What gives? Why are advisors SO reluctant to complete a succession plan? Presumably, those advisors without one recognize the risks that come with that, such as untimely death or illness, being “fired” by your dealer or MGA (cough, cough, PPI), or even losing clients because they are concerned about what…

Sometimes, you learn a new word, and then your world suddenly explodes with clarity because you have the vocabulary to articulate a thought, feeling, behaviour, event, or “thing.” I recently had one of these experiences, and man, did it ever change my world! …

** PLEASE NOTE** This article was a marked submission for my doctoral work, and it is meant to be a bit provocative in the hopes of generating some discussion surrounding “doing what we’ve always done” and understanding the consequences of staying the same. In one of the group discussion posts…

I started my doctorate adventure in Calgary, Alberta, a few weeks back. I’m not even sure what happened over the two-week residency, but I know some significant shit happened, and I’m here for it. I had 10 full days of class with 20ish people who are passionate about their own…

Investment Executive released their annual brokerage report card along with some commentary reflecting the current environment that today’s financial advisors face. No big surprise one of the articles talked about how the role of the advisor is evolving to one that is more human-centric as opposed to investment-centric. What the heck are you talking about? I’ve been…

Robert Luft was featured in a really timely article in Wealth Professional about the lack of training programs to help new advisors to the business. With these programs that have gone the way of the dodo bird, he sounded the alarm that this, in fact, is a huge problem. Before…

This week I was prompted to write about succession planning from reading Investment Executive’s article on urging family businesses to get their succession plans in place before a particularly favourable ‘gap’ in legislation comes to an end. …

Working with people can be challenging. Working with people AND their hard-earned money can be even more challenging. So what happens when you have a client that pushes all of your buttons — like not responding in a timely manner to your requests, providing mono-syllabic and vague answers to any…

Banking and mental health has become a reality. This is not a typical pairing, like cheese and crackers. Still, BDC is rolling out a mental health programme for Canadian entrepreneurs — my hats off to BDC for recognizing, acknowledging, and having something in place to help individuals. …