#IndependentAndInformed

Opening / Closing Remarks

Brian Woolley, Vice President, Advisor Solution, HUB Financial Inc.

Brian Woolley, Vice President, Advisor Solution, HUB Financial Inc. Brian is part of the leadership team helping shape the HUB Financial and HUB Capital value proposition to ensure that our advisors continue to receive industry leading support for their business. His focus includes strategic carrier relationships, working on HUB’s digital transformation and providing thought leadership to make sure HUB Financial and HUB Capital remain at the forefront of independent distribution.

Brian comes to us with years of experience in the financial services industry leading teams and implementing strategic initiatives in support of independent advisors.

Outside of work, Brian enjoys time with his wife, daughter, and their family dog. He’s often at his daughter’s dance competitions or enjoying skiing in the winter and cottaging in the summer.

Tax and Estate Planning Update

The world of tax and estate planning is constantly changing. This presentation will provide perspectives and insights from Budget 2024 including capital gains inclusion rate changes and various other measures. In this presentation, we will help you see than even in times of change, there are life insurance opportunities and alternatives that can assist clients and make their estate planning more solid.

Hemal Balsara, Head of Tax, Retirement and Estate Planning Services, Manulife

Hemal Balsara is the Head of Tax, Retirement and Estate Planning Services, and he provides tax, retirement, estate and insurance planning support and consultation to advisors regarding complex cases in the affluent and business markets. He leads a team of professionals providing this type of support and consultation across the country.

Hemal joined Manulife Financial in 2011 after spending six years in the tax area of a national accounting firm where he researched and analyzed complicated technical tax issues including various tax structuring and estate planning issues, planning for owner manager situations and various corporate and personal tax issues. In addition, prior to specializing in tax, Hemal spent two years in the audit practice.

Hemal has contributed to various publications including the Canadian Tax Highlights, PwC’s Wealth and Tax Matters, the Canadian Taxation of Life Insurance, and other tax related publications. He has also been a keynote speaker at various industry conferences including STEP Canada's National Conference, the CALU AGM, CALU Associates, Manulife's Elite Conference and so on.

Hemal received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and graduated with high distinction. He has also obtained his Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation. Hemal is a member of the CPA Canada, CPA Ontario, the Canadian Tax Foundation and the Estate Planning Council of Toronto, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and the Family Enterprise Exchange.

Estate Planning Ideas That Work for Affluent Clients and Business Owners

Matt will discuss a life insurance estate planning concept for your affluent and business owner clients involving maximizing the Capital Dividend Account. He will share case studies to help demonstrate the concept. He will offer some ideas about how to quickly pique the interest of your business owner clients and prospects. Matt will also outline reasons you would choose Equitable for your large cases.

Matt Austin, B.Math, CFP, CLU, Advanced Case Consultant, Individual, East, Equitable Life

Matt has been involved in the insurance industry for 37 years. He specializes in estate planning and insurance solutions for affluent clients. In collaboration with Equitable’s Regional Sales Managers, he helps insurance advisors analyze their clients’ situations and find innovative ways to protect their families and businesses. In addition to preparing cases, Matt participates in meetings with clients and their professional advisors.

He worked with Manulife Financial as a Senior Director in the insurance sales organization for 28 years. Most recently he worked directly with a small number of advisors from across Canada who serve ultra-affluent clients. Matt was consistently recognized for his effectiveness.

Matt is a graduate of the University of Waterloo in honours Math. He has achieved his CFP and CLU designations. He has been a frequent speaker at insurance advisor events. He is married and has two children, enjoys running 10K races, playing electric bass guitar, has performed some stand-up comedy and is a Kitchener Ranger (Junior A hockey) fan.

Corporate Insured Retirement Plan

Join this webinar to see how the Corporate Insured Retirement Plan (CIRP) concept supplements business owner retirement income, provides immediate protection for a Canadian-controlled private corporation (CCPC), enhances the estate value of the business owner, and provides a tax-efficient estate transfer at death.

