Celebrating the gold standard in Canadian wealth management

The gold standard among wealth advisors, managers and fund providers was honoured last night at the second annual Canadian Wealth Professional Awards.

Scooping up the coveted Mandeville Private Client Award for Advisor of the Year was William Vastis, of The William Vastis Wealth Management Group of RBC Dominion Securities Inc., who said he was thrilled to be recognized in such an esteemed group of professionals. “I feel very privileged and honoured to be part of such an elaborate group of people and there really are no standouts – anybody who’s nominated for an award like this deserves an award, but obviously you have to select one,” he said. “I’m privileged to be that one, and I give kudos to the rest of the group.”

Doug Macdonald of Macdonald, Shymko & Company Ltd. was also honoured with The Invesco Canada Award for Lifetime Achievement.

“I think the honour means a lot because it recognizes what we started with – it was a concept that we had, nobody really thought it could happen,” he said with trophy in hand. “We’ve not only implemented it and made it a success, we have a business that continues today on the same principles. The business is now passed on to a younger set of advisors, and many people in this country have emulated our business.”

Meanwhile, Rosemary Horwood of Richardson GMP represented the industry’s emerging new talent with the Horizons ETFs Award for Young Gun of the Year.

“It’s really exciting – it’s definitely an industry where there are very few younger people, and it’s a little bit discouraging because there’s so many older people who have far more experience, and it’s really hard to show your value to clients when you don’t have that many years of experience under your belt,” she says, adding: “A word of advice for every young person who’s starting, that you can do it, and I’m definitely an example of that.”

Over 20 awards were handed out throughout the evening, honouring a diverse array of wealth professionals. The event was produced by KMI Publishing and Events and sponsored by Invesco.

See below for a complete list of winners:

• The Investment Planning Counsel Award for Digital Innovation and Marketing: Shannon Lee Simmons, New School of Finance
• The Nest Wealth Award for BDM / Wholesaler of the Year: Greg Lagasse, Edgepoint Wealth Management
• The Sprott Asset Management Award for Best Advisor – Alternative Solutions: Jesse Kaufman, Richardson GMP Ltd.
• The National Bank Financial Award for Community Service Effort of the Year: Robert Redman, Holliswealth, a division of Scotia Capital Inc.
• The iShares by BlackRock Award for Portfolio / Discretionary Manager of the Year: Arthur Salzer, Northland Wealth Management Inc.
• The TRSB Award for Advertising Campaign of the Year: The Empire Life Insurance Company
• The Canadian Securities Institute Newcomer Advisor of the Year Award: Andrew Oproiu, Manulife Securities/Elie Nour Group
• The Vision Systems Award for Engagement, Loyalty & Customer Care: Jennifer Black, Dedicated Financial Solutions
• The Excel Funds Award for Outstanding Global Advisor of the Year: Francis Sabourin, Richardson GMP
• The NEI Investments Award for Responsible Investing: Ryan Colwell, IPC Investment Corp, C&C Planning Group
• The CEFTA Award for ETF Champion of the Year: Brent Vandermeer, Vandermeer Wealth
• The Radius Financial Education Award for Outstanding Industry Service Provider: Jonathan Georges, Equisoft
• The Invesco Canada Award for Lifetime Achievement: Doug Macdonald, Macdonald, Shymko & Company Ltd
• The Vantage Asset Management Award for Best Practice Individual Advisor Office (25 Staff or Less):  Ross Allan, Allan Financial
• The Equisoft Award for Fund Provider of the Year: BlackRock/ iShares
• The Fundserv Award for Advisor Network / Brokerage of the Year: Investment Planning Counsel
•  The Horizons ETF Award for Young Gun of the Year: Rosemary Horwood, Richardson GMP
• The Empire Life Award for Outstanding Advisor: Jason Pereira, Woodgate Financial & Investment Planning Counsel
• The B2B Bank Award for Multi Service Advisor of the Year: Kevin Hegedus, CFP, CIM, Prairie Wealth Management, of Hollis Wealth, a division of Scotia Capital Inc.
• The Mandeville Private Client Award for Advisor of the Year: William Vastis, The William Vastis Wealth Management Group of RBC Dominion Securities Inc.

Related Links:
Big industry names line up for awards night