Brian Kalyn, Executive marketing director, World Financial Group

Brian Kalyn of World Financial Group is part of this year's Wealth Professional Canada's Hall of Fame

Brian Kalyn, Executive marketing director, World Financial Group
http://www.worldfinancialgroup.com/

Executive marketing director
World Financial Group
Years as an advisor: 32

With 32 years as a financial advisor under his belt, Brian Kalyn speaks from experience when he discusses how the business has changed over the years – and not always for the better.

“Compliance is necessary; however, it’s getting to a point where too much time is required to maintain all the continually changing rules,” he says. “Unless there is some deregulation, many advisors are going to leave the industry at a time when too many people are not getting the help and advice they so badly need. The regulators need to focus on stopping the bad guys without crippling the efforts of all the other advisors who are doing great things for families.”

Kalyn believes this exodus will accelerate if any ban on commissions comes to pass. “The potential banning of commissions or trail commissions and forcing a fee-based option is going to cause many advisors to leave the industry,” he says. “Why can’t there be both systems and allow the client and the free market system to determine what’s best?”

Rather than increased regulation, Kalyn believes it’s in advisors’ own interests to lift standards through dedication to self-improvement. He holds CFP, CLU and ChFC designations, and encourages his peers to follow in the same vein. “Continuing education has increased the knowledge of advisors, and therefore the reputation has definitely improved,” he says.

In his role with World Financial Group, Kalyn dedicates much of his time to recruiting and training new entrants to the industry with a view to enabling them to one day open their own agency – something he believes is sorely needed in today’s wealth management landscape.

“There needs to be more incentive to attract new advisors to offset the average age of current advisors, which is around 59 years old,” he says. “Otherwise, there will be even more families left behind.”

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