Petra K. Ross, B.Comm, CHS, Regional Sales Director, Desjardins

Petra started her career in the Financial Services Industry after completing her Bachelor of Commerce degree from UBC. She spent six years with Great-West Life and rose to the position of Advanced Sales Manager of Living Benefits. She spent the next 10 years gaining experience working for insurance companies and MGA's training and helping independent Financial Advisors grow their practice. She is a Certified Health Specialist (CHS), holds the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation and is currently working towards her CLU.

Generational Wealth Transfer - Giving While Living using IA Seg Funds

In this presentation iA will go into the process of “giving while living”. They’ll be discussing RESPs and FHSAs as key openers when translating wealth preservation and wealth transfer discussions with clients as well as go through some estate planning case studies.

Angelina Basra, Director of Sales, Investments, iA Financial Group

Angelina has eight years of industry experience graduating from York University with a specialized Hons. BA in Global Political Studies and Economics. Her key differentiator is her passion and keen interest in global financial markets. She is dynamic, confident, and committed to partnering with advisors to build a lasting solution for any case she works on. She is looking forward to growing the territory and building genuine long-lasting relationships. In her spare time she enjoys yoga, golf, and really anything wellness related.

Hilda Ng, Director of Sales BC, CIM, iA Financial Group

Hilda brings to the iA Financial Group over 10 years of experience in the financial industry on both insurance and the wealth side. Prior to joining iA Financial, Hilda was a director of sales, private wealth for a major insurance company that focused on high net worth clientele. Her goal has always been in building strong relationships and helping advisors build their book of business. Hilda holds the Chartered Investment Manager (CIM) designation. companies and MGA's training and helping independent Financial Advisors grow their practice. She is a Certified Health Specialist (CHS), holds the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation and is currently working towards her CLU.

Flexible Benefits for Small Businesses

Discover how EDGE's Small Business Health & Dental plans have revolutionized the way business owners purchase benefits for their employees. Learn how you can take advantage of Small Business Benefits to create pathways for generating leads for your core products, including Life Insurance, Investments, and more.

David Sutton, GBA, Vice President, National Accounts & MGA’s, The Edge Benefits

David started in the insurance industry in 1990 and spent the first 23yrs as an Account Executive on the Group Insurance side of the business. Over that period of time he worked in the small, medium and large Group market segments. He joined the EDGE in 2013 and spent the first 5yrs as a Sales Director, before moving into his current role of Vice President, National Accounts and MGA’s. He has overall responsibility for EDGE’s 3 national accounts and 4 national MGA’s.

Rethinking How We Talk About Life Insurance

High inflation means Canadians are hesitating when it comes time to purchasing life insurance. It’s time to rethink how we talk about life insurance to earn the business of prospective clients. This presentation is designed to show advisors how to win the hearts and minds of prospects. First, it outlines current trends on the minds of many Canadians and the life insurance solutions available to address those trends. Second, it describes how philanthropic actives and Foresters unique member benefits can help them win the hearts of prospects.

Zainab Sheikh, Regional Vice President, Ontario, Canada Protection Plan, a Forster Financial Company

With over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, Zainab provides strategies, solutions, coaches advisors, and collaborates with MGA partners to our one common goal - achieving success! Zainab is passionate about her community and giving back, which is why she loves the complimentary member benefits the company provides to all policyholders.

Canada Life My Par Gift – A simple, single pay, participating life insurance policy designed for charitable giving

Do your clients want to make a big impact and add value to your community? Charitable gifting using life insurance helps you achieve this. Canada Life has just launched their latest product My Par Gift. Specifically designed for charitable giving, it has a single premium feature which is guarantees the policy to stay in effect for the insureds lifetime once the single premium is made. Join Evan Connell director of Par Sales Strategies as he discusses this one of a kind product and see how it fits within your clients financial portfolio.

Evan Connell, Director, Insurance Sales Strategies, Par Canada Life

For more than a decade, Evan has worked in several sales roles including Life Manager and Sales Consultant for Canada Life, focused on life insurance, and living benefits planning. His territory spanned across Central Ontario providing support for advisors focused on insurance planning. He currently helps to create innovative insurance tools and sales strategies to support wholesalers and advisors across Canada in having important financial, estate and legacy planning conversations with clients.

