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Like many of the most successful independent financial advisors across Canada, Susan Creasy is an institution in her community. The Toronto native settled in Kingston, Ontario in her university days and didn’t look back, building up and growing a multi-generational practice in the city and the greater region.
“The younger clients coming into our practice, they might be the children or grandchildren of some of my clients. They go to meet with my 35-year-old son-in-law because they have way more in common with him than they likely will with me,” Creasy quips.
Creasy has been an independent financial planner and insurance broker since 1980, witnessing constant change and evolution in the industry. However, working in partnership with Financial Horizons Group since 2002 has enabled her to greatly expand her business and, most importantly, offer the best possible products and services to her clients through her practice, Susan Creasy Financial Inc.
“Working with a Managing General Agent enables you to provide any product that the company offers through its partnerships, which is a pretty significant advantage,” says Creasy. “It’s a win-win for clients: as an advisor you can really shop across the market and recommend the best insurance or investment product.”
“We’ve had a great camaraderie, a great friendship. They build relationships with their advisors like I build relationships with my clients.”
Creasy is known in her community for her involvement in philanthropy, and one major event in her calendar is Kingston’s annual Rose of Hope Charity Golf Tournament, which raises funds for various important projects identified by the University Hospitals Kingston Foundation. She serves on the tournament’s committee and is a past committee chair, and this July the event raised $220,000 towards a new mammography suite for the Kingston Health Sciences Centre. In addition to making a generous donation, Financial Horizons Group co-sponsored the Rose of Hope fundraising dinner, and Creasy credits the company for being a reliable partner in her charitable work as well.
“I will say over all the years of my relationship with Financial Horizons Group, they’ve been incredibly supportive of the causes I volunteer for,” says Creasy. “We’ve had a great camaraderie, a great friendship. They build relationships with their advisors like I build relationships with my clients.”
Another major driver of change in the industry Creasy has been witnessing is the role of women. She recalls when she first started as an independent advisor and an eventual practice owner, it was still rare to see women in her position. Creasy says the industry has shown leadership in promoting the role of women as advisors and professionals, though there is still some distance to go.
“I can remember back in 1985 when I was expecting my first child, I went to my manager and said, ‘Okay, I’m pregnant, I’m due in December, what’s the company’s maternity policy?’ Well, they didn’t have one. So I wrote it.”
For Creasy, helping the industry grow and evolve, and also nurturing her own community through her business and charitable initiatives, harks back to one central lesson she has applied to her life and her career.
“Something I learned in the early years, that I still believe in, is that ‘you get what you give.’”
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
“‘Practice what you preach.’ I’ll tell you why I say that. My first husband died suddenly of an undiagnosed artery blockage, in bed at 47 years of age. I was 46, with two teenagers at home. If I hadn’t practiced what I had preached, and bought the same insurance that I was recommending to my clients, I would never be in the financial position I am in today.”
To start a conversation with Financial Horizons Group, visit www.financialhorizons.com.
Profiled individuals are independent advisors and have a broker relationship with Financial Horizons Group.