STEPHANIE ALBERT Advisor/owner Stephanie Albert Insurance/Foresters
FRANCOIS LANGLOIS Senior investment advisor Manulife Over 20 years with Manulife, Francois Langlois has climbed to become one of the giant’s most-trusted advisors. And in his personal life, the father of four became the third Quebecer to climb Mount Everest as part of his successful quest to climb the highest peak on each continent, raising more than $6 million for sick children and kids with cancer during the 10-year journey. Langlois finished 2014 ranked 35th out of about 1,200 brokers at Manulife – in the top 3% of the firm – and had his best year in the industry in terms of client satisfaction and growth. He grew his business by more than 25% and, without any staff, focuses on just 70 households. He’ll really put his relationships to the test in April when he leaves for Kilimanjaro for the fourth time with a group of a dozen climbers – some of whom are his clients.
JENNIFER BLACK President Dedicated Financial Solutions [DFS]
Professionally and socially, Stephanie Albert had a big impact in 2014. With her family, she helped start Kids to Kids, a program where volunteers – including children – work with lower-income families and children with special needs. So far, the program has been a huge success; 1,100 children and 150 volunteers have gotten involved. On the back of this initiative, she won Foresters’ Community Service Award. It’s perhaps the only accolade that could eclipse Albert being named to the Top Five Broker in Canada list and qualifying as an ambassador for the company.
It’s been a smooth transition for Jennifer Black to go from being a nationally ranked tennis star to being co-owner of DFS, a rapidly growing wealth management and financial planning company based in Mississauga, Ont. For the last two years, Black has been given the Consumer’s Top Choice Award as Mississauga’s Top Financial Planner, has been awarded Elite status as one of Canada’s top eight financial advisor teams based on an independent survey of their customers by Elite Advisors Canada, and won the Mississauga Board of Trade Business Award of Excellence for 2014 as Small Business of the Year. Black also created the nonprofit advisor network and resource website Widowed.ca.
KEN MACCOY CHS RitePartner Financial Services It was anything but a typical year for Ken MacCoy, CHS of RitePartner Financial Services in Chilliwack, BC. The industry veteran and contributor to Wealth Professional magazine saw his insurance business shoot up about 37.3% in 2014, thanks to referrals and policy reviews with existing clients. MacCoy has also excelled at hanging onto clients in an increasingly competitive market where defections are more and more the norm – he boasts a conversion rate of around 96%.
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