Board of Directors

Eric started his financial services career with London Life. After an initial period as a representative; he went on to three separate management careers. Since January 2002 he has been an independent producer and principal of Lidemark Financial Group Inc.

Eric is a Past President of the Advocis Greater Vancouver Chapter (2005) and as Treasurer worked on the integration of CAIFA Vancouver and the BC Chapter of the CAFP into Advocis Greater Vancouver. Eric was elected to Chapter Leadership Council in 2006 and served as Chair for 2011/2012. His second stint with the Institute was from 2012-2017. Since 2017, Eric has served on the TFAAC Board. Eric proudly chaired the inaugural Strategies for Success Sales Conference for Insurance and Financial Advisors in Vancouver in 2015.

Eric received his CLU designation in 1983 and was the Dunstall Medal award winner for BC. He was President of the BC Mainland CLU Chapter in 1988 – 1989 and won the DeHaerne Award that year for best chapter.

Eric is a season ticket holder for the BC Lions and watches Blue Jays games as much as possible. Regular year-round activities are pool and golf.

Eric and his wife Jackie enjoy travelling and have thankfully and gratefully been able to get away to many interesting international locales on a regular basis for these past few years. They have one son, Kevin.

In business and in life, Eric has tried to live by his 3 R’s: Reliability, Responsibility and Respect. Resiliency has recently been added as a fourth R.

Rob began his career with IG Wealth Management in 1987 responsible in part for the implementation and training of financial planning tools for advisors.   Rob has worked as an advisor with IG Wealth Management since 2006, is a Certified Financial Planner professional (CFP) and is a member of IG Private Wealth Management specializing in the advanced needs of high-net-worth clients.

Rob comes from a legacy of financial planners. Rob’s grandfather, father and sister are all financial planners, together they have over 140 years of experience with IG Wealth Management.

Rob, his wife and three daughters, are avid skiers during the winter months. In the summer they enjoy spending time on their boat at Lake of the Woods.

Since 2015, Rob has served on the TFAAC Board. Rob served on the Advocis Chapter Leadership Council from 2011 – 2015, acting as Chair 2015 – 2017. Was the 2010 – 2011 President and 2007 – 2009 Treasurer of the Advocis Winnipeg Chapter.

Stephen has owned and operated Stephen MacEachern Insurance & Financial Services since 1997. His earlier 10 year career in the hospitality industry was an ideal foundation for his work as a financial planner and chartered financial consultant. Attention to detail, compassion, empathy, and a conservative behavior in complex situations are hallmarks of his current popularity with clients in the practice. He is capably supported by a team of administration, technical and underwriting specialists, from various insurers, whose teamwork and follow-through are setting new standards of service excellence in building lifetime relationships with the expanding client base.

Stephen is a past treasurer and Past President of Advocis Nova Scotia and served on the local board for over ten years before joining the Institute Board, and he is a past Chair of the Institute. He received his CLU in 2004 and was the Dunstall Medal winner for Nova Scotia attaining the highest provincial mark. In 2005 Stephen entered the EMBA program at St. Mary’s University and completed his Master’s Degree in 2007.

Stephen is also a Past President of the Armdale Kiwanis Club, and past treasurer of the Metro Executive Group and the Spryfield Lions Rink Society. He is currently involved on the board for the Advocis Atlantic School.

John is President and Chair of RBC Wealth Management Financial Services Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of RBC Dominion Securities Inc., which is an Insurance Agency operating under the Canadian Insurance regulatory environment. John is responsible for managing the existing Agency Business, including the insurance support distribution team (Estate Planning Specialists) that supports Canadian Wealth Management’s client facing professionals. His team works closely with the Family Office Services Business in providing Wealth Preservation and Wealth Transformation solutions using tax effective Life Insurance products. John has been with RBC Financial Group member companies since 1987, in various business development, operational and distribution roles.

He began his financial services career with London Life in 1980.

John has bachelor’s degrees from the University of Western Ontario and Laurentian University and has also completed the executive program at the University of Western Ontario Ivey Business School. He earned the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation in 1987 and also passed the Canadian Securities Course in 1987. He is a 2011 graduate of the Family Business Centre at the UBC Sauder School of Business and holds the Family Enterprise Advisor (FEA) designation.

John has been a board member at the Institute of Advanced Financial Education (IAFE) since 2011 and has been an associate member of CALU (Conference for Advanced Life Underwriting) since 2000. He has chaired the IIROC Insurance sub committee of the I.A.A.C. Retail Sales Committee

Curtis Kimpton is a Senior Wealth Advisor, Senior Financial Planner and co-founder of the Family Legacy Advisory Group at Wellington-Altus Private Wealth.

For the past 26 years, Curtis has worked closely with pre-retirees and business owners to plan for the future and build comprehensive plans. Curtis uses his knowledge as a Certified Financial Planner and Chartered Life underwriter to benefit his clients.

Curtis grew up in Saskatoon with his family, homesteading on the pike lake highway. He is married to Candace, and they have two amazing young children, Sierra and Kelan, who are involved in many sports and community activities. Curtis spends his free time with his family and actively participates in his community.

Kelly has served in the financial services industry since 1998 as a thought leader, industry influencer and technology pioneer. Her expertise is in leading innovation and organizational transformation beside unique and elite business owners, as well as building high performance cultures, teams and businesses.

