Investment Fraud Awareness

Five Key Stories In most ways, investors in Manitoba look very similar to investors all across Canada 1 2 3 4 5 In Manitoba, 45% say they hold securities while 20% have no savings. This is in line with 46% who invest across Canada and 24% with no savings. In both cases, mutual funds are by far the most common product held (47% in each sample). Overall portfolio size and frequency of transactions is also very similar in Manitoba to the rest of the country. Increasingly, more investors in Manitoba say they work with an adviser than other Canadian investors Nearly 8-in-10 (77%) Manitoba investors say they currently have a financial adviser - 8-points higher than Canada-wide (69%), and this gap has been widening over time. While the share of investors with an adviser across Canada has remained steady since 2012 at 7-in-10, Manitoba investors with an adviser have increased from 70% in 2012 to 73% in 2017 and 77% in 2020. Fraud approaches and victimization are both steady, while methods of approach are evolving The share of Manitobans saying they have been approached with a possible fraud is steady since 2017 at 21% and similar to 18% Canada-wide. Fraud incidence in Manitoba (3%) is also on par with the incidence of 4% across Canada. However, those saying the most recent approach was by email is down 13-points in MB since 2012 from 45% to 31% while is has been more consistent nationally (21% in 2012 to 25% in 2020). And while introduction through friends, family, or coworkers has risen across Canada from 10% in 2012 to 15% in 2020, it has remained consistent in Manitoba at 9%. Economic optimism in Manitoba is down substantially in 2020 - as it is all across Canada Optimism about economic growth has dropped by nearly half in Manitoba since 2017 (from 42% to 24%) and the same can be said about optimism about unemployment (from 30% to 17%). Pessimism about the unemployment rate in Manitoba has seen a particularly large jump since 2017 of 35- points (from 22% to 57%). These changes are consistent with the changes Canada-wide, but when we look back to 2012, optimism about economic growth and unemployment was higher in Manitoba compared to across Canada that year, while it has now been at about the same level since 2017. How to reach Manitobans with investing information depends on their age and where they live Residents of Central/North Manitoba are less likely to look to social media for investing information (just 16% vs. 29% in South/West and 33% in Winnipeg). This is despite the fact that investors in this region are much more likely to look to 3rd party sources in general (e.g. friends/family or marketing materials over their bank/adviser). When it comes to information about fraud specifically, Manitobans over 55 are most likely to look to the news (40%) or their advisers (30%) while those under 35 generally look online (46%) and turn to friends and family (30%). 4

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