Advocis Conference Update: Members endorse public awareness strategy

(May 16, 2005) Advocis members have overwhelmingly approved a proposal to promote the advisor association to the public through a media and public relations strategy that will include national advertising.

But that doesn’t mean the public will see Advocis ads on television tomorrow, says outgoing chair Randy Reynolds. In fact, the campaign won’t happen until after a lengthy consultation process. The association will first create a public awareness committee to work out details of the strategy, such as the budget.

Those details will be presented to members for final approval. It’s conceivable that the proposal won’t be voted on until next year’s annual general meeting, Reynolds suggested.

“We’re talking about a long term sustainable strategy, and before money is thrown at anything, we have to make sure we can sustain it over many years,” Reynolds said at a media briefing following Friday’s annual general meeting in Halifax. “It probably would be modeled around similar strategies by other professional associations who have said they can assist in the planning and provide input and information to help us along.”

Advocis ran test advertising in March on a television station in Kingston and on a radio station in Toronto. The results were promising — traffic on the Advocis website increased and a number of members of the public called the association for more information.

At the AGM, members also approved Advocis’s updated regulatory strategy, which now includes the creation of provincial Financial Services Councils, along with the association’s previous proposal to separate the regulation of financial advice from financial transactions.

A third resolution members endorsed centred around the sale of insurance products in banks. Advocis says it will not support any amendment to the Bank Act that prohibits the distribution of insurance products in bank branches without the complementary introduction of more stringent restrictions on the ability of deposit-taking institutions to engage in tied-selling of insurance products.

“It’s an initiative on behalf of the industry as a whole to ensure that we have a level playing field, so that everyone operates by the same rules,” explained Advocis president Steve Howard.

As well, Advocis has applied for intervener status in a Supreme Court case dealing with a similar issue. The Alberta Insurance Council took action against the banks for selling creditor insurance in branches without a licence. The Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that the province has the jurisdiction to require licensing by federally-regulating bank employees distributing insurance. The banks have appealed the case to the country’s highest court.

Advocis says all employees and agents of deposit-taking institutions selling insurance to the public should be licensed by provincial regulators, placing all advisors distributing insurance on equal footing.

“We think anyone who is selling insurance should be licensed,” says Advocis’s Denis Caponi.

The association also elected Toronto-based CLU Gary McLeod as its new chair. McLeod, who is recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident, was unable to attend the conference but did issue a public statement.

“The membership has laid out some ambitious goals and objectives that will guide our association to a prosperous future and we are prepared and poised to move forward in wonderful and exciting ways,” he said. “Despite the fact that I will be a little limited physically in the early going, I promise you that I will give you 100% as we move forward.”

“I see us building a national sales force, one that can meet with each and ever member annually to review our efforts and services, to listen and to make sure that the reasons to belong to our voluntary organization professional organization are clear.”

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, doug.watt@advisor.rogers.com