Don Johnston Award -
Media release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Industry Veteran, Al Rickard Honoured
For Contribution to Financial Planning Profession

Toronto, June 6, 2007 — Mr. Alastair Rickard, a financial services veteran with more than 30 years in the industry and currently AVP, Government & Industry Relations for Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, has been selected as the 2007 recipient of the Donald J. Johnston Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Profession of Financial Planning in Canada (D.J.J. Award). Mr. Rickard will be honoured with the award that also comes with a $10,000 contribution to the charitable organization of his choice, at the Financial Planners Standards Council's (FPSC) Board Reception in Calgary, AB, on June 14th.

Rickard and his wife Pat have requested the $10,000 contribution associated with the award go to a charity they have supported in the past — Women's Crisis Centre of Waterloo Region that operates two women's shelters and an expanding outreach program.

"Al Rickard has worked tirelessly and passionately for the development and practical implementation of the highest standards of competence and ethics in the delivery of financial advice in Canada. His legendary political acumen and knowledge of the regulatory landscape has been a tremendous asset to the cause of professionalism in financial planning for many years," says FPSC's founding and now retired president Donald J. Johnston. Johnston, in whose honour the award was inaugurated at FPSC's 10th Anniversary celebrations in January 2006, was the first recipient of the award.

Rickard, who served on the FPSC Board of Directors from 2002 to 2005, says, "I am deeply honoured by this award, especially because it is named after Don Johnston and is bestowed by FPSC, an organization that I believe in very much. This honour is even more enhanced by virtue of the independence of the selection committee and its make-up of such an impressive group of professionals of high standards." He adds, "My interest in serving the cause of financial planning professionalism has been greatly enhanced by my longtime association with the financial planning professionals in Sun Life's Clarica Estate & Financial Planning Services department."

In speaking to the independence of the award committee, Ann Bowman, FPSC's VP Communications & Corporate Relations, who manages the award program on behalf of the FPSC Board, says, "The FPSC Board feels it is important that the D.J.J Award committee be comprised of individuals who bring various perspectives reflecting the diverse realities of the industry and this developing profession - and who are not currently directly affiliated with FPSC. The D.J.J. Award recognizes that this is a team effort FPSC is leading, with players from all walks of life making major contributions."

FPSC developed the D.J.J Award program to annually celebrate and inspire outstanding contributions that will forward the development of the professional practice of financial planning toward recognition as a bona fide profession that serves the public interest. The charitable contribution associated with the award celebrates the spirit of a community of financial planning professionals who say "helping people" is the most rewarding aspect of their careers.

About the 2007 Award

FPSC received nominations and supporting letters for the 2007 award during October and November 2006 from representatives of the industry, regulatory arena, the public and academia. All nominations stand for three years. The decision made by the committee was ratified by FPSC's Board of Directors in March (See list in "backgrounder" and view bios at FPSC's website).

About The 2007 Award Winner

Alastair Rickard has held various roles with Clarica, now Sun Life, that included directing the operations of a national network of regional offices staffed by salaried financial planners and extensive involvement with distribution and regulatory matters. Additionally, he has served on various financial services industry task forces and regulatory committees for over 20 years. He has been Chair of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association's Committee on Distribution and Intermediaries since 1992, and was a founding member of the Joint Industry Group, a multi-stakeholder alliance of financial services associations. He has also served on the federal government's Canadian Advisory Committee on Personal Financial Planning relating to the work of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Rickard was invited to join the Board of FPSC in 2002, served as its Vice Chair in 2003, Chair in 2004 and Past Chair in 2005.

In 1978, Mr. Rickard founded The Canadian Journal of Life Insurance and Financial Services. In addition to editing the journal, he has written articles for various newspapers and magazines in Canada including The Globe and Mail and The Financial Post, was a columnist for Canadian Underwriter and for Insurance Digest and has contributed articles to U.S. magazines such as Best's Review.

Rickard speaks regularly to many audiences across Canada and the U.S. about a variety of industry matters, especially agency distribution, financial planning and related regulatory issues.

Financial Planners Standards Council (FPSC) is a not-for-profit organization established in 1995 to lead the development of the financial planning profession. FPSC develops and enforces the highest standards in financial planning competency and ethics for individuals who hold the CFP® (CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®) in Canada. There are currently more than 17,000 CFP professionals in Canada and more than 105,000 individuals who have earned CFP certification in 20 countries around the world. See www.cfp-ca.org for more information.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For further information on FPSC and CFP certification, please visit our online media kit at www.cfp-ca.org/media/media_mediakit.asp.

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FOR MEDIA INTERVIEWS AND FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Heather Mills/ FPSC at 416.593.8587 ext. 235 or rhilton-eddy@cfp-ca.org;
Eileen Chadnick/Chadnick Communications at 416.631.7437 or eileen@chadnick.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: SEE ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND ON THE AWARD BELOW

MORE ON THE DONALD J. JOHNSTON AWARD

About the Award Criteria

The 2007 D.J. Johnston Award Committee judged the nominees for the Donald J. Johnston Award (D.J.J. Award) according to criteria that can be assigned generally to the following five categories. The weighting assigned to each category is determined by each year's Award Committee, and the criteria and categories can be added to, deleted and in other ways refined according to their relevance in any particular year. This flexibility is meant to allow for the evolving nature of a profession-in-the-making and for the different stages through which this emerging profession will pass in years to come.

Criteria:

Advancement of the Status of Profession:
Plays or has played a leading and/or inspiring role in increasing nation-wide industry and/or consumer recognition of:

• the importance of the work that is done by professional financial planners; and
• the importance of the standards of excellence (as represented by CFP certification) to which planners must be held so as to serve the public interest and so as to enhance the reputation of the planner community.

Advancement of the Standards of the Profession:
Plays or has played a leading or inspiring role in developing or expanding the up-take or adoption of CFP standards and planning activity that serve the public interest and enhance the reputation of the planner community.

Reflection / Embodiment of the Profession:
Has attained the highest levels of skill and competence and whose work reflects the commitment to ethics that collectively represent the foundation of standards on which the financial planning profession is built.

Industry Visibility and Knowledge:
Is knowledgeable of and known to the industry and its key constituents, and has earned their respect/support.

Impact of Contribution:
The breadth (national, regional) and depth (profound, formative and relevant) of the tangibly positive impact on the profession and the public it serves that has been made through example and/or contribution of the nominees. This could be interpreted as the impact of contributions made in support the work of FPSC or CFP certification. It could also be interpreted as the impact of contributions made to or on behalf of the end users of financial services or the industry and organizations through which these services are widely offered, or to or on behalf of custodians of the industry and its stakeholders (SROs, provincial and federal regulatory and legislative bodies, professional membership organizations, etc.). It should be noted that the importance of the tangible impact on the profession vs. the importance of the tangible impact on members of the public served by the profession is left to each committee to determine, while recognizing they are mutually enhancing.

Members of the 2007 Donald J. Johnston Award Committee:
(BIOS AVAILABLE)

• Paul Bates
  Dean and Industry Professor in Financial Management Services at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University
• John De Goey CFP
  Senior Financial Advisor, Burgeonvest Securities Limited
• Jocelyne Houle-LeSarge
  Executive Director, Institut québécois de planification financière (IQPF)
• Joan Huzar
  Past President, Consumers Council of Canada
• Donald Johnston
  Retired Founding President and CEO, Financial Planners Standards Council
• Donna MacCandlish CFP
  
VP, CIBC
• David Wild
  
Chair, Saskatchewan Financial Securities Commission