Practice

Covering expatriate employees

Terminating work agreements with employees who have been sent overseas represents a huge investment and responsibility for many employers. It’s been estimated the cost of a failed overseas assignment for a high-level expatriate employee can cost a company as much as $500,000. And expatriate employers bear some responsibility for the wellbeing of their expatriate employees, […]

By David G. Tompkins |January 1, 2010

10 min read

Planning and Advice

Lee-Chin: Working with the wealthy

Michael Lee-Chin has worn a lot of titles, and is best known to Canadians as a high profile philanthropist and key mutual fund industry pioneer who amassed a net worth in the billions. But, through it all he insists, he’s always remained a financial advisor. Indeed, Lee-Chin is back to his advisor roots. He recently […]

By Mark Noble |January 1, 2010

6 min read

Planning and Advice

Universities should develop advisor education

With increasingly fewer exceptions, professionals are expected to earn a four-year university degree from a program accredited to educate people entering the field. And, in the cases of law and medicine, barriers to entry are even higher. Society applauds such rigorous requirements because they prevent people who aren’t serious about cultivating key skill sets from […]

By Staff |January 1, 2010

2 min read

Planning and Advice

Is it better to recruit or retain?

Moderated by: Kanupriya Vashisht Participants Jim Morrison, VP and Regional Director, RBC Dominion Securities Tina Tehranchian, , MA, CFP, CLU, CHFC, Branch Manager, Financial Advisor, Assante Capital Management Ltd. Tina Tehranchian: A lot of it depends on the position you’re hiring for. Generally, if there’s a way to train an existing employee, it acts as […]

By Kanupriya Vashisht |January 1, 2010

5 min read

Aging entrepreneurs ponder retirement

I was thinking about transitioning wealth while watching Godfather II the other day. Mafia kingpin Michael Corleone was commenting on his elderly rival Hyman Roth: “He talks to me as a son; as his successor . . . but the old man thinks he’ll live forever.” Anyone who’s known an ambitious hard working business-owner friend, […]

5 min read

Winning clients on the soccer field

As much as we seek the Holy Grail to building a successful book of business, the truth is none exists. With so many different strategies to approach potential clients, it’s difficult to really pinpoint which ones work better than others. Most successful advisors use strategies that best fit their talents and don’t use up an […]

7 min read

Training programs help rookies

Consider this: of the 17,500 CFPs in Canada, 44% are over age 50 and will be retiring in the next 10-15 years. However, only 10% of CFP professionals are under the age of 35. That means there are awesome opportunities for younger advisors to succeed older planners as they exit their businesses. The opportunities are […]

By Staff |January 1, 2010

7 min read

In pursuit of designations

Attaining financial industry designations is a daunting task for any new advisor. And there are two primary reasons. The first is time. For new advisors consumed with building their books, dedicating time to expand their knowledge through formal course offerings is a challenge. You’re essentially going back to school, and if you’re taking the exam […]

4 min read

4 tips for new advisors

Recruiters always paint a rosy picture about being an advisor: One firm was famous for telling people they could make $600,000 a year by working a four-day week. Let’s get realistic. The money and career satisfaction that comes from being an advisor can be great, but roughly two of three rookies won’t survive in this […]

By Mark Noble |January 1, 2010

10 min read