Flurry of funding announcements ahead of southwest Manitoba byelection
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Globe and Mail
19 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
As finances improve, Advocis head focuses on regulation and new advisors
After two years in the red, Advocis, the Financial Advisors Association of Canada, reported a net surplus of $1.8-million for 2024 in its annual report. Advocis president and chief executive officer Kelly Gorman attributes the turnaround mainly to cost-cutting and the commitment of its 7,400 members (including full-paying, retired and student members). She notes that 91 per cent renewed their memberships last year, seeing that as a sign the association is moving in the right direction. Ms. Gorman joined Advocis last September and previously worked in senior regulatory and enforcement roles at CPA Ontario and the Ontario Securities Commission, where she was deputy director for enforcement and chief of the whistleblower office. In the coming year, Ms. Gorman says Advocis is focused on regulatory issues such as removing barriers to insurance licensing between provinces (with a white paper coming this fall) and expanding title protection for financial advisors and planners across the country. 'There's a big opportunity with interprovincial barriers coming down,' she says. Globe Advisor spoke with Ms. Gorman about upcoming initiatives. How do you see title protection evolving? I believe we're eventually going to have title protection across Canada. It's important that consumers receive advice from somebody who has been credentialed and completed the right kind of educational requirements. I give a lot of credit to Ontario for going first, and I understand that everybody would say something different about the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario's (FSRA) model. I appreciate that as a former regulator. FSRA now has a few years under their belt. We need to stay tuned with respect to title protection evolution as it moves across Canada. I know that they're talking to other provinces. We're a credentialing body under FSRA so we have a complaints and discipline process. We're going to be looking at our procedures to make sure they're exceeding best practices. You attribute Advocis's consolidated net surplus this year to cost savings. How, specifically? Some cost savings are a function of doing more with our own internal resources – particularly from an education and technical content perspective – as opposed to paying for external expertise. We are also looking at how we can use technology to better service our members. We're going to be launching an online member community, a platform for advisors to connect and mentor. Our younger advisors really want this type of platform. In terms of revenue, professional development course fees rose, with the life licence qualification program (LLQP) accounting for 87 per cent of the increase. Why the interest in LLQP? For many people, the LLQP is the starting point of becoming a financial advisor. They may start there and go on and do other designations. Our focus is on bringing in the next generation of financial advisors. You just established a new emerging leaders committee. Is that its goal? Yes, we want to hear the voice of young advisors. Young advisors think about things differently. They interact with their clients differently. They have different expectations of us as a membership body and how we are there to support them. If we want to attract the next generation of young advisors, we better understand what that's going to take. So the purpose of that committee is to provide that feedback and input. How would you summarize this year's turnaround? I haven't even been here for a year. My focus is just moving forward and making sure we are doing the best we can for our members in our chapters. We've had some past challenges, but our membership is very committed. This interview has been edited and condensed.
Globe and Mail
19 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
We're looking at the wrong earnings season
It's easy to be impressed with the U.S. corporate earnings season that's unfolding, but you're looking at the wrong one if you're trying to identify the true impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs. The coast may not be clear until October, and even then, only partially. With 80 per cent of S&P 500 firms now having reported second-quarter updates, the blended annual profit growth estimate, which aggregates what's been published with forecasts for the remaining 20 per cent of the index, is running at 12 per cent, according to LSEG data. That's more than twice the low-balled expectations that were baked in a month ago, when they were still being dragged down by the uncertainties related to April's 'Liberation Day' tariffs - postponed of course for 90 days until this week. Curiously, that 12-per-cent pace is exactly what was forecast for the second quarter back on January 1, which gives an impression the much-feared tariff impact evaporated in a puff of smoke despite April's turbulence. But it's partly because very little actually happened tariff-wise in the second quarter. And frantic preparations, including import front-loading and inventory stockpiling, likely offset a lot of what has kicked in to date. And, of course, the dominant artificial intelligence theme once again drove the performance of a handful of megacaps to flatter the index's average, with eye-watering 44-per-cent and 23-per-cent annual growth recorded in the communications services and technology sectors respectively - both above January's forecast. And that's with less than half of the companies in these hot sectors having updated so far, with chip behemoth Nvidia's earnings not due out until August 27. By contrast, the equivalent blended readout for consumer discretionary stocks was half as strong as the total, and consumer staples earnings are flatlining. And both are still below January's outlook. What's more, energy sector earnings are running at a negative 20 per cent annually and utility and materials sector earnings are also in the red over the past year. As BlackRock's investment strategists pointed out this