Difficult Conversations around UW Questions and Unexpected UW Decisions

This presentation will help you navigate some of the difficult conversations that can arise with your clients when discussing underwriting questions and when there are unexpected underwriting decisions.

Fränzi Stephen, Underwriting Specialist, ivari

Fränzi Stephen is an Underwriting Specialist with over 30 years experience in Life and Health Underwriting. Her qualifications include FLMI (Fellow of the Life Management Institute) and ACS (Associate Customer Service). She joined ivari in October 2012 and has is part of our Advisor Experience Team supporting both Underwriting and Sales as the Underwriting Relationship Manager. Fränzi is based in Calgary. Her responsibilities span multiple distribution channels in all of Canada. In her spare time, she is “the crazy cat lady” who also loves to cook, bake and travel.

Expanding Your Practice to Disability Insurance

This presentation addresses the risk of disability, the need for insurance to protect against it and solutions to address the need. It also goes over common sources of protection that people gravitate towards for disability insurance, such as government protection, Association plans and group LTD plans and seeks to identify things to be aware of and how to complement what a client has with an individual plan.

Chris Cook, Senior Sales Consultant, Living Benefits, RBC Insurance

Chris has been with RBC Insurance since 2014 and acting as a specialist in disability insurance planning, works with advisors to help identify disability opportunities and also helps them find ways to complement a client’s existing insurance portfolio with additional or enhanced disability protection through RBC Insurance. Chris has worked in the financial services industry for over 17 years, spending almost half of that time on the advisor side of the business. Drawing from his past experience, Chris can empathize with an advisor when it comes to the many challenges & opportunities that they face with their clients and is adept at identifying RBC-specific solutions to address those challenges, all while maintaining a focus on the final customer – the client. Chris earned his Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree from Simon Fraser University with a concentration in both Finance and Marketing. In his free time, he enjoys running or hiking the many trails of Vancouver with his wife and two daughters in tow.

Intergenerational Wealth Transfer and Insurance for Kids: An Overview

What are some of the important factors and developments that will impact where wealth goes, who the decision makers are now and in the coming years and whether advisors will find themselves retaining business, growing their practices or losing assets and control? Learn how to build your book with your clients' (grand)children and be seen as offering holistic planning for connected generations, using the strategy of life insurance for kids.

Peter A. Wouters; Director, Tax Retirement & Estate Planning Services, Empire Life

Peter is a well respected and much sought after speaker who devotes much of his time working with independent advisors and other professionals uncovering issues and concerns faced by affluent individuals, professionals and business owners. He supports their efforts in researching and developing optimal solutions for clients aimed at improving their financial well-being and supporting their personal wishes and lifestyles. He has provided thousands of workshops, seminars and technical support internationally on tax, retirement and estate planning issues, concepts and strategies. Peter, an accredited Registered Financial Gerontologist, educates people of all professions who work with or specialize in the needs, expectations and issues of an aging population. Comprehensive lifestyle planning is an important element of these processes. He has been repeatedly interviewed on regional and national television, radio, newspapers and journals as a subject matter expert on various industry issues and developments. He is a prolific writer on matters dealing with retirement, financial and lifestyle planning, for which he has received a number of international awards. Among his many professional and industry affiliations are: CALU (Conference of Advanced Life Underwriting), the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners, the Institute of Research & Planning, the Canadian Tax Foundation, the Estate Planning Council of Canada, the American Institute of Financial Gerontology and the American Society on Aging. He is faculty chair and a co-editor of the International Elder Planning Counsellor program. Peter is a co-author of the internationally accredited college program, Your Home & Small Based Business. Peter graduated magna cum laude from McMaster University, Northeastern University and Widener University, Peter has over four decades of experience. He is a true student of business as attested to by his many professional designations. His articles have been published in newspapers, industry bulletins and trade journals throughout the world.

Personal Insured Annuities – Preserving your investment capital while increasing your retirement income

This session will explore how personal insured annuities can be an effective strategy in providing income security and estate protection for your older clients.

