PlanPlus announced the winners of the 2017 Global Financial Planning awards this week. Jason Pereira, from Toronto, placed first for the Americas region – this is the second time he has won the award.

Other winners include Thayn Niemand from South Africa for the Asia region and Ricardo van Doormalen from the Netherlands for Europe/Australia.

Competitors for the awards submit a written financial plan that they have presented to an actual client. A group of finalists then have to present their financial plan to a judging panel of top financial planning experts.

Quality, depth and understanding

“This year’s event was outstanding”, said awards chair John Page. “All three competitions were extremely close with two brand new participants coming out on top for both Asia and Europe/Australia regions. It is very rare that a new competitor takes top standings, however the quality, depth and understanding shown by these financial planners was undeniable.”

Jason Pereira is a partner and senior financial consultant at IPC/Woodgate Financial, in Toronto. Pereira also won the award in 2015. The first runner up for the Americas region was Rose Swanger of Tennessee, USA. Second runner-up was Paul Tyers, also from Toronto.

Validation and opportunity

“For the second time in three years, I find myself both humbled and honored to have been named the winner of this year's Global Financial Planning Award,” said Pereira. “The experience has not only brought validation and opportunity but has also helped me refine and enhance my service offering. I encourage all planners to participate for both the experience and the opportunity to improve upon their abilities.”

In addition to the award itself, the winners will also get an all-expenses paid trip to the 2017 FPA Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

Fiduciary-level planning

“When we decided to launch the PlanPlus Global Financial Planning Awards in 2013, we wanted to showcase financial planners doing professional, fiduciary-level planning for their clients and transforming the clients’ lives in the process”, said Shawn Brayman President and CEO of PlanPlus Inc. “We had no idea the awards would take off as they have. The response from other countries wanting to participate by running their own national competitions has been incredible. These national competitions feed highly qualified planners into the global competition where planners from around the world go head to head. Three additional competitions are in the works for 2018,” said Brayman.