Vancouver financial advisor Jim Rogers has been appointed president of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), an international association of financial professionals with more than 35,000 members from 78 countries.

Rogers’ position as MDRT president became effective September 1, and is the culmination of his five-year term on the MDRT executive committee, which he began as Secretary in 2002. He is only the third non-U.S. member to be on the MDRT executive committee in the association’s 80-year history, and the second Canadian to serve as president.

As president, Rogers will spend the next 12 months traveling around the globe spreading the MDRT word. His presidential platform includes ensuring MDRT represents professionals who are at the top of the industry in their respective countries; looking at ways to support formal education; making better use of electronic communication, including redesigning MDRT’s Web site; and keeping current with members’ needs by continuing to provide tools for members’ Baby Boomer clients through the MDRT Boomertirement program.

Rogers, 62, is a 34-year MDRT member and a 25-time qualifier of MDRT’s highest level of membership — Top of the Table.

Rogers is chair of Rogers Group Financial, a 51-person, independent financial advisory and investment counseling firm located in Vancouver. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of British Columbia, and a master’s degree in business administration from Simon Fraser University.

He has held many volunteer leadership positions in the Canadian insurance and financial services industry, as a past chair of the Canadian Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (2000-2001) and the Financial Planners Standards Council Regulatory Committee.

He is also currently a guest lecturer at Simon Fraser University Graduate School of Business and a guest lecturer at the University of British Columbia department of economics.