NORTH BATTLEFORD - A North Battleford financial planner is getting some national recognition from Wealth Professional Canada Magazine.
Aaron Cadrin of Aaron Cadrin Investment and Insurance Solutions - Sun Life has been named as one of the magazine’s 2021 “Rising Stars.” Cadrin is one of the top 38 financial planners in the country under age 35 selected.
To be eligible, nominees had to be under 35 and be working in a role that relates to, interacts with or impacts the wealth management industry. When reviewing nominations the magazine concentrated on those who have committed to a career in the industry and “clearly hold a passion for wealth management.”
“It was definitely unexpected. I first heard I was nominated in the spring and they started conducting interviews and stuff like that,” said Cadrin.
“They said they received about 20,000 nominations, so I didn’t overly expect to be in the running, but yeah, once they notified me [this] summer that I was chosen for it, it was quite an honour especially considering small town Saskatchewan is where we’re from and where we do business. And it’s a Canada-wide award so it was quite an honour to be mentioned.”
Cadrin says he a combination of a lot of factors led being named to this prestigious under-35 list, .
“We do a lot of good business in this office, we run a really tight ship. For the past six or seven years I’ve been a top 10 advisor with the company, with all of Sun Life Financial.”
But that is recognition from within one company. This magazine honour included consideration of advisors with companies across Canada, which makes it an even more special honour for Cadrin.
“I think that maybe they saw my history with Sun Life and saw the referrals I get and the nominations I got,” said Cadrin. But he says he believes it is not based just on numbers alone, as considerations are also made for ethics and client satisfaction.
“I think it’s a big combination, because I know even with other awards we got, it’s not just how much money at the end of the day. Do they have any client complaints? Do they do everything properly? They look at education, and that takes a large role in it.”
Cadrin’s professional qualifications include B.Comm, CFP, CHS, and CLU designations. He figures that was a factor as well for Wealth Professional Magazine’s assessment.
“To be that young and to achieve those designations that many people work a lifetime toward getting — I think that plays a large role in it, too, because they see that you’re committed to your industry, and to your clients and to continuous learning.”
At his business, located at 1512 - 100th St. in North Battleford, Cadrin does full-scale financial planning, investment, retirement planning, asset management and a estate planning and business succession planning for farmers and business owners. He also handles the group plans for the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce.
He also offers insurance coverage including life, health, disability and other insurance. “It’s just a one stop shop for full-scale financial planning where we can protect all of our clients’ assets and needs and income and lifestyle,” said Cadrin, who has been with Sun Life now for more than a decade.
Cadrin is born and raised in North Battleford and could have gone anywhere for his career. But he made the commitment to put down both personal and professional roots in the community.
“It’s home to me,” said Cadrin. “I’ve had many opportunities elsewhere to move on to bigger firms in bigger cities and stuff like that but at the end of the day it’s all scale, too, right? You move out to a Kelowna or Penticton, or Vancouver or Toronto, and sure you do more numbers, but you’ve got to buy a house for $3 million.”
Here, life is more affordable, and Cadrin is able to be active in the community with charities and in hockey as well. He has been involved for years with senior hockey’s Meota Combines.
He points to other advantages to setting up in a smaller community like North Battleford. One is the ability to generate business quickly through good word of mouth.
Being in a smaller town, said Cadrin, was “one of those things where, if you did good, you did good. Word travels fast, people talk. I got a ton of referrals from existing clients. But also on the flip side, if something negative ever happens, that spreads like wildfire, too. So, you’ve got to be careful on both ends of the spectrum.”
Cadrin adds he loves being a part of the Battlefords and wants to dispel the impression that it might be hard to achieve big things based here.
“Many people look at it as a challenge, but I also look at it as an advantage because when things are going good and you do good things for your clients, they talk, they tell their friends, they tell their family, they tell their coworkers,” said Cadrin. “In a town like this people talk, and it’s a good thing when the talk is good.”
