While vaccine distribution for COVID-19 is underway in Canada, Advocis – the financial advisors association of Canada – is reflecting on how its members have helped Canadians whose finances have been gravely impacted by the pandemic.
The association recently surveyed about 150 of its members, asking them about how their clients fared during the pandemic. Many of the advisors said that holding on to investments, updating estate plans and establishing emergency funds were the most-commonly seen “smart moves” made by their clients thanks to advisor counsel.
Meanwhile, overspending on conveniences, panic selling and dipping unnecessarily into savings were the most common mistakes advisors found themselves having to prevent their clients from making, or to help their clients recover from after the fact.
“Professional financial advisors understood from the very beginning of this pandemic that they would be the critical human link in ensuring that Canadians would stay the course and make the right financial decisions for themselves, their families and their businesses,” commented Advocis president and CEO Greg Pollock.
“As vaccination distribution increases and Canadians from coast-to-coast look forward to the next stage of our recovery from COVID-19, our members are incredibly proud of the work they’ve done – and prepared for the work yet to come,” the chief executive added.
Several financial advisors have also shared their recent experiences in highlighting the important role they play during such difficult times.
“This is the time that educated and seasoned advisors with integrity play an important role in the lives of people in their communities,” said Precision Insurance CLU Eduardo S. Tenorlas. “Even when faced with the challenges of major events such as job loss, I was able to advise and work with clients on strategies such as making use of the cash values of their insurance contracts, TFSAs and more.”
“Normally, I would be calling clients to discuss insurance,” stated Brightrock Financial CFP Janea Dieno. “COVID-19 has meant that many of them now take the initiative to contact us – though during the initial period of the pandemic, we were consistently being proactive about getting in touch so that our clients would feel calm about their finances while world events were at their most stressful.”
“In the height of the market drop in late March 2020, I was constantly communicating with clients through email updates, on calls or video meetings reiterating to stay the course with their long-term investments,” explained Dunphy Molloy & Associates CLU Greg O’Brien, CFP. “Because we were there to work with them and address their concerns, there were very few that made the decision to sell out of the market at that time, and the ones that did were for very specific personal cash needs that we were able to guide them through.”
