Earlier in July, Advocis, The Financial Advisors Association of Canada, announced Curtis Kimpton of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan as its new Chair, succeeding Al Jones.
Kimpton, who holds Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Investment Manager (CIM) designations, has been working in the industry for close to three decades. The first 22 years of his career was spent at Investors Group. For the past seven years, he has worked with Wellington-Altus Private Wealth as a Senior Wealth Advisor. He has been an active member of Advocis since 2014.
In addition, Advocis also announced four newly elected board members: Tannis Dawson, Kelly Ho, Chris Hudson, and Tina Tehranchian. Returning to the board are: Arun Channan, Sara La Gamba, and Ejaz Nadeem. Al Jones will continue serving on the board as Past-Chair for one more year.
A pivotal time
In an interview with the Insurance Portal, Curtis Kimpton said that the fresh perspectives and expertise of the new members will help the organization navigate a “pivotal time”. Over the past few years, Advocis has struggled with multiple challenges, including financial instability and various lawsuits.
In its 2023 annual report entitled Rebuilding with Resilience, Harris Jones, the former interim CEO, stated in his message, “There’s no point in sugar coating 2022 and 2023, we experienced unprecedented financial losses and an accompanying liquidity crisis that posed an existential threat to the organization.”
The balance sheet published in that annual report shows the “deficiency of revenue over expenses” of $2.7 million for 2022. In 2023, this loss stood at $766 thousand. The 2023 annual report is the latest currently available on Advocis’ website. The 2024 annual report will be available on the website July 29, an Advocis spokesperson told the Insurance Portal.
Some of the strategies that Advocis used to restore its financial stability included borrowing from Advocis-owned life insurance policies and getting a loan from the organization’s Century Initiative Fund, explains the 2023 annual report. Cost-cutting measures such as a travel ban and staff restructuring were also part of the financial turnaround strategies, according to the report.
Major improvement
Asked for an update on the association’s finances, Advocis provided a copy of the organization’s 2024 annual Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) that was sent to members in May. It reveals that the association’s finances have made a major recovery, recording “a consolidated net surplus of $1.82 million, an improvement of $2.59 million over the previous year. This turnaround was driven primarily by cost savings of $907K in service delivery and $1.42 million in general operating expenses, alongside a $432K year-over-year revenue increase from 2023.”
The report adds that this renewed financial stability, is allowing the association to enter a phase of strategic reinvestment. “In 2025 and beyond, we are focused on delivering enhanced member value, strengthening the profession, and expanding our influence across the industry,” says the MD&A.
In September 2023, after the board became aware of the extent of the association’s losses, longtime CEO Greg Pollock was dismissed. Harris Jones was appointed to the interim CEO position as part of a turnaround plan, he explains in the annual report.
Legal challenges
Pollock subsequently launched a lawsuit for wrongful termination, as did former COO Julie Martini. These cases were settled in late 2024, according to an article published in December by Investment Executive.
In September 2024, Kelly Gorman, who is a Chartered Professional Accountant, was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Advocis.
Asked for an update on past and ongoing legal challenges, Advocis provided the following statement. “For the short term, the Board of Directors has put in place clear measures to ensure that defending these claims does not detract from our ability to serve our members effectively. Long-term, our President and CEO, Kelly Gorman, has implemented controls and procedures to minimize potential legal issues in the future. Regarding ongoing legal matters, we are unable to comment further on those at this time.”
It was during this tumultuous period that Curtis Kimpton got involved with Advocis at the national level. First, he joined the organization’s finance and audit committee in 2021 and then became a board member in 2023. “I got right into the middle of it.”
He doesn’t regret his timing. “When you jump into a board and there’s some strong issues, you really have to roll up your sleeves and get to work and start figuring things out. And that’s exactly what we did as a board. We had lots of little issues and big issues going on. But, today, I see the light…We are incredibly focused. The future looks bright for Advocis.”
He credits much of this improvement to the new CEO Kelly Gorman. “Her work has been fantastic…She is doing everything we could ask for.”
The road to recovery
While Advocis has faced many headwinds, Kimpton says it’s coming out of the other side of it. “We’re back on the road to recovery and building a very solid financial future for the organization.”
With regard to his own personal vision for his tenure as Chair, Kimpton says his number one priority is to strengthen Advocis’ governance. “I think we need a little bit of an overhaul and to make sure our membership is 100% confident in what we do.”
How does he plan to achieve this goal? “We’re going through it right now. We’re taking a complete look at all our bylaws and all of our policies and re-establishing everything. We’re going to do a complete modernization of our governance.”
Rebuilding confidence
This, he says, will lead to “a more modern Advocis. One of the big things we are doing is demonstrating stronger financial oversight…We realized we needed to change. We also realized that we need to get stronger and clearer communication to members. For the future, those are the two big pieces to start rebuilding confidence.”
