The 2020 WP Awards celebrated the best in the industry on Sept. 30 during a virtual extravaganza of panel discussions and acceptance speeches. WP handed out 23 awards as wealth professionals saluted some its brightest stars during what has been turbulent a year, featuring an ongoing pandemic and a sharp market downturn in March.
It was quite a day for Darcie Crowe, of Cannaccord Genuity Wealth Management, who picked up two awards – the ICM Asset Management Award for Advisor of the Year – Alternative Investments and the Mackenzie Investments Award for Female Trailblazer of the Year.
Addressing the alternative category recognition, she said: “Alternative investments are an area of the business I'm incredibly passionate about, so I'm very honoured to receive this award. Alternative investments are hugely valuable tool for investors to make use of and there's so much information to be shared with the investing public. I look forward to continuing that conversation.”
One of the most anticipated awards is the Mandeville Private Client Inc. Award for Canadian Advisor of the Year, which this year was scooped by Marvin Schmidt, of The Schmidt Investment Group (CIBC Wood Gundy).
Schmidt said: “To be a finalist among so many great fellow industry colleagues is a real honour as I know they too are very deserving. I want to thank all my colleagues for nominating me for this award, and to everyone at the Schmidt Investment Group.
“To be recognized as an industry leader in the category of advisor of the year is humbling. Thank you to everyone on the wealth professional awards team for hosting this event. But more importantly for pushing us as an industry to be and do better every day.”
Schmidt’s firm was also recognized with the AGF Award for Engagement, Loyalty & Client Care.
Another top award that is keenly awaited is the BlackRock Award for Portfolio/Discretionary Manager of the Year. A delighted Kevin Haakensen, of PWM Private Wealth Counsel (HollisWealth, a division of iA Securities), was thrilled to be named winner. “It's a real honour to win the portfolio discretionary manager of the year award. Congratulations to all the other finalists who are more than worthy of also winning. I want to thank BlackRock for sponsoring this award, Wealth Professional Magazine and the [judging] committee for selecting myself.
“But most of all, I want to thank my awesome colleagues that I work with every day at PWM Private Wealth Counsel. This award is a testament to all their hard work.”
This year, in addition to the award winner (gold winner) the WP Awards also recognized a silver winner. The awards are judged by third-party industry experts and the official ballot accountants were PwC.
Wealth Professional would like to thank all of this year’s sponsors for their support and congratulate all of the award winners and finalists. Read on to find out more about them.
Methodology:
Stage 1: Nominations
To submit a nomination, go to the Nominate page of the WPA website then provide the nominee’s contact details and a brief reason for nomination within a 300-word limit.
Stage 2: Research
The WPA team will conduct research and draw on knowledge and information gained through Wealth Professional to support and supplement nominations received.
Stage 3: Finalists
All finalists will are invited to complete a detailed submission, which is an important opportunity to address the category criteria in more detail. All submissions will remain confidential unless otherwise marked and will not be shared with any third parties other than the judges.
Stage 4: Judging
All finalist submissions are forwarded to the independent judging panel comprising mortgage and finance industry leaders and senior representatives.
Stage 5: Winners
Using a simple points system to aggregate the score, the finalist with the highest score in each category wins.
Here are the winners of Wealth Professional Awards 2020:
Advisor of the Year - Responsible Investments
Winner: Ryan Colwell - C&C Planning Group (Aligned Capital Partners)
Excellence: Sonia LeRoy - LeRoy Wealth Management Group (IPC Securities)
Advisory Team of the Year (Fewer than 10 Staff)
Winner: Kingsford and Associates (BMO Nesbitt Burns)
Excellence:
Endeavour Wealth Management (iA Securities)
Tetrault Wealth Advisory Group (Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management)
BDM/Wholesaler of the Year
Winner: Alain Desbiens - BMO Global Asset Management
Excellence: Nathan Amor - Sun Life Financial
CEO of the Year
Winner: Barry McInerney - Mackenzie Investments
Excellence: Duane Green - Franklin Templeton Investments
John Nicola - Nicola Wealth Management
Employer Of Choice
Winner: National Bank Financial
Excellence:
AGF Management Limited
Echelon Wealth Partners
ETF Champion Of The Year
Winner: Tammy Cash - Horizons ETFs
Excellence:
Alfred Lee - BMO Global Asset Management
Pat Dunwoody - Canadian ETF Association
Multi-Service Advisory Team of the Year
Winner: Woodgate Financial Inc.
