Credentials

My most valued credentials are experience and youth. It's hard to find an Advisor with both. It's important when looking at long-term planning.

I've had ten years in the business, well over 10,000 hours of experience, seen thousands of unique client situations, met thousands of people, worked with numerous accountants, real estate agents, and worked under three major Canadian Financial Institutions. I started young, have 30 more years to go in the business, and now work for my clients on an independent platform.

I will never forget the early years of my career. I had the great opportunity to begin fresh out of school with my Bachelors in Business Administration from Capilano College in North Vancouver. I started in July 2007. It wasn't long after in 2008 when I started seeing competitor statements showing client losses of 40-50%. Many of those people would have recovered their assets had they stayed invested but many Advisors recommended moving client money to cash or the client couldn't stomach the drop and moved their money against Advisors' recommendations. Some stayed invested but never recovered because the initial investments weren't selected on good fundamentals. A large portion of these people were on retirement's doorstep. People that should never have been in a position to jeopardize their goals did because they were comfortable with the large gains they were getting and forgot about the risks they were taking by having increased exposure to capital markets. Some people weren't aware of the risk they had taken on. They didn't have other cashflow sources because majority of their wealth was in one asset class, the stock market. They forgot about their plan and so did their Advisor.

I'm starting to see people take similar risks today. People who know nothing think they're great stock pickers. I genuinely believe that anyone who has started in the industry without a full market cycle experience cannot comprehend how important it is to have a philosophy they stick to and a plan for each of their clients. Without that experience how does an Advisor know they'll stick to their own advice and not make emotional decisions as many Advisors have in the past? How do they know they're giving their clients the best advice for the long term if their decisions are only based on short term experience?

I hold credentials including the Canadian Securities Course, Wealth Management Essentials course, Branch Managers' Examination Course, and the Life License Qualification Program.