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C H A I R ' S M E S S A G E
Dear Financial Planner colleagues… What a spring this has been! As I
am writing these lines, we are at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.
The situation may be improved by the time
La Cible is published in May,
but one thing is certain: we have to adapt and take action.
At the IQPF, we quickly took steps to ensure the safety of everyone who
deals with our headquarters: students, financial planners, suppliers and
employees. Thanks to our IT tools, most employees were able to work
from home, which allowed us to maintain most of our services.
We had to make the difficult decision to cancel our graduation
ceremony, which was supposed to take place in Montréal on May 2. Our
new graduates will receive their diplomas by mail. The spring session of
the Professional Training Course was pushed back and will all take place
remotely. The Executive Program exams, as well as the equivalency
exam, can now be conducted online. Some professional development
in-class courses were cancelled or postponed. As for the rest of our
activities, we are in the process of proactively rethinking everything so
we can be ready to handle the unique situation we are facing.
With regard to our profession, for many years now the IQPF has been
insisting on the importance of behavioural finance. The current crisis
provides further proof of it. One of your most important roles is to guide
your clients and help them manage their emotions. With the markets
falling, the threat of recession and the potential impact on retirement
plans, you have to be available, understanding, listening and proactive.
That's no small order, but this is how we can do our part to improve the
situation and make our profession shine.
Strategic Planning
Because eventually there will be calm after the storm, and we will have
to continue to plan and think about the future. We are in the first year
of our 2019–2022 strategic plan. As I mentioned in the last edition of
the magazine, this strategic plan focuses on artificial intelligence. There
are many definitions of artificial intelligence, but in general it means
using technology to do tasks and improving constantly based on data
collected. The best example I can give you is Waze. In case you aren't
familiar with it, it's a unique kind of GPS that uses live data from users
THE CALM AFTER
THE STORM
