".

In the following example, the Advisor has created a Custom Asset Bond holding yielding 20%:

The new ProStation software does not allow the creation of synthetic Custom Assets but rather forces the Advisor to select and allocate real-world assets. An Advisor wanting to create cash or fixed income exposure for their clients must allocate this into a traded instrument.

To accomplish this, the Advisor can use the Advanced search functionality from within the Portfolio builder to select an instrument:

  • Open Advanced search
  • Add or remove search criteria’s by clicking on the ‘ADD CRITERIA’ or ‘CLEAR CRITERIA’ buttons.
  • Select the type of criteria you want to include in you search by clicking on the drop down menu in the ‘SEARCH CRITERIA’ column.
  • Select a function by clicking on the drop down menu in the ‘FUNCTION’ column.
  • Enter a value by clicking in the empty field in the ‘VALUE’ column and typing the value.
  • Search for a Canadian Fixed Income product trading in CAD Dollars that has returned 5% or greater in the last year
  • Once your selections are made, click on the ‘SEARCH’ button:

Note: any Custom Assets carried-over from the legacy ProStation have-been allocated into a 91 Day Canada T-Bill. Use the above instructions to re-allocate.

Back to top

ProStation PDF User Guide

Improvement

Since 2005, Globe Advisor ProStation has enabled Canada’s financial advisor community to instantly create free, professional-quality client investment proposals. Now, Globe Advisor ProStation has been upgraded with innovative features, including Streamlined MFDA-Compliant Proposals and a lightning-fast responsive design. For the PDF User Guide to the new Globe Advisor platform, please click here.

Back to top

Is there an ability to build and track a full Portfolio?

You can track a full portfolios of assets by either 1) using our List which allows you to follow the evolution of selected assets or 2) build a model portfolio which displays annualized returns and allows you to analyze the portfolio statistics.

Back to top

Can you research individual holding?

Prostation contains both Quick and Advanced Search integrated in the Portfolio and List tools. For Quick Search, the system will search for assets whose name or code begins with the characters entered in the field. In the Advanced Search, you can add any of the criteria such as: Currency, Category, Load Type, YTD, Last Return, Standard Derivation, Alpha, Beta, MER, Minimum Investment, Average Maturity and more.

Quick Search for funds

Back to top

Are there Inception charts and returns for funds?

You can click on any fund’s name and it will generate a fund profile on Globe Investor. To view long term $ chart, click on View Chart on the top right corner. (*some features are subscribers only). Scroll to middle of the page to locate buttons for both Basic and Premium Reports (subscribers only). Both reports contains growth chart of $10000.

Back to top

Is there historical tracking of indexes?

For quick access, you can click on Markets link and review TSX Composite Index, TSX Venture, TSX 60, Dow Jones Industrials and S&P 500. For a complete list of the indices we track, please click on Indices heading. Any of the indices can be added to your regular Watchlist.

Back to top

Is there an ability to save and store Portfolios

By creating “Model” portfolios, the intent is that these could easily be reused while generating future client proposals. In Summary:

Model Portfolio: create once, used often.

Investment Proposals: customized portfolio for specific client.

Back to top

What presentation capabilities are available for use with clients?

You can use 1) our one page Portfolio Diagnostic Statement that includes Annualized Returns, Historical Performance, Portfolio Breakdown, etc. or 2) a detailed multi- page Investment Proposal that additionally includes Risk vs Return, Portfolio Statstics, Correlation, etc.

Back to top

Is there an ability to compare various holdings in an interactive way, for example timelines

You can do so using either Lists, or Model Portfolios

Back to top

Since 2005, Globe Advisor ProStation has enabled Canada’s financial advisor community to instantly create free, professional-quality client investment proposals. Now, Globe Advisor ProStation has been upgraded with innovative features, including Streamlined MFDA-Compliant Proposals and a lightning-fast responsive design.