week, the US$27-billion of federal tariff revenues recorded for June mean someone must be paying the levies and taking the hit - either businesses or consumers, or a mix of both. And with an effective 18-per-cent overall U.S. tariff kicking in on Thursday, as Yale Budget Lab estimates, that tax revenue tally is only going to go up for the third quarter. What was largely an uncertainty to date is now becoming a reality. But assessing the overall picture requires separating out the impact of the AI theme, which is keeping the surface calm even with tariff-related undertows. Automakers have clearly taken a whack from the trade disruption, for example, but the industrials sector that they're part of is still managing to generate 4-per-cent annual profit growth because it is also getting a lift from the AI-driven data centtr buildout and the defense sector reboot. What's more, the financials sector - which indirectly benefited from the whole tariff farrago due to the outsize market volatility and related financial trading revenues - is another unexpectedly strong performer with growth of 14 per cent. BlackRock describes the picture as a 'tug-of-war' between tariffs and AI. 'The latter is winning so far, in our view, but getting granular views is key as companies and consumers each eat tariff costs,' it concludes, saying it remains overweight U.S. stocks but continues to tread carefully, watching out for trade landmines. When might those tariff hits show up in earnest? Corporate guidance should clear up some of the horizon, but it too is affected by similar cross-currents. HSBC's U.S. equity team points out that earnings revisions are moving higher for the tech and AI cohort as well as for financials and utilities. But these industries are relatively immune to tariffs, while those more susceptible - like consumer and healthcare groups - have seen their outlooks turn negative. And while margins have held up more generally, HSBC doesn't foresee that continuing in the third quarter. 'We expect a more substantial hit in 3Q as inventories are drawn down and mitigation efforts take time,' it told clients. The trade disruption likely will take its toll on the market and the wider economy to some degree. Whether you can see it clearly on the whole is a different matter. Be smart with your money. Get the latest investing insights delivered right to your inbox three times a week, with the Globe Investor newsletter. Sign up today.
Globe and Mail
19 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
After retiring at 52, this former IT worker took on a volunteer leadership role at her church
In Tales from the Golden Age, retirees talk about their spending, savings and whether life after work is what they expected. For more articles in this series, click here. Angie Beynon, 62, Nanaimo, B.C. I retired in January, 2015 at 52 years of age after working in information technology (IT) for 30 years. My last job was working for a company that supplied the IT infrastructure for a bank. It was the best job I'd ever had – and it paid well – but I just stopped having fun. Time is my most precious commodity, not my finances, and I felt there must be a better way to use my time. My second husband is a lay minister, and we both hold active volunteer leadership roles in our church. I wanted to do more of that. The first few weeks of retirement felt like an extended vacation. We travelled to Maui, which was wonderful. Then I got busy in our ministry. I got a theology diploma and took several courses on marriage and financial coaching because we began to realize that, as people were recovering from issues such as addiction, they needed support in these areas. We had a daughter pass away tragically in May, 2018 and wanted a fresh start, so we moved from Edmonton to Nanaimo in September, 2020. The first year was challenging because of the pandemic shutdowns. It took us longer than expected to find activities and establish relationships. But we're settled now and consider Nanaimo our home. We enjoy a healthier outdoor lifestyle here and see each day as a gift. When I retired, I had a gut feeling that I would be okay financially, as I always earned more money than I spent. As a teenager, my dad taught me to save and invest my money, and I maxed out my RRSPs and TFSAs throughout my working years. When I started working at 24, my goal was to retire at 40. Then, I got married and had two kids and realized that might've been too ambitious, so I pushed my goal to 50. I got divorced at 48 and wasn't ready to retire at 50. I wasn't sure what I was going to do and didn't want to quit without a plan. I realized a few years after retiring at 52 that I probably should have had a financial plan before I stopped working. About three years into retirement, my now husband and I consulted with an advisor, who confirmed that we have more than enough money to live comfortably, based on our lifestyle and expenses. We also started a budget for the first time. At the beginning of each year, we first decide how much we want to give to various charitable causes and then how much we want to spend on things such as vacations. We then allocate the remaining funds for everyday expenses. Having a good budget means we don't have to worry about money. We are not planning to take CPP or OAS until age 70, but we will revisit that decision when we turn 65. I encourage people to start thinking about retirement years in advance, starting in their 30s and 40s. Budgeting is a big part of that plan; it feeds into the dream of retirement. I also think that if people can afford to retire, they should do it. You only need so much money. As told to Brenda Bouw This interview has been edited and condensed. Are you a Canadian retiree interested in discussing what life is like now that you've stopped working? The Globe is looking for people to participate in its Tales from the Golden Age feature, which examines the personal and financial realities of retirement. If you're interested in being interviewed for this feature and agree to use your full name and have a photo taken, please e-mail us at: goldenageglobe@ Please include a few details about how you saved and invested for retirement and what your life is like now.
