Sara La Gamba has led an impressive career as a financial advisor since 2009. She joined the industry with Freedom 55 Financial and then became President of King Financial and Benefits Inc in 2012. At SPM, Sara works as a Senior Advisor to help her clients achieve their financial goals with personalized, professional service. Learning has been a life-long passion for Sara and education continues to play an integral role in her professional journey and development.

Sara is a proud and enthusiastic member of Advocis. It’s a membership she holds with great pride since the time she joined the association in the early days of her career. During that time, she began volunteering with The Institute of Advanced Financial Education. She currently chairs the Standards and Accreditation Committee, sits on the Awards committee and is a member of the Advocis Legal Regulatory Policy committee. Sara also allocates her time as Chair for The Institute. She played a key role in her local Advocis chapter, joining the board in 2012 and serving as Toronto Chapter President from 2015-2017. Sara is also a proud member of CALU and sits on their Government Relations Committee.

Sara graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and lives in London Ontario with her husband Nathan and her two sons, Jackson and Owen. She enjoys golfing, skiing, volleyball, and cycling in her free time.

With over 32 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 successful sales people, leading sales teams to outperform, managing distribution channels 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 from 1991-1994 where he was the Editor of ELUA magazine.

In 1995, Ejaz moved to Saskatchewan to help credit unions establish their wealth management distribution system, 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 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 Vice President and Managing Director of the Wealth Management division. After 12 years at FirstOntario, Ejaz started his own consultancy firm to help credit unions in the areas of wealth management strategy, Advisor development and sales management.

Ejaz is an Advocis member since 1990. He has been an Institute Trustee since 2014. Previously, 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.

After graduating from the University of British Columbia in 1990 with a BA English Literature and subsequently successfully establishing her financial advisory practice in Vancouver with London Life, Izumi transitioned to management and is currently a Managing Director with Freedom 55 Financial whose responsibilities are aligned with the Vancouver Georgia and Vancouver Island Financial Centers of Freedom 55 Financial.

Izumi is a past president of the Advocis Greater Vancouver Chapter, a past director on the National Advocis-The Financial Advisors Association of Canada board and is a past Chair of the National Advocis Chapter Leadership Council. On the Institute for Advanced Financial Education, Izumi currently serves as the Chair of the Conduct and Discipline committee and also sits on the Editorial Advisory Panel for Forum Magazine. Locally, Izumi is the co-Chair of the Advocis Estate Planning Conference, she is an active mentor with the BCIT Financial Planning Program since 2000 and in 2018 completed her term as a voting member of the Insurance Council of British Columbia.

In her community, Izumi serves as a director on the Vancouver Kiwanis Music Festival Society, she is a University of British Columbia Arts Mentor and Blossom Program mentor and was a nominee in 2013 for the YWCA Women of Distinction award. Izumi believes strongly that “privilege comes with responsibility” and that our role as financial advisors puts us in the uniquely privileged position of having the opportunity to make a significant difference in the lives of others. Therefore, her volunteer involvement with Advocis and the other organizations she remains committed to represents an opportunity for her to participate and contribute to the responsible stewardship of our industry as well as the community she lives in on behalf of the clients and advisors she serves.

With over four decades of experience in the financial services industry, Brent has established himself as a respected expert and leader. As the Principal of Barron’s Financial Group Inc., Brent specializes in advanced estate and tax planning, family and business succession, and asset protection strategies tailored for professionals and business owners. His expertise extends to the design and administration of benefit plans, retirement income strategies, and more.

Brent’s career is marked by significant leadership roles across national public insurance corporations, investment banking institutions, and private financial advisory firms. His extensive professional background is complemented by his active membership in esteemed organizations such as Advocis, CALU, The Institute for Advanced Financial Education, The Financial Planner Standards Council, The Million Dollar Round Table, and The Canadian Institute of Certified Executor Advisors.

Brent has also made considerable contributions in leadership positions. He served as the Past President of the Board of Directors for the Advocis Peel/Halton Chapter and continues to hold influential roles within Advocis and The Institute for Advanced Financial Education.

Beyond his professional achievements, Brent is deeply committed to community service. He has been a Board Member of the Estate Planning Council of Mississauga since 2008 and recently completed his second term as President. Additionally, he has served as the Past President of The Certified Executor Advisor Network, where he championed efforts to enhance estates literacy in Canada.

Brent’s unwavering dedication to financial excellence and community involvement underscores his impressive career and commitment to serving others.

Since September of 2017, Scott has been with Transport Canada in the Investigation Services department  providing investigational and policy advice to the Inspectorate.

Scott has spent most of his career as a member of the RCMP with 25 1/2 years of diverse experience as an investigator and operational unit commander in Ontario, Manitoba, and Northwest Territories. He has strong established networks and relationships within law enforcement, criminal legal circles, regulatory agencies, government bodies at Federal, Provincial and Municipal levels in Manitoba. Scott has worked to establish and maintain community-based policing measures, e.g. crime prevention, promoting community relations and liaising with client groups through strong communications skills. He was also responsible for conducting specialized fraud investigations and enforcing provisions of the Criminal Code (CC) including fraud, corruption, and breach of trust related offences, Federal and Provincial Statutes and, where applicable, municipal bylaws. Scott is a natural team leader who leads by example and has actively supervised Regular/Civilian Members (R/M- C/M) of the RCMP and Public Service employees in various roles.

With an extensive background in leading complex investigations, conducting interviews and allocating human resources to complete investigations in a timely and efficient manner, he was appointed as an Institute Trustee in 2022.

Barbara is a professional recognized for ability to provide preventative, proactive advice, training and undertake investigations to mitigate compliance risk, while simultaneous growing business opportunities.  She is skilled in mediation to balance interests of multiple stakeholders when collaboration is critical.  Barbara prides herself on being a strategic and critical thinker, motivator, oral and written influencer who makes complex concepts understandable and practically relevant.

Since December 2021, Barbara has been AVP, Compliance, with PPI where she leads the team responsible for development, implementation, monitoring and maintenance of all regulatory policies, procedures and processes for enterprise-wide compliance program. Barbara is also tasked with providing technical and practical expertise to inform conduct and business practice for employees and advisors, as well as education programs, to support both insurance and wealth business in the evolving financial services industry.

Barbara was appointed as an Institute trustee in 2022.