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Companies at the 2009 AB Fall Summit included:
Alberta Insurance Council, Edge Benefits, Univeris, Empire Life, Assuris, Unity Life, Industrial Alliance, Manulife Bank, Manulife Living Benefits, Manulife Investments, Standard Life, Walton International, E-Z Data (Canada), Rogers Oil & Gas, Quality Underwriting, Hooper Holmes Portamedic, Hunter McCorquodale, Canada Loyal Financial, SC International, The Personal Coach, Desjardins Financial Security, CBI Group, Desjardins Independent Network, Invesco Trimark, Faithlife Financial, Wawanesa Life, Exam One, Client Centred Advisors, Optimus US Real Estate, Equitable Life, Quadrexx

Presentations offered at the IFB Fall Summit included:

Selling Outside The Box: Growing Your Business Through Simplified Living Benefits (ID# 17384 A&S)
Dawn Marie Stevens, Edge Benefits
If you are interested in learning how to effectively market living benefits to your clients then this is a seminar you won't want to miss. Join us to learn more about how Edge Benefits is breaking down the barriers in the traditional living benefit marketplace and helping advisors protect the entire lifestyle of their valued clients. At this seminar you will hear about our new and exciting Fractured Accident Benefit plan as well how Edge Benefits protects the lifestyles of Canadians, regardless of their insurable earnings. Let us show you, through real life case studies how you can grow your business through simplified living benefits.

Duty of Care(ID# 17385 Life, A&S, General)
Mark Sylvia, Echelon General Insurance Company
Once of the most significant issues facing a financial advisor is their duty of care to their customer. What is a duty of care? How does it apply to the sale of insurance and investment products? Have there been any legal cases dealing with the duty of care issue? Are there any checklists or procedures an advisor can use to make sure that their duty of care to their clients is maintained? Mark Sylvia, CEO of Echelon General Insurance Company, will review these important questions and recommend best practices to assist advisors.

Refresh your Business - Fifty fun and fab ways to spice up your practice (ID# 17386 Life, A&S, General)
Noreen Santer , Equitable Life of Canada
You may be a veteran, looking for a few ways to put a spark into your career once again. Perhaps you are a newer advisor, looking for a few concepts to boost your results. Capture some inspiring ideas, to enhance your marketing and practise management. Let this high energy presentation, add a little inspiration to your business and bring it to a higher level.

Alberta Insurance Council Update (ID# 17387 – Life, A&S, General, Adjuster)
Warren Martinson
Always an engaging and entertaining speaker,Warren Martinson offers a unique perspective on regulatory changes and developments that will impact insurance brokers. This is your opportunity to hear about the latest trends in insurance regulation in Alberta, and to ask questions directly from the Alberta Insurance Council.

Identity Theft: What Advisors Need to Know (ID# 17388 – Life, A&S, General)
Ted Mieszkaiski, Senior Regional Representative (Currency), Bank of Canada
Sergeant Conal Archer, Counterfeit Coordinator of the RCMP
These experts will focus on identity theft and steps that financial advisors and their clients can take in preventing identity theft by addressing reasonable safeguard measures for organizations, warning signs of credit and debt fraud, awareness of counterfeit bills, fake cheques and telemarketing scams.

What Advisors Should Know About Policyholder Protection in the event of Insolvency (ID# 17389 – Life, A&S)
Josee Rheault, Assuris
An educational session for financial advisors on how Assuris coverage protects their clients in the event their life insurance company becomes insolvent (www.assuris.ca) . Assuris is a not-for-profit organization funded by the life insurance industry that protects Canadian policyholders against loss of benefits should their life insurance company fail. Our role is to protect policyholders by minimizing loss of benefits and ensuring a quick transfer of their polices to a solvent company where their benefits will continue to be honoured.

Helping Your "Uninsurable" Clients (ID# 17390 Life, A&S)
Michael Taylor, Hunter McCorquodale Inc.
Every year roughly 1 in 20 life insurance life insurance applications and more than 1 in 10 disability insurance applications in Canada are declined. As an advisor, you want to explore every possible option when this happens to one of your clients. Although not always well known, there are markets that can provide alternative solutions in the majority of these situations. This presentation will provide an overview of alternative or special risk insurance markets, including a new life product designed specifically for medical declines. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of what to do the next time a client's application for life or disability insurance is declined

Building Your Business (ID# 17391 Life, A&S, General)
Matthew Asser, The Covenant Group sponsored by E-Z Data
This prestentation starts by describing four major challenges in financial services distribution. Matthew Asser distinguishes between advisors who are Players, Producers and those who are merely Pretenders. He goes on to describe the four major systems that need to be in place in any business to maximize the business potential. Matthew then outlines the five performance drivers to a high-performing business. His presentation concludes by discussing the four dimensions of effectiveness for business owners and then asking a key question every successful business owner needs to answer.

