Al Jones had been Advocis board chairman for only a month and members were already grilling him about the association’s financial struggles. His scheduled August update at the Advocis Atlantic School had transformed into a free-form town hall with “question after question,” he said.
Afterward, when some attendees commented on the session’s aggressive tone, Jones told them he understood.
“They’re our members,” he said. “They want to know what’s going on — as much as we can share with them.”
In particular, Advocis members wanted to know what transpired with longtime CEO Greg Pollock, Jones said, adding that can’t be discussed “at this point.”
Pollock was ousted in September 2023 after nearly 15 years at the helm — and the year after Advocis began to struggle with liquidity amid falling membership and higher costs. (Pollock has launched a $2.5-million claim for wrongful termination, not yet resolved.) The Century Initiative, funded by premium membership fees, fell to $3.3 million by year-end 2023, from $5.6 million when the year began.
Jones, reflecting on the association’s financial challenges, told Investment Executive that an organization sometimes needs to change course.
“Sometimes, it’s the captain or the CEO that has to recognize that and make that happen,” he said. “Sometimes, people have that tunnel vision on and are unwavering in their thought processes or can’t see that we’ve got to avoid this storm.”
“You have to rely on the people you put in place — the auditors and your CEO and management — to present reports you can rely on,” he added, noting good governance means occasionally changing auditors and ensuring management isn’t complacent.
Advocis hired a new auditor for its 2023 (and restated 2022) financial statements.
Further, boards “have to ask questions,” Jones said. “That began to happen a couple years ago.”
Other than Jones, the Advocis board is largely unchanged. Each member was “instrumental” in uncovering the association’s liquidity issues, he said.
Jones previously served as board chairman from 2008 to 2010 and was a board member five years prior to that. When the nominations committee suggested he return to the board, a new chief executive was a motivating factor.
“What’s of interest to me is onboarding a new CEO, working with the governance from that point of view, and getting that person up to speed,” he said. “This is a new chapter within the association … and what a great opportunity to be one of the conductors.”
New CEO Kelly Gorman — previously executive vice-president of governance advisory with Kingsdale Advisors in Toronto — took the helm on Sept. 23. She’s held senior leadership roles with CPA Ontario and the Ontario Securities Commission.
Gorman “checks a lot of boxes,” Jones said, referring to her background in governance, accounting and enforcement. After Gorman gets the lay of the land over her first 90 days, the board will commit to the association’s new direction, he said.
Board members will also receive internal training on governance, which began under previous chairman Eric Lidemark. Jones said he believes strong governance provides an organization with a solid foundation from which it should “rarely” deviate.
Lidemark and Sara Gelgor, the board’s public director and secretary, will analyze what each board member brings to the table, and what areas need to improve. Annual board member evaluations, conducted during Jones’s first stint as chairman, will be reinstituted using a third party.
“We’re not looking for faults in individuals,” he said, but rather “what is a missing piece or what can be improved upon collectively.”
Not for ourselves alone
Since 1996 Jones has been a member of Advocis (then the Life Underwriters Association of Canada), is a past president of the Innisfil Chamber of Commerce, and a past chairman of the board of the People’s Credit Union in Barrie, Ont. And for several years he’s been a member of the Grey and Simcoe Foresters Honourable Guard, which comprises former military personnel and citizens supporting the associated regiment and community.
“Community is so important to everything that I’ve done,” Jones said. He referred to Advocis’ motto of Non solis nobis, which means “Not for ourselves alone.”
Of his accomplishments, he’s most proud of being honorary colonel (2022–2025) of the Grey and Simcoe Foresters regiment. “It has allowed me to spend a lot of time with the men and women in uniform,” he said.
His family has a long history of Canadian military service, with his great-grandfather being recognized posthumously in the Canadian War Museum. He wasn’t recognized while alive because “we just didn’t do that for people of colour,” Jones said.
The Grey and Simcoe Foresters has Arctic responsibilities, and Jones, a Black man, has stood out on visits to northern communities.
“It’s similar to when I started in the industry,” Jones said. When locals in the North noticed he didn’t look like the rest of the soldiers, “there was almost an instant connection.”
While Jones has always appreciated the camaraderie that Advocis provides, its “pillar” that focuses on community is about more than services for members, he said. It’s about “giving back.” For example, chapters provide schools with financial literacy programs or help in seniors facilities, he said: “That’s serving the Canadian population in a very positive way that’s not self-serving.”
He also wants chapter boards to reflect the communities they serve. “In Brampton [Ont.], your board should not look like what it looks like in Regina,” he said.
Advocis’ two other pillars are continuing education and its code of conduct. Focus on the latter will be about following, executing, and adding teeth to the code, Jones said, referring to Advocis’ enforcement role as a credentialing body for title regulation in Ontario.
Jones, citing the association’s strength in advocacy, also questions what else the association could do for Canadian consumers. He’d like to see title regulation evolve. While Ontario’s regime has been criticized for its multiple credentials and product focus, “this is not where we’re going to end,” Jones said.
That type of comment could apply to him in many ways.
Other provinces are developing their own title protection frameworks, he noted. “The end goal for me, personally, would be we keep raising the bar.”
This article appears in the October issue of Investment Executive. Subscribe to the print edition, read the digital edition or read the articles online.