At the Insurance and Investment Convention in Montreal last week, Monique Jérôme-Forget chaired the awards ceremony for the Chambre de la sécurité financière's Prix Excellence.

Jérôme-Forget, who was a member of Quebec's National Assembly between 1998 and 2009 and served as both the province's Minister of Finance and Minister of Government Services, took advantage of the opportunity to comment on the new challenges faced by the financial services industry.

"As soon as something goes wrong, people go on the internet, which is an open, accessible encyclopedia. If you take a product, you can have access to reviews. But simply because you have the Internet does not mean that you should not go to the doctor," she said, referring to current debate in the industry over the online sale of insurance products.

Support for the CSF

Furthermore, Jérôme-Forget reaffirmed her support for Quebec's insurance SRO, the Chambre de sécurité financière (CSF), and emphasized its importance.

"$11 million for 32,000 members, if you think that is expensive, I think you're cheap," she joked. "This is not asking very much. It costs less for the AMF to monitor firms because there are fewer of them," notes Jérôme-Forget, who has sat on the Bank of Canada's board of directors since 2013.

She concluded with a word to financial planners, and stressed that it is essential that they retain their autonomy.

Important advisory role

"You have to protect your professionalism, because your conscientiousness is being put to the test," she said, referring to the importance of the advisory role. "You need to give yourself the opportunity to be innovative, to go further in the client's interest, and in your professional education. You must understand the products and make sure you are able to explain them to your customers. "

She concluded with a particularly motivating statement: "My children, take your time, because we are in a hurry."