FAIR Canada applauds Saskatchewan’s OBSI bill
"Landmark" legislation is significant step forward in protecting investors, organization says
By James Langton |May 28, 2024
2 min read
BM: I think there’s several things. First of all, continuing education is available from a wide variety of sources, but I like to think that credible continuing education is available from a limited number of sources, and we’re one of those sources. I think you can get credible continuing education [through Advocis] that can help you run your practice, help you interface with your clients and help you deal with the problems and present solutions in today’s environment. Secondly, I think what you’re going to want to see is that this organization represents your viewpoint as an advisor to the industry and to the regulators.
Advisor.ca:Speaking of regulators, the Advocis conference features the first offering of the “Compliance Seminar Series for Advisors” in special pre-conference workshops. Is compliance occupying more and more space on the radar screens of advisors?
BM: I can’t give you quantitative data, but anecdotally, when I travel across this country, the number-one complaint that I get is the amount of time advisors are being asked to invest in meeting their compliance burden. I guess the problem is that a lot of advisors and a lot of consumers are just not seeing any benefit from it.
Advisor.ca: What are the principal items on the agenda for this year’s annual general meeting?
BM: The principle thing on the agenda this year is our whole advocacy positioning and the tactical positioning of the organization going forward. It will clearly annunciate where we fit into the landscape of the financial services industry. That’s going to be a major announcement.
Advisor.ca: Inevitably at these types of conferences, some keynote speaker will say that there has never been a better time to be a financial advisor. Do you agree with this statement in the context of the present environment?
BM: It’s not as simple as agree or disagree. Time is fluid. Being a financial advisor is a very good thing, but there are times when it’s better to be one than others and I would suggest right now that it’s challenging. You have a crisis of confidence in consumers, increasing compliance burden from the regulators, complexity in terms of product, design and implementation — it’s challenging.
Advisor.ca: But is there some opportunity in there somewhere?
BM: You’ve got to hope so.
• • •
Advocis is Canada’s largest association of financial advisors, with members in 50 chapters across the country. For more details on Advocis or to view the full session lineup for the upcoming conference, please click here.
• • •
Filed by John Craig, Advisor.ca, jcraig@advisor.ca.
(06/10/03)
BM: I think there’s several things. First of all, continuing education is available from a wide variety of sources, but I like to think that credible continuing education is available from a limited number of sources, and we’re one of those sources. I think you can get credible continuing education [through Advocis] that can help you run your practice, help you interface with your clients and help you deal with the problems and present solutions in today’s environment. Secondly, I think what you’re going to want to see is that this organization represents your viewpoint as an advisor to the industry and to the regulators.
Advisor.ca:Speaking of regulators, the Advocis conference features the first offering of the “Compliance Seminar Series for Advisors” in special pre-conference workshops. Is compliance occupying more and more space on the radar screens of advisors?
BM: I can’t give you quantitative data, but anecdotally, when I travel across this country, the number-one complaint that I get is the amount of time advisors are being asked to invest in meeting their compliance burden. I guess the problem is that a lot of advisors and a lot of consumers are just not seeing any benefit from it.
Advisor.ca: What are the principal items on the agenda for this year’s annual general meeting?
BM: The principle thing on the agenda this year is our whole advocacy positioning and the tactical positioning of the organization going forward. It will clearly annunciate where we fit into the landscape of the financial services industry. That’s going to be a major announcement.
Advisor.ca: Inevitably at these types of conferences, some keynote speaker will say that there has never been a better time to be a financial advisor. Do you agree with this statement in the context of the present environment?
BM: It’s not as simple as agree or disagree. Time is fluid. Being a financial advisor is a very good thing, but there are times when it’s better to be one than others and I would suggest right now that it’s challenging. You have a crisis of confidence in consumers, increasing compliance burden from the regulators, complexity in terms of product, design and implementation — it’s challenging.
Advisor.ca: But is there some opportunity in there somewhere?
BM: You’ve got to hope so.
• • •
Advocis is Canada’s largest association of financial advisors, with members in 50 chapters across the country. For more details on Advocis or to view the full session lineup for the upcoming conference, please click here.
• • •
Filed by John Craig, Advisor.ca, jcraig@advisor.ca.
(06/10/03)
(June 10, 2003) With the theme of this week’s 2003 Advocis National Conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland, being “taking stock on the rock,” Advisor.ca caught up with Advocis chair Brian Mallard before the conference to get his take on everything from the new industry association landscape to what challenges advisors are facing today:
Advisor.ca: The theme of this year’s conference is “taking stock.” In looking at the financial services industry landscape, we have the recent launch of a new association for financial planners (Canadian Institute of Financial Planners) and talk of an insurance-only group. Are we right back to where we started before CAFP and CAIFA merged to form Advocis?
Brian Mallard: I don’t have any control over those things. All [Advocis] can do is do what we do and do it well. This is a ‘tell and show exercise’ — we can tell people what we do and tell people what we stand for, but ultimately we have to show them. And I would say the same thing holds true for every organization.
