CORONAVIRUS NOTICE #15

We are asked to stop visiting clients or friends, stop going out for lunch or dinner, stopped attending our places of worship, and stop greeting people with a hug or a handshake.

However, I would like us to consider what we are continuing to do. As financial advisors, you are continuing to be available to talk to your clients, you continue to work diligently to provide them advice and support, and you continue to adjust their financial plans to find much needed hope in an otherwise uncertain world.

At PEAK, our employees have stopped working from the office but they have not stopped doing what they do best; serving you, Canada’s top financial advisors!

Here are a few things we have continued to do at PEAK: We continue to deliver the services you expect from us. We continue to maintain the same levels of high standards. But importantly, we continue to be a community of men and women dedicated to each other. We continue to be a family. That means we continue to hold the celebrations and traditions that we have come to enjoy and expect for the last 27 years.

Yesterday was the “virtual” retirement of Hamid Sameni, PEAK’s Data Integrity Specialist. Hamid has been a member of the PEAK family for 21 years. He joined the firm in 1999, as our FAS man (platform position reconciliation) and became PEAK employee number 22. At that time, PEAK had approximately 300 advisors and 1 billion dollars in AUM.

But it doesn’t stop there. Hamid announced to us last week that despite his planned retirement this week, he would like to offer to stay with us a few more weeks to help out during these challenging times. It’s a very inspiring demonstration of solidarity for the team.

We continue to honour our commitments and to welcome new members to the PEAK family. Last week, we welcomed two directors, again by video conference. Nathalie Mathieu, Senior Advisor, Special Projects, and Jean-Sébastien Chaussé-D’Arcy, Innovation Lead, joined PEAK. They are the first members of the PEAK team to experience a 100% virtual integration. They were scheduled to join the team before the crisis started and we have honoured our hiring commitment. I welcome them into the PEAK family.

As in any family, the safety and well-being of our employees are paramount to us. That’s why we survey our employees every week. The results may surprise.

I learned yesterday that almost 40% of our employees work from home in the presence of their children. More than 100 children (including two grandchildren) come into contact with you, voluntarily or involuntarily, when you discuss or exchange information with PEAK employees. We also recently celebrated the arrival of two new babies and learned that more are in production.

The poll also revealed the presence of great generosity. A large part of our employees, however busy, volunteered to lend a hand to their busiest colleagues. Another beautiful demonstration of solidarity.

I hope these expressions of continuity at PEAK provide you with some inspiration, as they did for me. We may have to stop doing many things, but let us be grateful for all those special things we continue to do together and make us the great community we are together at PEAK.

Be safe and stay healthy,
 

Robert Frances
President and CEO

PEAK IN THE MEDIA

TIPS FOR VIDEOCONFERENCING WITH CLIENTS

PEAK's response to COVID-19 continues to bring visibility to the firm. Robert Frances was interviewed for an article on tips for videoconferencing with clients that appeared on the websites of Advisor's Edge and Investment Executive.

We invite you to read one of the versions of the article.

APRIL 3, 1:30 PM (ENGLISH) OR 2:30 PM (FRENCH)

VIDEOCONFERENCES WITH PEAK ON THE COVID-19 SITUATION

All PEAK advisors are invited to participate in a videoconference on Friday, April 3.

• Discuss the pandemic situation
• Overview of PEAK's operations
• Answering your questions and concerns

The meeting will last no more then 45 minutes.

• English: 1:30 to 2:15 pm (ET)
  • Meeting Code: 104 669 583
• French: 2:30 to 3:15 pm (ET)
  • Meeting Code: 961 962 857

To join the meeting, you have several choices. You can use your cellphone or tablet, or your PC or MAC (enter the meeting code and the application will start downloading).

CELL PHONES AND TABLETS

PC AND MAC

Zoom's site

CORONAVIRUS SUMMARY PAGE

In order to consolidate all PEAK information regarding the Coronavirus, we have created a temporary Web page.

COVID-19 page