Meghan Paulin, Business Development Manager, BMO

Meghan Paulin joined BMO in 2019 and has nearly fifteen years of industry experience. Over this tenure, Meghan has gained a vast range of knowledge from working in various capacities – this includes supporting on tax and estate planning for high net worth clients in BMO’s Private Wealth division, and prior to that, working for a large Canadian insurance company helping advisors grow their business. Meghan is a graduate of Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec and is life-licensed in Ontario.

Retirement Income Planning

Learn key principles in retirement income planning, understand special considerations at this stage of life, and how they apply to commonly held assets.

Emily Hsu, BMath, FSA, FCIA, CERA Director, Professional Insights, Sun Life

Emily is a seasoned writer with a passion for helping others. Her actuarial background and deep product knowledge help her articulate valuable product points of interest that matter most to advisors. As Director, Professional Insights at Sun Life, Emily brings insurance insights to expand advisors’ technical knowledge and help them better serve the needs of clients across Canada. In her spare time, Emily volunteers for the Society of Actuaries to pave the way for young actuaries and to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the actuarial profession. She has been recognized by the Outstanding Volunteer Award and continues to find ways to give back. Emily holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from University of Waterloo and is a fellow of both the Society of Actuaries and Canadian Institute of Actuaries, as well as Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst with the Society of Actuaries.

Sweet spots in the market and opportunities with UL

Beneva, Canada’s largest mutual insurer, takes unique approaches to product design and underwriting. In today’s world of constantly changing constantly client needs, flexibility and unique ideas are crucial. Listen to current trends and opportunities in estate planning, and what unique twists on product concepts the Beneva team has been able to create by using the flexibility of universal life insurance.

Chris Paterson, Senior Director, Business Development, Beneva

In 1995, Chris began his career in the financial services industry at a major financial institution, where he worked in a number of sales management and wholesaling roles across Canada. Since then, he has accumulated 29 years of experience supporting and training advisors while working on complex solutions for client financial strategies. With a career scope encompassing insurance, investments and technology consulting, Chris has previously led a national insurance wholesaling team, and was recently responsible for national initiatives focused on advisor recruitment, practice management, tax and estate planning, and advisor training for a major insurer. Chris has previously been a monthly insurance columnist for advisor.ca, the Rogers media financial industry website. He is a long standing member of Advocis, and is a Past President of the Peel Halton chapter. He is currently a member of the GAMA Canada board, as Director of Independent Distribution Initiatives. He is also a long standing member of CALU, the Conference for Advanced Life Underwriting. Chris has sat on national committees for both Advocis and CALU, was a contributor to the CHS designation content, as well as Advocis’ Getting Established program for New To Industry advisors. In his spare time, he also coaches baseball and basketball, and has previously sat on the board of a charity benefiting autistic children. Chris lives in the east GTA with the greatest woman that ever lived, his wife, Susie, and their three ridiculously handsome sons, Finlay, Miles, and Henry. He is an avid fan of sports, music, and literature, and loves to travel.

Declines Suck

We will be discussing the top reasons for a life insurance application to be declined, how to navigate this difficult conversation with your client and potentially offer an alternative solution.

Jennifer Koshul, EPC, Director of Business Development, Individual Insurance and Investments, Ontario, Assumption Life

Beginning her career in the Canadian Insurance Industry in 1992, Jennifer Koshul has held various roles, both in an operational and sales capacity. For almost 20 years, her focus was primarily on Risk Assessment, working with various paramedical organizations across Canada and the US. In 2013, she began working as a wholesaler with Assumption Life and has never looked back. Although Assumption Life has many insurance products available, both traditional and simplified, she is passionate about their simplified solutions. She knows first-hand what it’s like to be ‘hard to insure’, laying in bed at night as a single mother with a mortgage, two kids and no child support, worrying 'What’s going to happen to my kids if I don’t make it through this?' Because it’s clients like her who really need the peace of mind that life insurance provides. “Every client’s insurability challenges are different and being able to find a solution for them makes my heart happy. This is my WHY. "

Top Risks to Your Practice

Hear what our presenters consider to be the top risks to the advisor insurance practice.