Know your client (KYC) is the Canadian rule that a registered advisor must collect, and keep current, enough information about you, including your goals, finances, time horizon and risk profile, to judge whether an investment suits you.
Under National Instrument 31-103, firms must establish your identity and gather your personal and financial circumstances, investment needs and objectives, investment knowledge, risk profile and investment time horizon. That record is the basis for every suitability decision made for you.
It has to stay current. Since the Client Focused Reforms, firms must review it at least every 12 months for managed accounts and at least every 36 months otherwise, and update it within a reasonable time when they learn of a significant change in your situation.
Read the KYC form before you sign it. A risk tolerance or time horizon recorded higher than you would choose can make riskier products look suitable on paper.
How to check
Ask your advisor for a copy of the KYC information on file for each account, and tell them in writing when your income, health, family or plans change.
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