Three financial services professionals in Toronto were recognized as the winners of PlanPlus Canada Financial Planning Awards at the Canadian Institute of Financial Planners’ (CIFPs) annual conference in Ottawa earlier this week.
The top honour was given to Paul Tyers, managing director and portfolio manager with Wealth Stewards Inc. while Jason Pereira, partner and senior financial consultant with Woodgate Financial Inc. was named first runner-up and Mark LeClaire, director, estate and financial planning services, Sun Life Financial (Canada) Inc. was the second runner-up.
“I am especially pleased to be part of a professional group of planners who are seeking a fiduciary standard in their ‘client-first recommendations,’ often in sharp contrast to many financial services purveyors,” Tyers says in a statement.
PlanPlus’ awards, now in their second year, are overseen by a panel of five international judges tasked with casting a blind vote for their preferred candidate.
“In creating these awards, it was important to us that they be based solely on the value the planner created for their client, and that the selection of winners be totally objective,” says John Page, the awards’ chairman, in a statement.
The awards have the support of all the financial planning associations across the country, including the Financial Planning Standards Council, the Institute of Advanced Financial Planners, among others. It was launched to promote public awareness and appreciation for the profession.
To qualify, financial planners were asked to submit plans they’ve crafted for clients, with their permission. Each plan is assessed based on the “quality and breadth of communications they contain and how well they address the clients’ best interests,” according to PlanPlus’ news release.
As winners for Canada, Tyers, Pereira and LeClaire will compete against their peers in the Americas in the finals of the PlanPlus Global Financial Planning Awards — Americas region.
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