FPSC marks 10 years, honours retiring leader

The Financial Planners Standards Council (FPSC) celebrated its tenth anniversary on Thursday night at the University Club in Toronto, taking the opportunity to honour its out-going president. Receiving the surprise award was retiring FPSC founding member and president, Donald J. Johnston.

Johnston was presented with a trophy and his name will be the first to appear on a plaque that will rest at the FPSC offices in Toronto. The council also presented Johnston with a $10,000 award, to be donated to a charity of his choosing.

The accolades were in recognition of his decade-long effort in promoting the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation in Canada and as a proponent of “uniform, rigorous requirements in education, examination, ethics and experience.” After rallying the support of various industry organizations since the FPSC’s inception in 1996, Johnston secured the rights for it to be sole grantor of the CFP designation in Canada.

Commenting on Johnston’s legacy, Margaret Koniuck, the current chair of the FPSC board of directors, cited his role as a “fierce fighter” in maintaining the CFP designation’s high standards and turning financial planning into a “true profession.”

“To do that you have to maintain high standards, maintain rigor around your examination process and ensure you have a proper code of ethics in place,” Koniuck said. “We’re here today because of his determination, his leadership, his vision to have all that done.”

Johnston’s successor has not yet been named, but with a competent team remaining, Koniuck says she feels confident about the FPSC’s future “While we’ll be sad to see Don leave, we are excited about the future because he’s built us to a great base where we can launch again into bigger and better things in the future.”

Johnston said he was pleasantly surprised by the award. “I had absolutely no idea. I’m delighted and thrilled, it’s great.”

“I think there are going to be all kinds of people coming to the forefront and contributing to the development of this profession, and it will be a difficult decision each year to find the person that makes the most of the contribution.”

When asked what he thinks is the particular tack necessary to steer the FPSC into the future, Johnston said it’s simply about possessing “total commitment.”

“It’s very easy to get waylaid and to get off target. But it’s not one person in this organization. It’s really the entire group — it’s the board and senior staff that makes it happen,” he said. “That strength between those that run the organization and those that set the vision has just continued to develop over the years and it’s an unbeatable combination now.”

Joking that his two sons would appreciate a share of the $10,000 award, Johnston said he plans to put it toward an educational program for financial planning.

“I think we’ll be quite innovative and think in terms of scholarships in the area of financial planning. As we hopefully maybe get matching contributions over time, it can be a significant source of a scholarship fund or bursary fund,” he said.

In an earlier interview with Advisor’s Edge, Johnston explained his reasons for retiring, while waxing nostalgic on his tenure at the FPSC helm.

“I’ve had two five-year terms and I’m 67, and there’s a time to call it quits,” he explained. “It isn’t that I’ve lost interest in the organization with the growth of the profession; we’ve had a very successful 10 years and I think we’ve set a perfectly solid foundation. We have the respect of the industry and regulators and the government and I think it’s time for somebody to come in and take it to the next level.”