Toronto (September 17, 2002) Delegates voiced great enthusiasm and spoke of tremendous potential for improved services for their members during the first official meeting of the CAIFA/CAFP Chapter Advisory Council last week.
The Council will play an important role in the new organization if the September 28 vote to merge the Canadian Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (CAIFA) and the Canadian Association of Financial Planners (CAFP) is successful.
“The joining of the CAIFA and CAFP chapters will be a benefit to both groups by bringing the financial and insurance planning backgrounds together, adding voices to CAIFA locals, and providing more options for CAFP members on available chapters to join,” said Lee Raine, CAIFA chair. “And CAFP chapters in Atlantic Canada will see 60 per cent of their members access a chapter within a more serviceable area,” he added.
“It’s gratifying that everyone is so highly supportive of the Council and spoke with such great confidence about our future together as a merged organization,” said Raine. “This is an important time for members of both groups to learn from and support each other as we move forward with the merger initiative. “
CAIFA is supported by 50 chapters based in most major cities and towns across Canada. CAFP maintains an additional 15 chapters in the same major cities. Cities that currently have a chapter from both organizations will merge together.
Donni Robertson, Council co-chair and a CAIFA member, and Sandra Hrvacanin, Council co-chair and CAFP member, will serve as leaders of the new body, which will serve to: fairly represent chapters across the country, offer continued leadership and training for chapters, fulfil the role of conduit between the National office and chapters, and investigate initiatives to further serve and support chapters.
Chapters across the country will merge as of June 30, 2003, allowing current executives to finish their elected year. They will be asked to appoint nominating committees to facilitate the election in the spring of 2003.
The Canadian Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (CAIFA) is a voluntary, not-for-profit professional association whose members, gathered in 50 chapters, are represented in most major cities and towns across the country. CAIFA is a founding member of the Financial Planners Standards Council (FPSC), the body that grants the CFP designation. CAIFA members provide financial advice, and market and sell financial products to over
nine million Canadians.
The Canadian Association of Financial Planners is the membership organization for Canada’s practicing financial planning professionals. Its 2,750 members have the ethics, the education, the experience, and the expertise to help Canadians make the best financial decisions.
For more information about CAIFA, please visit www.caifa.com.
For more information about CAFP, please visit www.cafp.org.
