The Insurance Journal, in collaboration with the Canadian Institute of Financial Planners (CIFPs), is pleased to announce the coming launch of Focus on Financial Planning – a new special section to be featured each month in The Insurance Journal, beginning in the June/July 2008 edition.

With the introduction of this section, The Insurance Journal will also add a key new readership base. CIFPs will provide its 3,000 members – all of whom have earned the prestigious Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation – with a paid subscription to The Insurance Journal."

The Insurance Journal is proud to welcome CIFPs’ members on board as new subscribers," said the magazine’s publisher Serge Therrien. "CFPs are top-level planners who serve the complex financial needs of Canadians – often affluent – in areas such as investment choices, insurance needs, estate planning, taxation issues and more."

Mr. Therrien added that Focus on Financial Planning will provide financial planners and advisors with in-depth, timely coverage of financial industry news and trends, product information and case studies that illustrate effective planning strategies. "The goal of this new section is to enable readers to increase their knowledge and expertise, so that they can better guide their clients’ increasingly sophisticated financial planning decisions."Interviewed at

CIFPs 6th Annual Conference held in Florida in early May, Keith Costello, president and CEO of CIFPs, said, "We are really excited to be teaming up with The Insurance Journal." He added that CIFPs surveyed its members before making its decision to purchase the membership subscription. "What our members tell us is that the publication is very well done and has credibility." He adds that CIFPs members also like the way that The Insurance Journal has evolved in recent years to add investment and securities related articles to its insurance sector coverage. This evolution is in line with the information needs of financial planners who must have broad-ranging expertise.

Mr. Costello adds that the new section will help to highlight the importance of financial planning in the industry, in addition to bringing valuable information to CIFPs’ members and to The Insurance Journal’s overall readership. The style and in-depth quality of the publication’s articles enables readers to learn about, and reflect on a variety of important issues of concern to them in their professional lives, he adds.