Planworks

For investors - click read more for data room access.Click here

Services / Financial Planning

Research & Transparency

We study the parts of wealth management that usually stay out of view: how fees are set, what you actually get for them, how the planning works, and what most firms leave out. We publish what we find, so you can see the reasoning behind our work before you trust it.

Research Areas: Incentive alignment Capital efficiency Open Methodology Integrated Planning

Incentive Alignment

A firm shouldn't earn more just because your account grew, or steer you toward a product for the commission. We charge a flat fee, take no kickbacks, and let nothing about how we're paid change the advice you get.

Capital Efficiency

Most of what Canadians pay for in wealth management isn't worth the cost. We focus on the money lost to tax, trading, and fees, not on beating a market we don't think anyone beats.

Open Methodology

You should see how we reached a recommendation, not just take it on faith. We believe financial management assumptions and reasonings should be written down and open to the client.

Integrated Planning

Most firms handle your investments and send you elsewhere for the hard parts. We do the corporate, tax, and estate work in one place, so the pieces actually fit together.

The death of traditional wealth management

Systemic Stewardship May 8, 2026

For most of its history, wealth management charged for access: to a manager, to research, to strategies the client couldn't see or run themselves. That access is what the fee paid for. We look at what happens to the model now that the access is gone, when the planning runs on software a client can buy, the research is public, and the advice that used to sit behind a percentage fee costs a fraction to deliver.

New research on how we’ve reduced agentic misalingment

Open Methodology May 8, 2026

How Canadians come to trust software with their money

Canadians already trust software for some money decisions and not others. We map which ones have crossed that line, which are crossing now, and which are still years off.

Incentive Alignment May 1, 2026

How much Canadians overpay for advice

What households pay each year for advice that costs far less to deliver than it used to, and why that price hasn't moved.

Integrated Planning April 30, 2026

Tax-loss harvesting in a Canadian account

How to harvest losses without tripping the superficial-loss rule, and what the discipline is actually worth over time.

Open Methodology May 8, 2026

Wealthsimple, Persona, and where your ID goes

To keep using Wealthsimple, Canadians are now asked to upload a photo of their government ID and a selfie. The check runs through Persona, a US identity firm whose funding was led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, the same investor behind Palantir. We look at what Wealthsimple actually collects, where it goes, and what the law lets a US provider do with it once it's there.

Publications

DateCategoryTitle

Jun 16, 2026Open methodologyHow Canadians come to trust software with their money

May 28, 2026Incentive alignmentHow much Canadians overpay for advice

May 12, 2026Capital efficiencyThe Smith Maneuver, start to finish

Apr 30, 2026Integrated planningWhat retail planning tools leave out

Apr 9, 2026Capital efficiencyFactor investing for a household

Mar 24, 2026Integrated planningSequencing withdrawals in retirement

Mar 5, 2026Open methodologyThree futures for Canadian wealth

Feb 18, 2026Incentive alignmentWhat a percentage fee costs over thirty years

Feb 2, 2026Capital efficiencyTax-loss harvesting in a Canadian account

Jan 20, 2026Integrated planningCorporate, estate, and cross-border in one plan