Head of Advocis talks to WP about the importance of Financial Literacy Month for advisors, potential regulatory changes and adapting to COVID-19
Greg Pollock is quick on the draw when asked why we need Financial Literacy Month. In a recent survey of 600 Advocis members, 97% said that stronger knowledge of financial skills would help clients navigate everyday events. Furthermore, 99% believed there is still a long way to go when it comes to improving the financial literacy of Canadians. The remaining 1% were presumably reclining with a cigar.
The point is a serious one, though. Advisors also revealed they have experienced a considerable increase (35%) in clients asking about basic money matters. Pollock, CEO of the ssociation for advisors, said its members have been busy bringing stories to the public they hope will resonate and get more people tuned into the issue.
These include the junior financial advisor designation, which involves advisors and their families interviewing their children – aged five to 15 – and asking them basic questions about how they should save, spend and plan for the future.
“It was a hoot”, Pollock said. “The videos are really quite amazing. I said to our staff, ‘I think our financial futures as retirees are in a pretty good place’. [The initiative] was meant to be humorous because kids say the darndest things if you want, but on the other hand we wanted to raise awareness.”
Advocis is also doing weekly financial literacy shows with advisors throughout November on Instagram Live, while there are guest expert articles on its website. Its also developed a couple of advocates podcasts, talking about the impact of COVID-19 on financial literacy in 2020.
Pollock told WP advisors have a tremendous responsibility to educate people about finance and its implications. One ongoing project is its Junior Achievement Programme, where advisors go into schools to talk about money issues.
He said: “It’s an important public service and [the programme] helps them carry out the role because the more people understand about finances and implications, the better place they're going to be in terms of their financial health, and their financial future.”
The future is inherently uncertain, of course, and nothing has proved this with as much clarity as COVID-19. Pollock believes that, while the pandemic is nothing but devastating, it may help the profession’s profile and raise the importance of financial planning.
The health crisis has also accelerated the integration of digital technology, speeding up the availability of products to market, giving consumers more choice. For advisors, Pollock said that digital platforms are no longer a luxury but a must-have for their daily operation. Innovation waits for no-one.
He explained: “This is very much a face-to-face business but on the other hand, there are many things we can do within the industry, through digital formats propped up by digital tools. We are going to come out of this with the best of both worlds – we’ll be leveraging digital tools and AI but at the same time we'll be able to sit down with our clients face to face when that makes the most sense in their interest.”
Pollock feels these benefits will be assisted by the title protection that Ontario and Saskatchewan have pushed forward on, helping clients know exactly who is sitting across the table.
Another hot topic that is being fiercely debated between interested parties right now is the possibility of creating a single SRO by merging the MFDA and IIROC. There are differing views about the exact way forward but Pollock is clear that Advocis’ stance is that one singular body is the best outcome.
He said: “That doesn't mean that there should be a one-size-fits-all regulatory structure. There are some dealers, and in some cases, fund dealers that are quite small in size, and therefore, their regulatory oversight needs might be different than some of these large national dealerships. There has to be some kind of proportional regulation applied but I also think that we need to get on with it.
“We’ve been talking about this for some time and I believe the time to act is now. Certainly, as we move forward, we're going to be very much part of the dialogue but it has to be done in a thoughtful way.”
Pollock added that one issue is a lack of representation of financial advisors on the respective bodies. “It’s basically the dealers that are governing both the MFDA and IIROC and we think there should be more active representation of individual advisors on that governance structure. We’ll be pushing for that.”
It’s another issue for the CEO to delve into and he said his in tray has only got bigger since COVID-19 infiltrated our lives. His days have got longer as the association adapts and deals with the challenges. In many ways, though, he said it’s been exciting to connect with various organizations, although any return to a sense of the “old normal” would be welcome.
Within a week of lockdown, Advocis opened the COVID-19 member resource centre, which is still updated daily, giving advisors access to the latest information from government on financial issues, evolving economic policy and public health issues. Advocis Connect, another service, offers small businesses free financial advice and has connected with about 400 so far.
Pollock said: “We put a fairly complex legal document in place so that the small business people were in no way committing themselves to future financial advice from this advisor or that kind of thing. But on the other hand, the parties would be free to pursue those kinds of things if they wanted to in the future.”
He added: “We’ve put a lot in place but are we missing face to face? Yes, we are. But the technology has worked well and people are feeling reasonably connected.”
