Conference season: An advisor's guide to this fall's major events

(September 3, 2004) With the summer months officially behind us, the financial services industry is gearing up for another busy conference season, with close to two dozen events on the fall agenda, including IFIC’s annual conference and the Advisor Forum series.

It’s a relatively late start for autumn conferences in Canada this year, with IFIC hosting the first major industry gathering September 28-30 in Toronto, a couple of weeks later than usual. The lengthy list of IFIC speakers includes Scotiabank economist Andrew Pyle, Manulife Financial vice-president Bruce Gordon, Howard Atkinson of Barclays Global Investors Canada and Ned Goodman, head of Dundee Wealth Management.

The Advisor Forum conference series kicks off in Halifax on October 18-19, followed by stops in Calgary on November 9-10, Vancouver on November 22-23 and Montreal on December 2-3. The conference wraps up in Toronto on December 8-9.

John J. Bowen will be the keynote speaker at all five Advisor Forum events while finance professor Moshe Milevsky, Julia Littlechild of Advisor Impact, Mark Tibergien of Moss Adams LLP and veteran Vancouver-based advisor Jim Rogers will appear in Halifax, Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto.

The Institute of Advanced Financial Planners (IAFP) is staging its second annual symposium in Kelowna, B.C., on October 7-8. The IDA is holding a one-day conference in Toronto on October 29, for owners and managers of independent regional IDA member firms. And on November 1, the Ontario Securities Commission hosts its annual Dialogue with the OSC.

On the insurance side, the Peel Institute’s annual series of symposia begins September 28 in Winnipeg, followed by stops in Calgary on the 29th, Edmonton on the 30th and Vancouver on October 1. The Toronto event is a two-day affair, on November 1-2. The keynote speaker at all Peel events is Michel Juneau-Katsuya, who will discuss security intelligence and risk management.

Independent Financial Brokers stages its fall summit in Toronto on November 2-3. The keynote speaker is Dr. Joe Coughlin, an expert in the field of business strategy, aging and product innovation. The summit will also feature 50 seminars on a variety of financial topics.

There are numerous smaller advisor-related conference this fall. The Toronto-based Strategy Institute’s schedule includes the fifth annual summit on alternative investments, set for September 30 and October 1, a one-day seminar on income securities on October 14, a two-day event on national registration regulation priorities on October 26-27 and a wealth management summit on November 3-4.

The Canadian Institute has three financial industry-related events: November 14-15 on income trusts, November 18-19 on regulatory compliance for financial institutions and November 29-30 on securities litigation, all in Toronto.

If you’re interested in travelling outside the country, the Knowledge Bureau is holding a “Distinguished Advisor” conference in Laguna Beach, California, from Nov 1-3, and the Financial Planning Association’s annual conference is in Denver this year from September 10-14.

Here’s a list of the major fall conferences, with Web site links for more information:

Sep 10-14 — Financial Planning Association, Denver

Sep 28-30 — IFIC, Toronto

Oct 7-8 — IAFP, Kelowna, B.C.

Oct 18-19 — Advisor Forum, Halifax

Oct 29 — IDA regional dealers conference, Toronto

Nov 1 — Dialogue with the OSC, Toronto

Nov 1-2 — Peel Institute , Toronto

Nov 1-3 — Distinguished Advisor Conference , Laguna Beach, California

Nov 2-3 — IFB Fall Summit , Toronto

Nov 9-10 — Advisor Forum, Calgary

Nov 22-23 — Advisor Forum, Vancouver