EDITOR’S JOURNAL
BY ALISON MACALPINE
Work in Flux
W
orking from home now has a catchy acronym — WFH — but I embraced the concept a long time ago, when I started my freelance business in November 1999. For me, the flexibility to set my own hours and the freedom to choose my own projects more than made up for any downsides. It helped that, when we moved into our current home a year later, I got a spacious room full of sunlight and bookshelves to call my office. I’ve never looked back. However, people who abruptly found themselves working from home in March 2020 weren’t making the choice for themselves. They had to adapt overnight to what was often a less-than-ideal office setup — maybe an unergonomic chair pulled up to a kitchen table, interrupted every recess and lunchtime by the pitter patter of little feet no longer in school. They were wrenched away from the easy camaraderie of a bustling office with no ability to replace some of that (as I did) with coffee dates and lunches out. Despite these challenges, many loved it. More than three years later, as Kira Vermond points out in this issue’s cover story, “working from home, at least part of the time, is no longer seen as a perk, but mandatory.” Many organizations have settled on hybrid work as the best of both worlds — but how can firms and advisors make hybrid teams both effective and supportive, and how can employees access training and mentoring opportunities if they’re mostly off-site? In the article on page 10, Kira identifies four strategies that may help your organization make the most of a workplace transition that seems like it’s here to stay. On page 14, you’ll find Kelsey Rolfe’s reporting on Advocis’s 2023 Symposium. Sessions explored the impact of the IIROC–MFDA merger into the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), what it means to be a professional advisor today, your association’s grassroots-focused advocacy work, and 6 FORUM DECEMBER 2023
FORUM PUBLISHER: Peter Wilmshurst advocisforum@gmail.com EDITOR: Alison MacAlpine alison@amcommunications.ca COPY EDITOR & PROOFREADER: Alex Mlynek ART DIRECTOR: Giselle Sabatini gisellesabatini@rogers.com ADVERTISING: Peter Wilmshurst advocisforum@gmail.com Tel: 416-766-4273 Fax: 416-760-8797 TFAAC BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR Eric Lidemark, CFP, CLU, CH.F.C., CHS PAST CHAIR Rob Eby, CFP, RRC VICE CHAIR/SECRETARY Stephen MacEachern, CFP, CLU, CHS, CH.F.C. VICE CHAIR/TREASURER John Hamilton, CLU, FEA, CPCA DIRECTORS AT LARGE Arun Channan, MASc, MBA, CSP, CFP Kelly Gustafson Harris M. Jones, CPA, CA, CFP, CLU, CH.F.C., TEP Curtis Kimpton, CLU, CIM, RRC CHAIR, INSTITUTE Ejaz Nadeem, MA, CFP, CLU CHAIR, CLC Leslie Carpenter, CFP, CLU, CIM PUBLIC DIRECTOR Sara Gelgor, LLB, LLM, MBA, ICD.D
total cost reporting disclosure. There was also a session on compliance that touched on the dark side of artificial intelligence (AI) in enabling fraud — but Erin Bury shares tips on how AI tools like ChatGPT can be used for the good of your practice in her column on page 9. In addition, this issue includes a tribute to Don Glover, which you’ll find on page 20. As I learned from speaking with his former colleagues and peers, Don was widely admired across the industry and remains to this day the only person to have held two of Advocis’s most important positions: elected volunteer board chair and full-time staff president. I wish I’d had the chance to meet him. Finally, I’d like to thank former FORUM columnist Glenn Stephens for countless insightful interpretations of corporate insurance topics. In this issue, Glenn passes the torch to Patrick Uzan, who on page 28 explores policy transfer rule changes that affect the capital dividend account. A warm welcome to Patrick! The FORUM team wishes all of you a wonderful holiday season and every success in 2024.
INTERIM CEO Harris Jones, CPA, CA, CFP, CLU, CH.F.C., TEP FORUM is published three times annually by The Advocis Publishing Group, 10 Lower Spadina Avenue, Suite 600, Toronto, Ontario M5V 2Z2 Tel: 416-444-5251 or 1-800-563-5822 Fax: 416-444-8031 FORUM is mailed to all Association members, the subscription price being included in the annual membership fee. Address changes can be made through info@advocis.ca or by calling member services at 1-877-773-6765. The opinions expressed in articles and advertising are those of the authors/advertisers and not necessarily those of FORUM or the Association. Material of a technical or semi-technical nature may become invalid because of later changes in law or interpretation. The Association is not responsible for obsolescence of FORUM articles whose content should be checked by the reader before implementation. Requests for permission to reprint articles are to be addressed in writing to the editor of FORUM. ™ Trademark of The Financial Advisors Association of Canada carrying on business as Advocis. FORUM EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD LEONY DEGRAAF HASTINGS, CFP, EPC deGraaf Financial Strategies NICHOLAS LANDRY, CEBS, CHS, RCIS BFL Canada - CSI IZUMI MIKI-MCGRUER, CFP, CLU, CH.F.C., CHS Freedom 55 Financial MICHAEL SUSKA, CFP, CHS Helkie Financial & Insurance Services Inc.
