Mutual Fund Dealers:
These are firms registered as mutual fund dealers with securities commissions that employ salespeople to distribute mutual funds. Some Dealers have their own mutual fund products or products of a related firm while others are independent and sell only products of unrelated mutual fund companies. Mutual fund dealers are compensated by commissions, earned on sales to clients, that they share with their salespeople. Some mutual fund dealers also charge a management fee for their advice on a portfolio of mutual funds. Mutual fund dealers are to be regulated by the Mutual Fund Dealers Association.

Salespeople employed by mutual fund dealers are also to be regulated by the Mutual Fund Dealers Association. They are largely in the business of selling mutual funds in return for commissions. These commissions include a portion of the sales charge and an ongoing "trail commission" or service fee. For a fund sold on a deferred sales charge basis, a salesperson typically earns 4% to 6% on the sale, an ongoing commission of .5% to .75% plus a portion of the sales charge (if any) levied when the client sells. Many refer to themselves as "financial planners" and you certainly should know the qualifications they really have. (See Financial Planners above)  Products offered by mutual fund dealers and their salespeople include:

Mutual Funds: These are investment products where many investors pool their money with others and share in a professionally managed portfolio of securities. Mutual funds are sold under a prospectus, which is a disclosure document reviewed by a securities commission to ensure its completeness. Mutual funds charge fees and expenses to the fund and disclose this as the management expense ratio - the percentage that the total fees and expenses are of the total value of the fund. Management expense ratios of funds range between 2% and 3.5%. Mutual fund companies are members of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.

Segregated funds: These are similar to mutual funds except that they provide a long-term guarantee of the return of the capital invested and they are sold by insurance agents, as well as mutual fund dealers. Disclosure is in the form of an information circular as opposed to a prospectus. The fee for the guarantee is about 1% in addition to the management expense ratio which averages 3% to 4.5%.