The 2023 Wealth Professional Awards

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A night to remember: The 2023 Wealth Professional Awards

Hundreds from across Canada’s wealth industry came together in a show of glamour, glitz, and celebration

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Over the years, the Wealth Professional Awards has cemented itself as a forum for Canada’s investment and wealth community to celebrate achievers, applaud visionaries, and raise a glass to the future. And the ninth annual WP Awards was certainly no exception. 

On June 1, the Liberty Grand in Toronto hosted the Canadian wealth industry’s best and brightest in a glitzy gala affair.  

Hundreds of leaders, trailblazers, changemakers, and movers and shakers gathered to celebrate the individuals, teams, and organizations that embody what it means – and have what it takes – to be a true wealth professional. 

A toast to trailblazers 

John Nicola, a living legend and genuine pathbreaker in Canada’s financial services space, triumphantly accepted the FP Canada Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Financial Planning Industry.  

The founder of Nicola Wealth has reaped numerous recognitions over a career spanning nearly 50 years. With his trademark entrepreneurial vision and business acumen – a unique marriage of “why” and “how” – he built the foundation for one of Canada’s top firms catering to high-net-worth families, professionals, and entrepreneurs. 

“If you look at most of the people here tonight, they’re in what I would call the wealth management, running-the-money business, which we do as well,” Nicola told Wealth Professional, sharing credit with the employees whom he says do the “heavy lifting” at his namesake company. “But we’re also in the financial planning business and spend a lot of our time with our clients on financial planning and estate planning, wills, and tax. 

“At the end of the day, we’re dealing with individuals – families, typically, not institutions – and individuals actually place a higher value on advanced planning than on investment returns. Now we get pretty good investment returns, but the fact is they look at the relationship,” he said. “When they talk about why they are with us, they will eventually get to the investment returns – but that’s not where it starts.” 

Marie Phillips, wealth advisor at Investment Planning Counsel, graced the stage as the Harvest ETFs Award for Female Trailblazer of the Year. Since entering the financial services industry in 1992, Phillips has distinguished herself as a true holistic advisor, bringing together a client’s life goals, tax situation, cash flow, insurance, and other facets to create a detailed blueprint to organize their financial house. 

“I moved to Canada in 1975. I was taught that RRSPs were for rich people. And I’ve partnered with an amazing firm, [where] we champion financial literacy,” she said. “It’s all about just making sure that people have the best decisions available to them. 

“When I moved to Canada, I was always the youngest person in the class. I was two years younger than everybody else. I was always having to get a leg up,” she recalled. “I’m so shocked to be part of a community that is all about celebrating the impact of women – I think it’s just wonderful.” 

‘I feel very blessed, very grateful’ 

For Gurtej Varn, an independent financial planner born and raised in British Columbia, the Centurion Asset Management Award for Young Achiever of the Year represented the culmination of a lifelong journey of struggle and transcendence.  

“I grew up poor. So, I had no money growing up… I was always obsessed with it. And then I found a mentor, who showed me what the industry could do for you, what it looks like, and how you can help other people,” Varn said. “We all know this as wealth advisors, but money is the biggest thing that keeps people up at night. And so, the fact that I get to be like a human Xanax for my clients is really what keeps me going.” 

Today, he’s the proud founder of White Coat Financial, a full-service financial planning company that specializes in helping Canadian doctors under 40.  

“I feel very blessed, very grateful. I love what I do. I’ve told my clients that if I won the lottery and I won $50 million tomorrow, I’m still going to do the exact same thing,” he said. “It just feels really nice to be rewarded for the dedication, the hard work I put in.” 

Jackie Porter, whose unabashed enthusiasm and passion for financial education shines through in every facet of her practice, Team Jackie Porter, was all smiles as she took home the Equiton Award for Canadian Advisor of the Year.  

“I take a really different approach to finance,” she said. “I started in this industry being the oddball, because my perspective is all about taking a human-centred approach to planning and making it accessible to everybody.” 

As an advisor-business owner and confidante to her clients, Porter has provided frontline support to countless people through all manners of hardship: losing family, divorce, the mounting costs of homeownership, and more. The ability to help people navigate financial struggles through real-life conversations has been a cornerstone of her success – but that’s not all there is to it. 

“I'm always evolving – just listening, and taking advice,” she said. “I think that my clients are often the people who give me the most inspiration. They are very much very quick to inform me when I'm doing well [and] when I’m not doing well… I think being a business owner is humbling. But if you want to succeed, you have to be willing to accept that.”