Canada’s largest professional association of financial advisors, Advocis, is issuing a “call to action” to the financial services industry to join in a campaign to address serious issues facing the industry.

Through a round of consultations with key financial services providers during December 2002 and January 2003, Advocis has determined that Canadians have lost confidence in the integrity of the industry, throughout all disciplines including insurance, investing, and financial planning.

Advocis notes there is inconsistency amongst advisors as to their depth of knowledge and the methodologies they follow, and that there are no norms for customer service and protection.

The association also says the industry is too fragmented. There are too many regulators, too many designations, and too many organizations.

Advocis believes that the industry needs to make a commitment to change if the problems are to be fixed, and it has released an action plan based on six strategic initiatives:

  1. The development of a set of “best practices for financial advisors,” designed to become the standard that all in the industry would follow, for the protection and benefit of consumers.
  2. Continued availability of appropriate professional liability insurance.
  3. The repositioning of the CLU Institute, the body that awards the Chartered Life Underwriter designation, to address more fully the relevant issues facing insurance and estate planning practitioners.
  4. The creation of the Conference for Advanced Financial Planning to deliver the high-end educational programs that experienced financial planners need.
  5. Enhancing the value that Advocis’ corporate partners receive through their support of the professional association that puts client interests first.
  6. A “call to action” to the financial services industry to join Advocis in the campaign by stepping up their professional commitment and allocating the resources needed to fix the problems in the industry.

“If we’re successful in leading the industry to achieve these six initiatives, I believe advisors will be more professional, product suppliers and manufacturers will be better represented by their advisors, and the protection of the public interest, which is the objective of regulators, will be enhanced,” said Steve Howard, president and CEO of Advocis.

The action plan, entitled “Our World is Changing – The Advocis Vision of the Future for Canada’s Professional Financial Advisors,” is posted on the Advocis Web site at www.advocis.ca.