Optimize Policies and Procedures

Introduction To Our Policies and Procedures

Our Polices and Procedures manual is essential in upholding particular duties and responsibilities to our clients. It also helps protect and nurture the trust our clients have with our firm. 

Our Policies and Procedures manual is built on three key 3 key pillars. Our Registration Policy, our Optimize Ethics Program, and our Dealing With Clients Policy. This article aims to provide a high level overview of each pillar.

The complete Optimize Policies and Procedures manual can be found here: Optimize Policies and Procedures Manual

Our Three Pillars Of Policy and Procedure

Registration Policy

Optimize provides discretionary portfolio management as part of its suite of services to our clients. This requires our employees to have certain designations or be registered to provide these services. 

Registration serves as an important function to the industry, the public. and clients. It helps protect investors and registered persons as it ensures that only firms and individuals with proper qualifications receive their registration. Registration protects the public by providing reporting requirements for firms and individuals who seek to uphold a high standard of business conduct, meet the financial and personal needs of their clients, and avoid misconduct.

Generally, our policy requirements for registration of an individual have three major requirements:

• General Proficiency Requirements: Individuals must demonstrate proficiency, integrity, and solvency to be suitable for registration.
• Education and Experience Requirements: Optimize will conduct due diligence on individuals prior to seeking their registration to ensure appropriate education and experience requirements are met prior to registration. 
• Registration With a Provincial or Territorial Securities Regulator: No person may act in a registered capacity until written confirmation from the appropriate provincial regulator is received. All registered employees are required to immediately notify Compliance of any changes to their registration information. 

Our policy on more specific registration situations can be read in our complete Policies and Procedures Manual. 

Optimize Ethics Program

At Optimize we are responsible to maintain a high standard of conduct in all interactions with clients, colleagues, and the public. It is a commitment we make for the client's trust, an industry requirement, and a requirement of securities law.

As our ethical benchmark we have adopted the CFA Code of Ethics for all employees. These standards mean the professional shall:

• Act with integrity, competence, diligence, respect, and in an ethical manner with the public, clients, prospective clients, employers, employees, colleagues in the investment profession, and other participants in the global capital markets 
• Place the integrity of the investment profession and the interests of clients above their own 
• Use reasonable care and exercise independent professional judgement when conducting investment analysis, making investment recommendations, taking investment actions, and engaging in other professional activities
• Practice and encourage others to practice in a professional and ethical manner that will reflect credit on themselves and the profession
• Promote the integrity and viability of the global capital markets to benefit society
• Maintain and improve their professional competence and strive to maintain and improve the competence of other investment professionals 

On top of this ethical benchmark, we have additional stringent ethic policies to meet our high standard of conduct with all parties we share relationships with. Further components of our Optimize Ethics Program include: 

• Providing Leadership, Ethical Culture, and Tone from the top
• Appointment of an Ethics Officer to lead Ethics Program
• Policies, Procedures and Guidelines
• Training & Education
• Monitoring & Reporting

Our complete Optimize Ethics Program can be read in the complete Policies and Procedures Manual. 

Dealing With Clients Policy

Our Dealing With Clients Policy is built on four key concepts that when put together act as cornerstone of how we create and foster positive relationships with our clients, with a client focused approach. The four key concepts that make up our Dealing With Clients Policy are Suitability, Know Your Client, Know Your Product, and Know Your Client,.

• Suitability: This concept refers to the duty Portfolio Managers have to ensure any investment recommendation or decision is appropriate for a client given their goals, needs, personal, and financial situation, risk profile and any other consideration to be factored into the decision.
• Know Your Client: The Know Your Client rule is the cornerstone in a Portfolio Manager and Associate Portfolio Manager relationship with a client. Collecting essential facts about a client allows Optimize to understand our client's needs. In turn we are then able to offer services beyond the basic suitability requirements. To know-your-client you must:
  • Ask the right questions
  • Not ignore red flags
  • Where there is increased risk, ask more questions
  • Do the work yourself and not delegate this task to anyone else
  • Be sure the dialogue is meaningful, adequate, and timely 
• Know Your Product: The Know Your Product rule requires that registered employees understand the structure and features of each investment product, assess the structures, features, risks, initial and ongoing costs, and the impact that products have on our clients. Know-your-product applies to all investment products, including Optimize Funds, Model Portfolios, and "Non-Core" Positions.
• Portfolio Management: Portfolio Management is delivered through the Optimize Private Client Program, driving value to clients by providing suite of services to our clients. The KYC, KYP and Suitability concepts have been tailored to this program, the cornerstone of our business model. 

As this article serves as high level overview of our Optimize Policies and Procedures, visit our Policies and Procedures manual for a complete view: Optimize Policies and Procedures Manual