Advisor.ca:Putting on your advisor hat for a moment, what’s the biggest challenge or issue facing the average advisor and what is Advocis doing to help?
BM: I think there’s several things. First of all, continuing education is available from a wide variety of sources, but I like to think that credible continuing education is available from a limited number of sources, and we’re one of those sources. I think you can get credible continuing education [through Advocis] that can help you run your practice, help you interface with your clients and help you deal with the problems and present solutions in today’s environment. Secondly, I think what you’re going to want to see is that this organization represents your viewpoint as an advisor to the industry and to the regulators.
Advisor.ca:Speaking of regulators, the Advocis conference features the first offering of the “Compliance Seminar Series for Advisors” in special pre-conference workshops. Is compliance occupying more and more space on the radar screens of advisors?
BM: I can’t give you quantitative data, but anecdotally, when I travel across this country, the number-one complaint that I get is the amount of time advisors are being asked to invest in meeting their compliance burden. I guess the problem is that a lot of advisors and a lot of consumers are just not seeing any benefit from it.
Advisor.ca: What are the principal items on the agenda for this year’s annual general meeting?
BM: The principle thing on the agenda this year is our whole advocacy positioning and the tactical positioning of the organization going forward. It will clearly annunciate where we fit into the landscape of the financial services industry. That’s going to be a major announcement.
Advisor.ca: Inevitably at these types of conferences, some keynote speaker will say that there has never been a better time to be a financial advisor. Do you agree with this statement in the context of the present environment?
BM: It’s not as simple as agree or disagree. Time is fluid. Being a financial advisor is a very good thing, but there are times when it’s better to be one than others and I would suggest right now that it’s challenging. You have a crisis of confidence in consumers, increasing compliance burden from the regulators, complexity in terms of product, design and implementation — it’s challenging.
Advisor.ca: But is there some opportunity in there somewhere?
BM: You’ve got to hope so.
• • •
Advocis is Canada’s largest association of financial advisors, with members in 50 chapters across the country. For more details on Advocis or to view the full session lineup for the upcoming conference, please click here.
• • •
Filed by John Craig, Advisor.ca, jcraig@advisor.ca.
(06/10/03)
(June 10, 2003) With the theme of this week’s 2003 Advocis National Conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland, being “taking stock on the rock,” Advisor.ca caught up with Advocis chair Brian Mallard before the conference to get his take on everything from the new industry association landscape to what challenges advisors are facing today:
Advisor.ca: The theme of this year’s conference is “taking stock.” In looking at the financial services industry landscape, we have the recent launch of a new association for financial planners (Canadian Institute of Financial Planners) and talk of an insurance-only group. Are we right back to where we started before CAFP and CAIFA merged to form Advocis?
Brian Mallard: I don’t have any control over those things. All [Advocis] can do is do what we do and do it well. This is a ‘tell and show exercise’ — we can tell people what we do and tell people what we stand for, but ultimately we have to show them. And I would say the same thing holds true for every organization.
Advisor.ca:Putting on your advisor hat for a moment, what’s the biggest challenge or issue facing the average advisor and what is Advocis doing to help?
BM: I think there’s several things. First of all, continuing education is available from a wide variety of sources, but I like to think that credible continuing education is available from a limited number of sources, and we’re one of those sources. I think you can get credible continuing education [through Advocis] that can help you run your practice, help you interface with your clients and help you deal with the problems and present solutions in today’s environment. Secondly, I think what you’re going to want to see is that this organization represents your viewpoint as an advisor to the industry and to the regulators.
Advisor.ca:Speaking of regulators, the Advocis conference features the first offering of the “Compliance Seminar Series for Advisors” in special pre-conference workshops. Is compliance occupying more and more space on the radar screens of advisors?
BM: I can’t give you quantitative data, but anecdotally, when I travel across this country, the number-one complaint that I get is the amount of time advisors are being asked to invest in meeting their compliance burden. I guess the problem is that a lot of advisors and a lot of consumers are just not seeing any benefit from it.
Advisor.ca: What are the principal items on the agenda for this year’s annual general meeting?
BM: The principle thing on the agenda this year is our whole advocacy positioning and the tactical positioning of the organization going forward. It will clearly annunciate where we fit into the landscape of the financial services industry. That’s going to be a major announcement.
Advisor.ca: Inevitably at these types of conferences, some keynote speaker will say that there has never been a better time to be a financial advisor. Do you agree with this statement in the context of the present environment?
BM: It’s not as simple as agree or disagree. Time is fluid. Being a financial advisor is a very good thing, but there are times when it’s better to be one than others and I would suggest right now that it’s challenging. You have a crisis of confidence in consumers, increasing compliance burden from the regulators, complexity in terms of product, design and implementation — it’s challenging.
Advisor.ca: But is there some opportunity in there somewhere?
BM: You’ve got to hope so.
• • •
Advocis is Canada’s largest association of financial advisors, with members in 50 chapters across the country. For more details on Advocis or to view the full session lineup for the upcoming conference, please click here.
• • •
Filed by John Craig, Advisor.ca, jcraig@advisor.ca.
(06/10/03)