Excellence: Allen Private Wealth (HollisWealth, a division of iA Securities)
The Advocis Award for Young Achiever of the Year
Winner: Kalee Boisvert - Kalee Boisvert Financial Services (Raymond James)
Excellence: Adam Pukalo - PI Financial Corp
The AGF Award for Engagement, Loyalty & Client Care
Winner: The Schmidt Investment Group (CIBC Wood Gundy)
Excellence: Northland Wealth Management
The BlackRock Award for Portfolio/Discretionary Manager of the Year
Winner: Kevin Haakensen - PWM Private Wealth Counsel (HollisWealth, a division of iA Securities)
Excellence:
Colin Ryan - Wellington-Altus Private Wealth
Susyn Wagner - CIBC Wood Gundy
The Edward Jones Award for Excellence in Philanthropy and Community Service
Winner:
Ainsley Mackie - White LeBlanc Wealth Planners (HollisWealth, a division of iA Securities)
Michael Dehal - Dehal Investment Partners (Raymond James)
Excellence: Eric F. Bennett - Scotia Wealth Management / ScotiaMcLeod
The Equisoft Award for Fund Provider of the Year
Winner: Dynamic Funds
Excellence: Horizons ETFs
The Equitable Bank Award for Multi-Office Advisor Network/Brokerage of the Year
Winner: Edward Jones
Excellence: Assante Wealth Management
The Franklin Templeton Award for Advisory Team of the Year (10 Staff or More)
Winner: Northland Wealth Management
Excellence: The McClelland Financial Group (Assante Capital Management)
The ICM Asset Management Award for Advisor of the Year - Alternative Investments
Winner: Darcie Crowe - Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management
Excellence:
Carolyn Seaforth - Pinnacle Wealth Brokers
Francis Sabourin - Richardson GMP
The IFSE Institute Award for Financial Literacy Champion
Winner: Alphil Guilaran - Financial Literacy Counsel
Excellence: Tracey Bissett - Bissett Financial Fitness
The Mackenzie Investments Award for Female Trailblazer of the Year
Winner: Darcie Crowe - Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management
Excellence: Julia Chung - Spring Planning
The Mandeville Private Client Inc. Award for Canadian Advisor of the Year
Winner: Marvin Schmidt - The Schmidt Investment Group (CIBC Wood Gundy)
Excellence:
Kyle Richie - Richardson GMP
Tina Tehranchian - Assante Capital Management
The Nour Private Wealth Award for Rising Star Advisor of the Year
Winner: Gloria Malek - The Malek Group (TD Wealth Private Investment Advice)
Excellence: Kate Murdoch - Ridd & Associates Wealth Advisory Group (BMO Nesbitt Burns)
The SIACharts Inc. Award for Digital Innovator of the Year
Winner: Cidel Bank Canada
Excellence:
The McClelland Financial Group (Assante Capital Management)
Total Wealth Management Group (HollisWealth, a division of iA Securities)
The TMX Group Award for Best Active Manager - Exchange Traded Derivatives
Winner: Martin Gendron - Desjardins Gestion de Patrimoine
Excellence:
Avin Mehra - CIBC Wood Gundy
Jillian Bryan - TD Wealth Private Investment Advice
The WP Readers' Choice Award for Service Provider of the Year
Winner: Croesus Finansoft
Excellence:
Asset Vantage
NaviPlan by Advicent
Lifetime Achievement In The Financial Planning Industry
RECIPIENT:
Helen Kearns - President and CEO, Bell Kearns & Associates Ltd.
