Greg Pollock is playing to his strengths.

Arriving at Toronto-based Advocis in October as its new president and CEO from his tenure as general secretary of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, Pollock is turning to education as the lynchpin of his approach to the new job.

Pollock, who graduated with master’s degrees in both law and educational administration, faces stagnating Advocis membership numbers in an industry that’s aging quickly, and that means lower income for Advocis from fees. He sees electronic continuing education accreditation as a good way to address these issues.

“There are younger folks who appreciate the opportunity to learn online, rather than face-to-face and having to travel for an hour on the road to Toronto, or the next town,” says the 53-year-old who grew up in the Eastern Beaches in Toronto. “How can [the online social media] be used to link members, promote their interests and meet their needs?”

Pollock says he aims to increase membership; as a generation of advisors retires, the organization needs to attract new members by developing services that appeal to them: “We need to look at folks coming into the industry, find out how they’re similar, and how they are different. Do they learn differently, for example?” Advocis has about 10,000 members.

At the teachers’ association, Pollock implemented a professional development program — the equivalent of the industry’s regulated CE programs — that was self-sustaining after four years of operation. He is confident that he could implement the same sort of program at Advocis — if that’s what membership wants. “If I was the only player in the game, I’d go forward with that immediately,” he says.

At the end of November, Pollock began a three-month tour of Advocis chapter offices, where he is measuring interest about such a project. It will be among a handful of the questions he asks to gather a consensus about the direction for the organization.

“What I want to do is focus on three questions: What’s Advocis doing well that we must continue? What one thing are we doing that we should abandon — that’s not worth doing? And what must we do in the future in order to ensure short-term success?”

Pollock says he was a consensus-maker in his previous job, which involved tough collective bargaining with the government. He was part of a board that aligned its strategic direction with that of the membership, he says. During his tenure at the organization, an audit showed a 98% approval rating from members, which shocked the board. “Pollsters say that sort of rating doesn’t exist,” he laughs.

“I want to emphasize the structure of that association,” he says. “It is an association with diverse interests, and it’s a question of balancing those interests. I had lots of those challenges where I came from, and I anticipate there will be some here. I’m looking forward to that.”

Pollock arrives on the job with credibility in financial services. He was a member of the Ontario Teachers’ Insurance Plan, which delivers group financial plans and benefits to teachers. He also sat on the board of the Ontario Teachers Federation overseeing the $100-billion Ontario Teachers Pension Plan along with the Ontario government. He earned his certified financial planning designation in the 1990s. “I felt I needed more background in that area and the CFP helped in that regard,” he says. He also obtained the Investment Funds Institute of Canada’s officers, partners, directors certificate.

Pollock says his experience with the inner workings of Queen’s Park will serve him well. He established and oversaw the school board’s government relations department until 2001. It lobbied the provincial government and, to some extent, the federal government as well. “I’m talking about not only members of provincial parliament, but their senior staff, and it wasn’t just in the education portfolio,” he says. “We touched on a number of industries as we did our work.”

Advocis has done a good job, but Pollock wants to raise its profile so that it can better advance its interests and those of consumers. His first chance to do that has already arrived.

At the end of November, regulators issued recommendations about the way banks sell insurance in connection with their lending products such as mortgages and credit cards — so called ‘incidental sales of insurance.”

@page_break@The Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators and the Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organizations working group recommended getting more data from the sellers of ISI, improving the insurance application process as well as the training and supervision of sales people and providing an extended cooling off period for buyers.

Advocis had called for a form of limited or restrictive licensing including an entrance examination for sales people, continuing education and errors and omissions insurance — services offered by Advocis — but the regulator’s paper falls short of that.

“This isn’t over for our members. The door is still open. Next, we take this issue to the provinces and work with them to see that consumers get the protection they deserve, and financial advisors and planners get the level playing field they deserve,” says Pollock.

ISI includes car dealerships that sell creditor insurance and travel agencies that sell travel insurance, for example. But, by far, the biggest batch of such business is performed by bankers. Generally, traditional insurance manufacturers and banks are in favour of regulation that more closely resembles the status quo.

But the regulator’s paper notes a concern that banks’ group insurance sales process leaves a lot to be desired. It used an independent test to review the application process and found it wanting. It says manufacturers should train sales people, but warns that regulators might impose licensing requirements if the training isn’t adequate. Advocis says the proposals still leave the onus of determining product suitability on the consumer and that an advisor should help.

Pollock says he wants the association to develop such a positive reputation with consumers that they request their advisors be Advocis members. That’s a tall order, and Pollock acknowledges that accomplishing it is a long way off. And a time when advisors are watching the bottom line, membership and its costs come under scrutiny.

“Membership is a long-term investment and I’m hoping they see the long term value,” says Pollock. “That’s what I expect to find out there but I guess time will tell.”

As a consensus-maker, Pollock is naturally aware of a variety of interests. He notes he’s from a family of eight; and he and his wife, Pat, have raised five children. They range in age from 21 to 28 years, and Pollock says most have launched themselves into careers or education paths, which gives him spare time that he didn’t have earlier in his career, and the chance to read extensively.

He has always appreciated city life, but he’ll take his opportunity to leave it as well: he enjoys hiking and the outdoors. As winter settles in, he’ll be snow-shoeing or cross-country skiing. IE