Canadian Securities Institute celebrates Faces Behind the Letters

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Canadian Securities Institute (CSI)

Nov 12, 2013, 08:00 ET

Offers #AdviceforAdvisors 

TORONTO, Nov. 12, 2013 /CNW/ - The Canadian Securities Institute (CSI), a Toronto-based global leader in financial services education and credentialing, has dedicated its 2013 integrated marketing program - called Faces Behind the Letters - to showcasing the leaders behind Canada's excellence in financial services and financial advice.

"The success of Canada's financial institutions is built on the quality and competence of its people," says Simon Parmar, Managing Director, Canadian Securities Institute (CSI). "This idea is at the core of CSI's educational philosophy, which is focused on building professional excellence in the ranks of Canada's financial advisors. It is also at the core of how we want to engage with our customers and how we approached the conceptual and creative framework of this year's marketing initiatives."

CSI's 2013 marketing and advertising program - executed between October 2013 and January 2014 across Canada - is designed to demonstrate and celebrate the value of professional excellence, leadership and talent in Canada's financial services system. Its various tactics showcase the 'human face' of the country's leading financial services professionals and give them an opportunity to share their own stories of success.

The program includes Go Transit, online and print ads, with media targets ranging from The Globe and Mail to Investment Executive, Moneysense and BNN - Business News Network. In addition, CSI invited its accomplished alumni, including FCSI®, PFP®, CIM®, CSWP® and MTI® designation holders, to share their professional stories through a digital video gallery and social media conversations.

View interviews with CSI's Faces Behind the Letters campaign designation holders:

"Professional success, to a large extent, is about learning," says Parmar. "As an organization and as a long-standing educational partner of choice to many financial services professionals and institutions, we, too, take learning very seriously, working collaboratively with the financial services community to understand the issues facing the industry and develop relevant education solutions, so financial advisors are well-equipped to deal with the challenges of a global financial marketplace."

As part of its Faces Behind the Letters program, CSI reached out to its alumni to learn their perspectives on what it takes to become a successful financial advisor in today's environment of lower tolerance to risk and heightened investor and employer expectations. Below are several success tips for advisors, based on these dialogues.

#AdviceforAdvisors from CSI's alumni:

  • Commit to ongoing learning. Both formal education and informal learning are important parts of your career development. Formal business and financial services training, coupled with continuing education, will help you set and achieve professional development goals at any point in your career. However, your learning does not end there. In fact, much of it comes from keeping up-to-date with professional best practices through informal relationships with your peers and leaders in your industry. You learn from their successes as much as you learn from their mistakes.
  • Find a mentor. No matter what stage you're at in your career, learning from other successful advisors and role models - drawing on the vast knowledge of those who have spent years working with a variety of clients with diverse financial challenges - will be of tremendous benefit. Whether it's someone you trust within your organization or someone you have a relationship with through a formal mentorship program or an informal support network, having a mentor can go a long way toward reaching your career goals.

    Check out the FCSI Mentor Bank program. 
  • Build a network. While specializing in specific advice areas will give depth to your expertise, you can't be a jack of all trades. Your clients may need to access specialized financial advice or other services, such as accounting or legal support, that are outside of your knowledge and comfort zone. Don't lose your clients just because of that. Instead, broaden your professional network to include specialists in adjacent areas, whose strengths complement your expertise. They can partner with you to create integrated advice solutions for your clients.

  • Have ongoing dialogues with your clients. The number one reason clients change advisors is a lack of communication. Work with your clients to determine what, when and how you will communicate - and create a robust communication plan. In addition to keeping your clients updated on the performance of their account, go the extra mile to support them with additional resources and education. You can add a lot of value with financial literacy tips and updates on relevant developments in the financial world through such communication channels as a blog, LinkedIn postings or an e-newsletter.

  • Listen. It sounds simple, but listening to your clients may be the single most important success factor in advice. Sometimes it's what clients aren't saying that is critical to understanding their financial universe. By actively listening and asking the right questions, you will gain an insight into what is truly important to your clients, how this translates into their financial and life goals and how they can best meet these goals.

For more tips from CSI alumni, check out #AdviceforAdvisors on Twitter.

"As a leader in financial services education in Canada, CSI plays an important role in preparing the learners of today to become tomorrow's successful advisors," says James Campbell, CFP, MBA, CGAP, FMA, CIM, DMS, FCSI, Chairman, FCSI Advisory Council, Vice President of Operations, Brigata Capital Management. "CSI's Faces Behind the Letters campaign provides an opportunity to showcase the very talent that has made Canada's financial services industry secure and stable, and admired the world over."

Join the conversation on credentials for financial professionals on LinkedIn.

Follow CSI on Twitter @CSIGlobalEd.

About the Canadian Securities Institute (CSI)
The Canadian Securities Institute (CSI) is Canada's leading provider of financial services education and credentials. Valued for its expertise in Canada and abroad, CSI offers more than 120 courses, such as the well-known Canadian Securities Course (CSC®), 11 certificate programs, popular specialized financial designations, such as PFP®, CIM®, CSWP® and MTI®, and the Fellow of CSI FCSI®. In 2010, CSI was acquired by Moody's Analytics, a division of Moody's Corporation, and operates under the Canadian Securities Institute (CSI) name in Canada. For more information, please visit www.csi.ca.

SOURCE: Canadian Securities Institute (CSI)

Natasha Dos Santos
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Canadian Securities Institute (CSI)