Don't fight ETF's-Embrace Them! (ID# 17392 Life)
Andrew Ruhland, Client Centered Advisors
Being a self-employed financial advisor is increasingly complex… volatile markets, worried clients seeking growth AND real risk controls, all while the media encourages the public to abandon personalized advice and become do-it-yourselfers. And now, client-managed ETFs are threatening the recurring compensation for financial advisors.

Andrew Ruhland of Client Centered Advisors will explain the country's first actively managed 100% ETF-based platform, managed by Larry Berman of ETF Capital Management. With advisor compensation comparable to A-Series mutual funds, this revolutionary platform will help advisors to:

" Preserve and grow client's capital in challenging markets
" Lower the stress and uncertainty for clients
" Prevent loss of clients to the competition because of volatile portfolios
" Attract new clients by riding the macro-trend toward ETF's and focus on delivering more personalized holistic financial advice

Total Financial Planning - What we REALLY Do! (ID# 17393 Life, A&S)
Kristi Keller, Desjardins Financial Security
When we think of financial planning, do we take into consideration the various contingencies that can arise both during lifetime and at the time of death? How can we help preserve an estate for a family today and for the heirs in the future? A re-look at an old problem.

Go with the Herd or Be the Lone Wolf : Optimizing Your Client's US Real Estate Investments (ID# 17394 Life)
Jeffrey Larson, Optimus US Real Estate Fund
Everyone has heard of the large number of residential foreclosures in the US, resulting from the collapse of sub-prime mortgage financing. Undoubtedly, your clients have been considering the merits of investing some of their funds into the US real estate market. How does financial advice and planning fit into this situation? Here's a detailed yet common sense method of evaluating the merits of direct real estate purchases versus investing into a managed real estate fund, providing the tools needed to help your clients evaluate their options.

Understanding Whole Life Insurance (ID# 17395 Life)
Tom Belanger, Unity Life
The focus of the presentation will be on the key features and built-in guarantees in Whole Life insurance products and how to use them to personalize the coverage to specific client needs. Emphasis will be on understanding the individual components, including;

" Key features and benefits
" Guaranteed Cash Surrender Value
" Dividends and dividend options
" Paid Up Additions
" Non Forfeiture Values
" Blended Insurance Options -- how to customize a Whole Life product to the client's specific needs and budget.
Practical ideas will be presented on a variety of sales concepts for Whole Life Insurance and will include a discussion on how to market WL to diverse client segments.

The "Small Business" Retirement Program Solution (ID# 17396 Life, A&S)
Clark Dehler, Standard Life
You ask the question . . . What can you do for my small business clients? Have you looked at a complete solution encompassing a group savings program for the employees and a solution for the owner? We hear from advisors that the world of pensions and savings programs can be overwhelming. Are you passing on opportunities with your clients? Are you putting your client relationships at risk from advisors who are asking the right questions? This session is designed to give you the information and tools to speak with confidence about both group retirement programs and IPPs. The understanding to address questions about plan governance and legislation. By understanding how these programs can benefit your clients, you can talk with your clients about a retirement solution, not just for their employees, but also for them.

The Dynamics of Demographics: The Rifle Approach to Prospecting (ID# 17397 Life, A&S, General)
John Dargie, Canada Loyal Financial
For new brokers, or those looking to upgrade their market, the independent brokerage business can be both attractive as well as challenging. How does a broker establish a market, and more importantly, what are the habits of a successful broker? John Dargie, long-time IFB member, personal producer, and Life Member of MDRT, has over 30 years of industry experience, 20 of which have been as an independent broker. If you are looking for a step-by-step solution to the prospecting puzzle and for sales solutions, join John for this session. For the dedicated broker, this process has a proven track record.

The Top 10 Easy to Implement Living Benefits Sales Strategies (ID# 17398 A&S)
Vanessa Scott and Kim Skermer, Manulife Living Benefits
Let's get planning for 2010! Vanessa Scott, Regional Marketing Director, Living Benefits and Kim Skermer, Manager Affinity Markets, with Manulife Financial, will share the 'Top 10' easy to implement Living Benefit strategies. Let's ensure that there are no low hanging fruit still left on the tree in 2009! This session will focus on marketing ideas, point of sale tips, and implementation. Guaranteed to highlight at least one, if not more, solutions you can incorporate into your practice right away.

