Advising the advisors

Although the ultimate beneficiaries of deRooy-Pearson’s expertise includes those business owners and high net-worth individuals, they are not her direct clients. deRooy-Pearson works exclusively with the financial advisors who advise those clients – similar to the way a medical specialist might work with a general practitioner on behalf of a patient.

deRooy-Pearson began her business life as a chartered accountant (CA). And it’s that accounting background that gives deRooy-Pearson, an Edmonton-born, University of Alberta graduate with a bachelor of commerce degree, an advantage – especially when it comes to advising on tax strategies.

And, in addition to running her business out of a home office that’s tucked among Tsawwassen’s tall cedars, deRooy-Pearson is a newly published, first-time author.

Her book, Paying Too Much Tax: A Business Owner’s Guide to Corporate Structures & Saving Tax, is an extension of deRooy-Pearson’s personal approach to financial planning for business owners and high net-worth individuals.

“The book serves as something of a business card for me,” deRooy-Pearson says. “It explains what I do and it’s also sort of a ‘Coles Notes’ for financial advisors and their business-owner clients.”

The book covers a variety of topics, such as using small-business tax rates to best advantage, corporate structure tax advantages, insurance, helping a business owner finance his or her children’s post-secondary education, and setting up a retirement plan, succession plan and estate plan.

The key, says deRooy-Pearson, is how to integrate all these items into one cohesive strategy.

Her book also is a natural extension of her longtime experience as a public speaker and author of numerous specialized articles. She still pursues those activities today, both on behalf of her business and in her role as co-chairwoman of the program committee for the Vancouver chapter of the Financial Advisors Association of Canada (a.k.a. Advocis).

“I still love public speaking, but I must admit it was a challenge when I started,” deRooy-Pearson says. “It’s a way of helping people that I find very rewarding because you often get instant feedback from your audience.”

Much of deRooy-Pearson’s early experience at the podium was gained during her eight-year stint with Empire Life Insurance Co. in Vancouver. “About 50% of my work at Empire Life was public speaking,” she says, “but I also did a lot of client seminars, which I enjoyed as well.”

While at Empire Life, deRooy-Pearson played key roles in developing two distinctive programs. One was to educate women on financial topics; the other, which deRooy-Pearson developed on her own, was created to help financial advisors assist their small-business clients in dealing with succession. She also gained an up-close look at the insurance industry.

She had pursued accounting directly upon graduation from university, first by gaining accounting experience with accounting firm Touche Ross (now Deloitte LLP) in London, U.K. “I decided to become a chartered accountant during my last year of university,” she recalls.

After a short stay in the U.K., deRooy-Pearson took a position with Touche Ross in Vancouver, where she completed her CA. During those early days in Vancouver, she married, had two children and was a stay-at-home mom until 1989, when, after her divorce, she ran her own CA practice for the next nine years.

deRooy-Pearson then sold her CA practice in order to specialize in taxation. This transition included taking a three-year tax course with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Following a subsequent two-year stint with the tax group at Ernst & Young LLP in Vancouver (during which deRooy-Pearson “learned that I don’t like big companies – that’s not my idea of having fun,” she says), she decided to try the insurance business. That led to her job at Empire Life in 2005, in which she specialized in tax and estate planning.

Along the way, deRooy-Pearson obtained her designations as a certified financial planner, chartered life underwriter, trust and estate practitioner, financial divorce specialist and elder planning counsellor. “It was a steep learning curve for me,” she says, “but it was also great fun.”

Unfortunately, the fun ended in 2013, when deRooy-Pearson became a casualty of a corporate downsizing. “They got rid of our whole department,” she says, “It was quite a shock.”

About the same time, deRooy-Pearson married her current husband, John Pearson. Between them, they have four adult children and one very friendly German shepherd, Charlie, who often leads the couple on long walks along Tsawwassen’s wooded trails and nearby seaside beaches. Thanks to deRooy-Pearson’s layoff package from Empire Life, she was able to sit back, smell the roses and plan her next career step.

“I realized I had a lot to offer in the specialized areas I had been working in,” she says, “so I decided to start my own unique financial planning practice.”

Not surprising, along the way in deRooy-Pearson’s varied career, she has accumulated a great deal of financial planning knowledge, which can greatly assist those just entering the field.

“It’s vital, for example,” she says, “for advisors to have the ability to communicate effectively with other members of a client’s financial team, such as the accountant, lawyer or insurance specialist.

“Most important of all,” she adds, “is that the financial advisor must not become intimidated by these other professionals.”

The key, she adds, is for advisors to educate themselves about what the other professionals on a client’s financial team actually do.

“Don’t be afraid to use your own expertise,” deRooy-Pearson says. “You’re the financial advisor on this team. You’re damn good at what you do – so just go out and do it!”

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