Advocis | Be an advocate for your profession

We have received an overwhelming response from Advocis members to our Regulatory Affairs bulletin that addresses the threat financial advisors are facing with respect to a statute-based fiduciary duty and the restructuring of advisor compensation.

Many of you are concerned about the implications of the Canadian Securities Administrators’ (CSA) proposed regulations — and you should be. As you read in the bulletin, these two regulations represent the biggest regulatory threats to your profession in living memory.

Our answer to these potentially devastating rules comes in the form of Advocis’s Professions Model, which calls for all financial advisors to become members of an accredited professional association. In fact, we are taking our message to regulators and legislators. We have been in discussions with decision-makers across the country about our model for advisor professionalism, and about how the proposed CSA regulations would drive advisors out of the industry and create significant barriers for Canadians seeking financial advice.

Our Professions Model is resonating well with politicians, and they seem willing to work with us toward a regulatory framework that protects the consumer while maintaining the health of the financial services industry.

But this is not enough. Advisors nationwide are facing an uncertain future. You can help ensure your profession is protected from these regulatory threats by:

• Signing the petition supporting the Professions Model and asking your fellow advisors to do the same.
• Sharing our bulletin with everyone in your advisor networks, whether they are in the MDRT or other associations like IFBC or CIFP.
• Including your clients in the conversation. Over the coming weeks we will be preparing consumer-friendly communication pieces on the value of financial advice and the Professions Model for you to share with clients. They need to understand how these rules will impact them.
• Becoming politically active. Join your local Provincial Advocacy Committee (PAC), which allows you to take the message of the value of advice directly to your provincial politician — and our alternative to ill-conceived regulatory proposals. Sign up and we will provide you with key messages and a leave behind document.

Our industry needs to be ready for what could be a sea change in how advisors do business. Don’t let regulators determine your future and that of your clients — it’s in your hands.

Greg Pollock, CFP
President and Chief Executive Officer
Advocis, The Financial Advisors Association of Canada