Your investing questions, our clear answers.

Our response:

There are two key points to understand to answer your question. First, segregated funds and mutual funds are two separate types of investment products, not accounts. Because of this, there is no way to directly transfer funds from one to the other without selling the investment first.

Second, segregated funds and mutual funds fall under two separate regulation categories. Segregated funds are an investment product sold through life insurance companies, regulated federally by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) and sold by insurance advisors. Depending on the seller, segregated funds may also be regulated provincially – in Ontario this is under the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO). Mutual funds are securities sold through mutual fund dealers, registered with a provincial or territorial securities regulator (like the Ontario Securities Commission) and are sold by financial advisors.

What this means is that the insurance advisor who sells you a segregated fund may not be able to sell you a mutual fund – unless they are separately registered to provide this service. Learn about some different types of advisors and visit CheckBeforeYouInvest.ca to learn how to check registration.