President & CCO of Wealth Management firm highlights the wins she wants to celebrate at this year's awards ceremony
Maria Jose Flores has big plans for the Wealth Professional Awards this year. The President and Chief Compliance Officer at Carte Wealth Management is eyeing this year’s event as a chance to highlight the firmwide and individual successes of Carte and its advisors. She wants to see her firm and her advisors recognized with blockbuster categories — like advisor of the year, which was won by Carte’s Jackie Porter in 2023 — but is also looking at more targeted categories that align with the unique work each Carte advisor does.
“For the past five years, Carte Wealth has been ranking as a number one independent dealer in different areas like compliance, branch management, technology, and client onboarding. So I think we have a really good story,” Flores says. “We’re going to be putting in a nomination as multi-office brokerage of the year. But for our advisors we’re looking at new categories as well. Last year Jackie Porter won advisor of the year, but in the two consecutive years before she won female trailblazer of the year.”
As Flores works to submit nominations for the awards, she’s finding ways to pair up Carte advisors with the right category. That involves nominating inspiring female advisors at her firm for the Wealhouse Capital Management Award for Female Trailblazer of the Year, putting young advisors’ names forward for Young Achiever of the Year, or nominating advisors who work as educators to the IFSE Institute Award for Financial Literacy Champion. She looks for where Carte advisors go beyond just the management of assets, highlighting their accomplishments and efforts beyond the day to day of their work.
Read more: Nominations ongoing for the 2024 Wealth Professional Awards
Flores is making this push this year because she’s seen firsthand how WP awards can help advisors and financial services firms grow. Past wins by Jackie Porter have been strong building blocks for Porter’s practice and Carte Wealth Management as a firm. Flores sees the awards as an opportunity to cement Carte’s credibility and recognition within the industry.
It’s also an opportunity to network. The Canadian wealth management industry doesn’t have many chances to celebrate in a gala setting, well dressed and a bit more carefree than you might find at an all-day conference. The event introduces serendipity, allowing tech providers and ETF issuers to rub shoulders with advisors and wealth management execs. Spontaneous conversations give rise to new opportunities and attendees leave better connected and equipped than they went in.
Flores says that Carte can use their award wins and nominations as a springboard for future growth and success. As a smaller firm, she notes that many of her advisors are challenged by the brand recognition of much larger institutions in Canada. As they work to bring over the clients of bank advisors, these awards can lend an element of credibility and prestige that helps a small independent match the scale and reach of their larger competitors.
On a fundamental level, however, Flores says she is committed to the WP awards because she wants the industry to be more open, transparent, and celebratory.
“You don’t want the industry to die,” Flores says when asked why she’s making this push. “I think every industry should get a moment to celebrate its successes…The recognition has to be kept positive and aligned with industry standards and compliance, but I think it’s important because it encourages more dealers to come out, celebrate, and maintain a healthy level of competition. I would encourage more people to come.”
Nominations for the 10th annual WP awards are now open: Click here to nominate.