Kelly is currently supporting Financial Advisory teams across Canada to integrate new tech into their practices including a modern approach to delivering clients value. She consults with industry leading digital solution providers by representing the voice of the advisor, sharing strategic insights, and providing development direction.

A true prairie gal born and raised and, when she is not travelling coast to coast, still lives in Saskatchewan running the family farm. As a national athlete, she loves the competitive comparisons between business and sports. Kelly has served as an active Advocis member for 19 years, is a founding member of the Technology & Innovation Committee (TIC), is a Saskatchewan PAC member and is serving in her 2^nd term on the National TFAAC Board.

Arun is a management consultant with Canada Life.  He works with Canada Life’s top producing firms developing and executing their strategy, marketing and operations plans.  He is the President of the Simcoe-Muskoka Chapter and the Advocacy Liaison for Ontario Central Region.

Currently, Arun also sits on the University of Toronto’s College of Electors who recruit and select Board Governors for Governing Council.  He is also active with the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering raising funds for the re-construction of Survey Camp.  Arun is also a volunteer fire fighter for the Toronto Indy. He is a Past Chair of the Richmond Hill Board of Trade, and Past Chair of Habitat for Humanity York Region.

He has summited Mt. Kilimanjaro and completed the Disney Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge.

Leslie spent almost 10 years with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) before joining the financial services industry in 1995. After 10 years as an independent advisor, Leslie joined Empire Life Insurance Co. as a wholesaler of insurance products covering the province of BC. Leslie has completed her CFP, CLU and CIM designations.

Leslie spent 10 years as part of the Greater Vancouver Advocis Chapter as Treasurer and then as President from 2017 – 2019. Leslie was voted onto the Chapter Leadership Council as the BC Regional Leader in 2019 and accepted the CLC Chair position for 2023.

Born and raised in Vancouver, Leslie is a mom to 3 boys and is loving being a new Grandmother. Leslie and Brian enjoy spending time on their boat, being involved in their yacht club and travelling.

Ejaz Nadeem has over 30 years’ experience in the Wealth Management Industry, Ejaz has a passion for helping individuals realize their dreams of financial success and independence. He specializes in developing, coaching and mentoring successful sales people, leading sales teams to outperform, managing distribution channels, developing sales strategies and developing strategic relationships.

Ejaz entered the financial services industry in 1990 through London Life’s University Training Program in Edmonton, Alberta. In 1993, he joined Prudential of America as a Sales Manager in the Edmonton office. He also served on the board of directors of Edmonton Life Underwriters Association (ELUA) from 1991-1994 where he was the Editor of ELUA magazine. In 1995, Ejaz moved to Saskatchewan to help credit union system establish their wealth management distribution network, including life insurance, mutual funds and securities, through Credential Financial Inc., a credit union system owned wealth management dealer. Ejaz’ success in Saskatchewan resulted in his appointment and his move to Ontario in 2001 as Regional Vice President, Sales and Distribution for Ontario and Eastern Canada. He left Credential in 2009 to join FirstOntario Credit Union as Managing Director of Wealth Management. Ejaz is an Advocis member since 1990.

He has served on the boards of directors of GAMA International Canada, Advocis Greater Hamilton Chapter and Canadian Association of Gift Planners (CAGP) Golden Horseshoe. Ejaz was also a member of Hamilton-Burlington United Way Campaign Cabinet. Besides a Master’s degree in Economics from University of Alberta, Ejaz has completed Levels I and II of the CFA program, and holds CFP and CLU designations.

Sara is an experienced board director and financial services executive.  Sara has served as a board member of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, including Toronto Hydro and the University of Toronto Governing Council Business Board, and has been named to the Diversity 50 by the Canadian Board Diversity Council.  She successfully completed the Rotman Directors Education Program and holds the ICD.D designation. Sara is a member of Governance Professionals Canada and is a faculty member of the GPC.D program, having collaborated in the design and launch of the designation program. Sara has held senior leadership roles in the Canadian Financial Services sector and is currently a member of RBC’s Sustainability Team where she leads Human Rights and Sustainability initiatives. Most recently she was an officer of Concentra Bank, where she led compliance and financial crime risk management teams and was a member of the Bank’s ESG/CSR Strategy Team. In a prior role Sara was Chief Compliance Officer for an insurer, and she has helped shape public policy through material contributions as a committee member at the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, the Canadian Association of Financial Institutions in Insurance, and the Canadian Bankers Association.

Sara is no stranger to Advocis. From 2003 to 2008 she held the staff position of Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and earned a strong reputation for her critical thinking and her ability to build strategic relationships, successfully leading a number of key initiatives, including Advocis’ intervention in a landmark Supreme Court of Canada constitutional law challenge.

Sara obtained her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto and attended Queen’s University for Law School. She is a lawyer, and also holds a Master’s degree in International Law from Cambridge University, and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.  She completed the Osgoode Hall Law School Certificate in Legal & Regulatory Risk Management for Financial Institutions, and has been a faculty member of the certificate program since 2013. She is a frequent speaker at conferences, including the Northwind Financial Services Invitational Forum, and is a past lecturer at the Rotman School of Management and Queen’s Law School.

Sara shares her home with her spouse and their two children, as well their Leonberger, Golden Retriever, and Bengal Leopard cat.  Her passions include travel and skiing, and she is a long-standing member of the Toronto International Film Festival and a volunteer at Toronto’s Out of the Cold Program.