Plans built around you, not a template.

Fee-only financial planners in Toronto are paid solely by the client — typically as a percentage of assets under management, commonly ranging from 0.50% to 1.50% depending on portfolio size and the scope of planning included. At Frontwater Capital, financial planning is delivered as part of the discretionary portfolio management relationship rather than billed as a separate engagement. There are no product commissions, no trailer fees, and no referral arrangements — the transparent management fee is our only source of revenue.

A financial planner helps you build the plan — retirement timing, cash flow, registered-account strategy, tax and estate considerations. A Portfolio Manager is a specific regulatory registration granted by a securities commission such as the OSC, licensed to manage investments on a discretionary basis under a fiduciary duty to act in your best interest.

Many firms do one or the other. Frontwater Capital is registered with the Ontario Securities Commission as a Portfolio Manager and delivers the financial planning alongside it, so the plan and the portfolio that funds it are built by the same team rather than handed between two.

Four questions separate most candidates quickly:

How are you paid? Fee-only means the client is the only payer — no commissions or embedded product fees. Are you a fiduciary? Registered Portfolio Managers must act in your best interest; advisors under a suitability standard need only recommend something “suitable.” What are your credentials? Look for CFP, CFA, or a Portfolio Manager registration you can verify. Where are my assets held? They should sit with an independent regulated custodian in your name, never with the firm itself.

You can verify any Ontario registration yourself at registrantresearch.osc.ca. Frontwater Capital is registered under NRD #29200.

The CFP designation signals formal training in retirement, tax, insurance and estate planning, and holders are bound by a code of conduct — it is a meaningful credential, though not legally required to give planning advice in Ontario. What it does not convey on its own is the authority to manage a portfolio on a discretionary basis; that requires Portfolio Manager registration with a securities commission.

Frontwater Capital’s founder, Jeff Kaminker, holds the CFP designation alongside the CFA and FRM, and is a licensed Portfolio Manager — so both the planning and the investment management are covered in-house.

The highest-leverage window is roughly five to ten years before you stop working. That is when decisions about drawdown order, RRSP-to-RRIF timing, CPP and OAS start dates, and which accounts to spend first are still fully open — and those choices often affect lifetime after-tax income more than investment selection does.

Planning does not end at retirement. Turning a portfolio into a durable, tax-efficient income stream is an ongoing exercise that gets revisited as tax rules, markets and personal circumstances change.

It is included. Financial planning is part of the discretionary portfolio management relationship at Frontwater Capital, not a separate retainer or hourly engagement. The single transparent management fee covers the plan, the portfolio, and the ongoing reviews as circumstances change — which keeps the incentive aligned: we are paid to look after the whole picture, not to sell a plan document.