Mr. Hatt said his adviser moved him in and out of various fund families over a period of five years. The returns were acceptable at first, but not lately. There are numerous firing offences that go beyond the ineffectual work done by the brokers of Mr. Hatt and Ms. Gschwind. For example, maybe you said you wanted blue-chip stocks and Government of Canada bonds and your broker is pitching penny stocks. Remember, Ms. Gschwind's broker was in love with resources to the detriment of her portfolio.
Nothing symbolizes the rapacious broker like churning.
If you're as disgusted as Mr. Hatt and Ms. Gschwind were with their brokers, you'll probably just want to terminate them and be done with it. But if you have an unresolved dispute with your broker over losses in your account, it can work in your favour to stay to resolve the problem rather than leaving. It's easier to get the broker to pay part of it if he's going to retain the account. Start the complaint process by talking things over with your broker. If necessary, and it probably will be, go to the branch manager at your broker's office.