Event Details

Selling Benefit Plans Using Value & Advice Rather than Rate Discounting Practices

Temporary rate discounting has been a long-standing selling practice in the benefits industry. While it may win clients short term, but it can lead to long-term issues. In this session, David Roberts presents an alternative approach to group benefits sales—focusing on plan audits, accurate forecasting, proper management, and understanding client objectives. Learn how to protect employers from legal risks, improve customer experiences, and build lasting trust. Discover how value-driven strategies can create better outcomes for clients and more sustainable business growth.

The Assuris Safety Net: Leveraging Policyholder Protection to Build Confidence

Assuris is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to protecting Canadian policyholders if their life and health insurance company fails. This session will provide financial advisors with a comprehensive overview of the organization, Assuris' protective measures, along with real-life scenarios to illustrate how these protections are applied in practice. Assuris will also share resources and tools available to support client education so you can confidently reassure clients that their benefits remain secure, even in unexpected situations.

The Psychology of Transition: Why Seniors Delay Care Decisions and How Advisors Can Help

This session is designed to equip advisors working with older adults and their families with a practical, informed framework for understanding and addressing delayed care decisions.

While care transitions are often approached as logistical or financial challenges, research and lived experience show that they are fundamentally emotional and identity driven. Seniors frequently delay decisions not because of denial or lack of information, but because of fear of loss, threats to independence, and complex family dynamics.

This session reframes resistance as a predictable psychological response and positions advisors as facilitators of conversations designed to help clients move forward. By integrating behavioural economics, aging psychology, and family systems thinking, this presentation aims to strengthen advisors’ abilities to navigate emotionally charged conversations ethically and effectively, reduce crisis-driven decision-making, and support seniors in maintaining dignity, autonomy, and control throughout transitions.

Guide to Asset Allocation

Exploring the critical elements of investment strategy and philosophy. Beginning with the Foundation of Asset Allocation, delving into the core principles of diversification and risk management. Theory vs. Practice, examining how academic models of portfolio construction translate to real-world investment decisions, addressing market inefficiencies and behavioural biases. Lastly, Portfolio management and the practical application of operating parameters, building blocks, and rebalance optimization.

Beyond the Ledgers: Building Deeper Client Relationships That Drive Lasting Value

In an increasingly competitive and digitally driven financial landscape, technical expertise alone is no longer enough to differentiate successful advisors. This presentation explores how building meaningful, values-based relationships with clients is a powerful driver of long-term loyalty, trust, and sustainable growth. Advisors will learn why understanding a client’s personal values, life priorities, and financial motivations is essential to delivering advice that truly resonates.

Richard S. Pyper will discuss how shifting from transactional conversations to relational engagement allows advisors to position themselves as trusted partners rather than product providers. The session will highlight practical strategies for uncovering what matters most to clients, aligning financial recommendations with those values, and creating deeper emotional connections that enhance client confidence and satisfaction.

Richard will also explore how strong relationships lead to better outcomes - improved retention, increased referrals, and more meaningful conversations during periods of market volatility or life transition. Through real-world insights and actionable takeaways, this presentation emphasizes that intimacy in the advisor-client relationship is not about oversharing, but about listening with intention, asking better questions, and delivering advice that aligns with who the client truly is.