About Planist

The Planist Team

Knowledgeable professionals who work together with you

Planist is supported by an experienced team of professionals and managers.

Management

President and Founder: Alain Parent, R.L.U., Pl. Fin.

Currently the president and founder of Planist Ltd. and Impact Financial Strategy Inc., Mr. Parent has more than 15 years of experience in the financial planning field. He began his career as an accountant for a large Quebec company. Afterwards, he became the executive vice-president of a company specializing in the distribution of educational toys. Having gained much business experience, he decided to found his own distribution company. In 1991, Mr. Parent decided to transfer his talents to the financial services field, first as a Sales Manager for Industrial Alliance and then as Branch Manager for Standard Life.

Alain Parent has developed a unique financial planning method based on financial inflows which is at the origin of Planist’s financial Planning software and analysis tools.

Mr. Parent has an education in accounting from the University of Sherbrooke. He has participated in several conferences, notably at the UQAM and the École des HEC.

Vice President, Operations: François Forget, B.Sc., Pl. Fin.

A founding partner of Planist Ltd. and Impact Financial Strategy Inc., François Forget contributed to over five years of steady growth for these financial services firms where he trained advisors and developed creative and personalized marketing tools. As Vice President of operations for Planist Ltd., Mr. Forget is the senior financial planner; managing the quality and direction of financial planning mandates and coordinating contributions from third party experts.

Mr. Forget holds a bachelor in political sciences and communication from the Université de Montréal as well as a certificate in history and educational sciences. His extensive knowledge of financial strategies helps focus Planist’s tools on the realization of clients’ objectives.

Third Party Professionals

Me François Giroux, lawyer

François Giroux joined BCF in 2005 as a partner in the tax group. Specifically, he focuses on corporate tax planning, corporate reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, transfers of privately-owned or family businesses, and taxation of financial products. His clientele consists mainly of entrepreneurs doing business in various industries in Canada and the United States.

M. Giroux has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 1995 and obtained his law degree from the Université de Montreal. He is also a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation and the Association de planification fiscale et financière (APFF).

Mr. Giroux’s recent publications:

• L’assurance vie et les créanciers, Congrès 2001, Association de planification fiscale et financière, Montréal, 2002.
• Les conventions de retraite, Congrès 2000, Association de planification fiscale et financière, Montréal, 2001.

Fernand Boily, C.A.

Since the founding of Boily, Handfield in 1965, the partners and associates work on a daily basis with the leaders and managers of small and medium businesses (SMB) and contribute to their success.

Boily, Handfield is a pioneer in integrated advisory services and business networking, providing sound integrated professional services to bring to SMBs the experience of its team and a wide network of external resources.

To assist and advise leaders and managers of SMBs often requires more than expertise in a specialized area. The professional recommendations of chartered accountants have a varied impact on business decisions. To address this phenomenon, Boily, Handfield has developed a network of specialists with a diversified and multidisciplinary business experience.

The senior partners of Boily, Handfield are considered pioneers in building a network of business and professional associates. They contributed many years ago to the creation of Groupe Servicas. This group of more than 30 consulting firms, represented by more than 200 professionals including 80 chartered accountants, was an answer to the growing needs of SMBs.

Jean Lafleur, Actuary

He holds a bachelor of actuarial studies from the Université Laval. Upon completion of his degree, in 1981, he joined a small consulting firm specialized in pension plan advisory services. He eventually joined an insurance company where he worked in the individual life insurance and annuity departments for 8 years. Eventually, Jean was hired as head actuary for Canadian National in 1989. Within 6 years, Jean was promoted as director of CN’s pension plans and retirement benefits. During his time at Canadian National, Jean was responsible for all structuring and implementation of the company’s pension plans.

Jean has structured and implemented Individual Pension Plans (IPP) since their creation in 1992. He is now president of an actuarial advisory firm, Lafleur Consultants inc, specializing in this popular yet specialized pension vehicle. Since founding the company, he has overseen more than 270 plans and has developed various illustration software (IPP vs. RRSP tables).

Jean has been the president of the Montreal Actuary Club from 2001-2002. He currently sits on the board of the Association of Canadian Pension Management (ACPM).

Testimonials

Many advisors across Canada have been pleasantly surprised by the great results that they’ve achieved from Planist services and tools. Whether using our strategic analysis software or mandating Planist to create advanced financial plans, advisor and client success stories have been multiplying.

A few examples:

I consider myself a fervent advocate of the financial planning approach so I congratulate Planist for putting together a competent team of professional, tools and expertise. I’ve been using Planist services for more than 18 months and I can agree that clients’ benefits from these financial plans are enchanted by the results and presentation. Using Planist has helped me solidify my client relationships, close important cases, and establish the credibility of my service offering within my firm.

Claude Chalifoux, CLU, Pl. Fin.
Vice President,
Services financiers Valeurs mobilières Desjardins

I’ve been using Planist to prepare comprehensive strategic financial plans for my clients over the past 1 1/2 years. I expect that over 50% of my income has been derived from clients who have benefited from this service. I see a real advantage to review a client’s financial situation from a very objective perspective and most times offering unique solutions and strategies to address their needs for wealth accumulation and protection, tax efficient retirement, estate planning, and business succession planning. I would recommend Planist’s services to any advisor looking to move to the next level of financial planning for their clients.

Dan Dean, B.Sc., CFP
Dan Dean Financial

Great experience for both the MGA and the advisor.

I introduced Planist to my advisors in 2005. Since then, we’ve had some great success with this tool.

Completing the FNA (Financial Needs Analysis) with the clients is a great experience. It makes the clients take a serious look at their situation and have an honest and frank discussion that they most likely would have never had. The clients are very impressed by the professionalism of the reports produced by Planist and they are generally very comfortable that the recommendations fit their situation to a tee.

In one particular case, my son Chris, who is an advisor with our company, was able to do wonders and the commission earned was enough to pay for the subscription to Planist services for many, many years.

Planist is an incredible tool. The clients are happy, the advisor is happy, and the MGA (me) is happy.

Ken Mossing, CSA
President,
Performance Financial Services Inc.
Member of THE UNITED MGA GROUP