Wow! What a Turnout!

Wow! What a turnout!

Our Annual Christmas Luncheon in support of Inn from the Cold is SOLD OUT! Thank you to everyone for your support.

We are very excited about this year’s two keynote speakers- Dr. Mark Milke from the Fraser Institute and Ken Taylor, former Canadian Ambassador to Iran. It is sure to be a great event.

We also had a great turnout at the second annual Legislature Day in Edmonton on October 24, 2012.  More than 50 Advocis members from across the province participated throughout the day and discussed key issues impacting financial advisors and Alberta consumers with some 30 MLAs.

Among the key messages delivered by Advocis members were that the value of financial advice positively impacts Alberta consumers, the economy and the government and that the current regulatory environment presents middle class, "Main Street" Albertan families with significant barriers to accessing professional financial advice.  MLAs recognized the importance of financial advice and the role that small business financial advisors play in raising the financial literacy of consumers in every community across the province.

Advocis is seeking to build consensus on alternative regulatory approaches to protect consumers, which includes raising the professional bar for all financial advisors and planners and giving more responsibility to professional associations with codes of professional and ethical conduct and high proficiency standards to oversee the provision of professional financial advice.  This message was well received by MLAs, who agreed to work with Advocis towards an appropriate regulatory framework - one that adequately protects consumers while creating an environment that allows greater access to professional financial advice.  While the MLAs with whom our members spoke support our direction in principle, it is now time to turn our attention to building on this success to make Advocis' approach a reality.