In taking on his new role as Chair of Advocis, Kimpton says, “I’ll be honest. The biggest driver for me is openness and transparency…I want us to be open and transparent on where we’re going.” Such openness will help Advocis to build a future, one that allows members to feel like they are part of the organization, he adds.
One of the significant changes that the new board brings is the strong presence of women. There are now four women on the board and five men. In the past, it has been a “very heavily male-dominated board…as the industry has tended to be,” Kimpton says, adding that he’s excited about this change. “It’s nice to see diversity on our board.”
One of those new board members is Tina Tehranchian of Assante Capital Management Ltd. Tehranchian is a well known advisor who was named to the Order of Canada in 2024. “She has a very strong governance background,” Kimpton points out.
Membership issues
This spring at their annual general meeting, the Conference for Advanced Underwriting (CALU) held a vote on whether to keep their requirement that its 600 members also be Advocis members. Following the vote, the requirement was maintained.
Kimpton says it’s to be expected that when an organization goes through challenges, their partners might take a look at the situation and evaluate it. “I am glad that they (CALU) did their due diligence, and I’m glad that they saw that we’re coming out of those times and we’re moving forward. It’s our goal to make sure that we have strong relationships not just with CALU, but all of our partners.”
One of the main challenges the organization is looking to address is its membership decline. According to its 2024 MD&A, Advocis has “over 4,300 full dues-paying members, along with a growing base of provisional, student, and retired members.” Advocis shared that in 2024 the membership base – across all categories of members – totalled 7,500. This year, that figure has been updated to 7,400. “Supporting and growing our core membership continues to be a central focus for us,” he stated.
Looking back, the 2019 annual report, put Advocis membership at 12,000. Asked about this significantly higher membership total, Advocis' spokesperson said the association is now calculating its membership numbers differently than back then. “The 12,000 members mentioned in the 2019 annual report represented a combination of anyone who interacted with Advocis in any capacity, whether that be through education, attending events, or other business interactions, not just full dues-paying members. We no longer use that language, as it didn’t accurately reflect our membership structure.”
Kimpton says to build up the membership the association is looking to re-engage members and attract younger advisors.
One of the ways it plans to do this is by developing an “emerging leaders committee” for advisors who have been in the industry for five to 15 years. “We need that younger professional to come in and tell us what they need and give us their perspective so that we can shape the future of Advocis,” he says. “They can give us that strategic input. They can highlight what’s challenging them, and their challenges are different than what I went through 25 years ago, when I was early into the business. We want to build for our next generation coming up.”
In addition to the emerging leaders committee, Advocis is putting more emphasis on recruiting new members through student and provisional memberships with reduced fees. “We’re continuing to tailor our membership because we want people getting involved as early as they can be…This will give them access to education and networking, which is something you need as a new person in the industry.”
Recruitment initiatives
Student and provisional memberships are not new but have not been much of a focus before, he adds. Such recruitment initiatives will be carried out “through localized engagement” at the chapter level across the country, he underlines.
Bringing in more younger advisors is particularly important for the organization, especially considering Advocis has seen a lot of advisors retiring, one of the factors behind its declining membership numbers, says Kimpton.
The association’s technology and innovation committee is also part of this effort to attract new recruits, through their work on digital tools and learning, he adds. “We’re starting to build out more of a digital presence and helping busy younger advisors…We’re looking at resources and connecting advisors with forward thinking tools and services, to support their practices.”
Industry challenges
As for the challenges in the industry that impact its members, Kimpton says probably the biggest is the “evolving regulatory landscape, whether it’s title protection or regulatory harmonization.” He says Advocis has great relationships with the various industry stakeholders and can “be at the forefront and driving some of those critical conversations.” In this regard, the association will be releasing a thought leadership white paper in the coming weeks, he adds.
He also stressed the need to uphold high standards in the industry. This is why Advocis would like to see the harmonization of advisor title protection across the country – like the rules established by Ontario.
Title protection
In a press release issued last March, Advocis called on federal and provincial policymakers to work together to establish a “nationally recognized, enforceable standard for financial advisors.” This standard should include national title protection to ensure only trained and certified professionals can use the title “Financial Advisor” or “Financial Planner.” It should also include minimum educational and ethical standards, stated Advocis.
“Momentum is building across the country. Led by Ontario, several provinces –including Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan– are taking steps to introduce stronger protections, but progress is uneven. The lack of a national standard leaves Canadians vulnerable, especially those who don’t know what to look for in a financial professional,” said the press release.
“We want to see our industry become more professional,” says Kimpton. “I think it’s key for our industry moving forward, and really it’s about consumer protection.”