The Value Equation and You (ID# 17399 Life, A&S)
Peter Wouters, Empire Life
Clients, companies and advisors have all suffered through the wild rollercoaster ride over the last two years. It seemed that there was no safe haven for investments. Conventional approaches provided little protection from the market meltdown. Jaded clients no longer believe in the superiority of one investment advisor over another. What are today's clients looking for? What about the big picture, the whole picture, the whole job? This session will challenge conventional approaches to advice and the value proposition, providing hands-on, practical tips and traps on redefining wealth management, value-building strategies and sharing some lessons from Tom Sawyer.

The Big-Bang Theory for Building Business through Businesses (ID# 17400 A&S)
Debbie Robillard and Kevin Bennett, Manulife Bank
Small business owners provide a universe of opportunities to diversify your business
" Business owners are not getting the banking value they need/deserve
" Generating sales leads with a simple bank account
" Debt and cash-flow management for small businesses

Changing Times - Challenging Expectations (ID# 17401 Life)
Gordon Keon, Invesco Trimark
This presentation will challenge beliefs on how the financial services industry and the client paradigm is changing rapidly in this emotional environment. It will provide ideas on how to position yourself with clients and prospects and put the current investment market in perspective in order to grow your financial services practice. It will also outline how investment management firms can partner with Advisors going forward.

Time Management in Today’s “24/7” World (ID# 17403 Life, A&S, General)
Brenda Dreissigacker, CFP, Sales Development Coordinator, Industrial Alliance Pacific
How can we become more effective and efficient? Time is a unique resource given to all of us. We each have the same amount of time, but have you ever wondered why some people seem to be able to get more done than others? They have learned that you cannot manage time, but you can manage yourself. If you gain something of value from this session, then please pass the idea on to someone else. Our profession has always grown this way. We are not selfish with our good ideas!

It's all About the Customer™ (ID# 17404 Life, A&S)
April-Lynn Levitt, The Personal Coach
This presentation will introduce the audience to four key building blocks that differentiate Financial Advisors in the crowded financial services marketplace.  Specifically this presentation:

• Reinforces the fact that the creation of a new value proposition results in clients viewing their Financial Advisor differently, in a positive way.
• Identifies the skill set that allows the Financial Professional to earn the title 'Trusted Financial Advisor" by their clients.
• Creates a vision for the team to support the Advisor - establishing a flawless process around this new value proposition that is easily delivered.
• Creates an environment where referrals become a natural result of the new value proposition.

Leverage your client base to increase practice value with alternative products sales. (ID# 17411 Life)
Ron Lastwika, Quadrexx Asset Management Inc.
New or alternative revenue opportunities within the agents office can be intimidating; we understand that and will explain numerous ways to easily manage these opportunities and assist in your success. We will discuss:

• How to implement and support a new revenue stream that may set you apart from your competitors and provide added value to your existing and potential clients.
• Investment asset classes that were recently only available to high net worth individuals are now available to mid net wealth individuals, offering greater diversification, lower volatility and higher returns to your clients.
• Risk of losing business if you’re not able to deliver or refer alternative investment products and services while other agencies do.
• No additional licensing requirements to sell, particularly beneficial to non-MFDA agents that are generally restricted from offering these products - what you may leave behind by not being able to offer alternative investments.

Stress Testing your Retirement Income Portfolio
Discover how to build your business and strengthen client relationships with Product Allocation . (ID# 17412 Life)
Stephen McDermott, District Vice President, Manulife Investments
Product Allocation is the right conversation for the times.  Come and learn how this innovative approach to retirement income planning will improve your clients' retirement income sustainability.  Building on Asset Allocation, Product Allocation provides a real measure of your client's current retirement income plan and offers actionable steps to improve the chances that their retirement income will last their lifetime.  See how incorporating this new approach into your practice and investment recommendations can help you consolidate client assets, deepen client relationships and increase the value of your book of mutual fund and investment business.

Investing on Solid Ground (ID# 17405 Life)
Roland Schatz , Walton International
This is an introductory information seminar for advisors who are interested in exploring real estate investing as an option for their clients. We’ll briefly shed light on Walton’s history, values, vision, global operations, past performance and business model, which is commonly referred to as “The Four Pillars of Strength” (1. Land Research & Acquisition, 2. Land Syndication, 3. Land Planning, and 4. Exit). The session ends with an overview of Walton’s acquisition strategy and key target markets, followed by a question and answer session.

Selling Group Insurance in a Tough Economy (ID# 17413 A&S)
Megan Schmaltz and Allison Cairns, Empire Life
This presentation explores our changing economic climate and impact it has on group benefit plans for both the employer and the insurance  company . It looks at the effect the rising cost of drugs has on group plans and future trends we expect to see in the world of group insurance. It also covers options available to employers and tips for advisors who are selling group insurance in a tough economy.