Despite officially retiring in 2022, Shawn Brayman continues to volunteer his time to advance the profession of financial planning — and he was named an FP Canada Fellow in 2024.
The Toronto-based founder and president of financial planning software developer PlanPlus Inc. (which was acquired by Morningstar in 2020) believes passionately in a research-informed approach to both developing technological tools for financial planners and improving how we serve clients as financial planners.
“A profession is more than product delivery or asset management, and it should be driven by scientific, peer-reviewed research about what is in the best interests of individual Canadians,” he says. “Research helps planners to move beyond anecdotal rules of thumb so that they continually question and improve the advice they deliver.”
As president of the Academy of Financial Services (AFS), he leads an organization dedicated to empowering individuals, academics, students and financial planning professionals around the world with the research they need to make evidence-based financial decisions.
Shawn says one of the best things about AFS’s global reach is the opportunity to learn from the research and experience of jurisdictions that may be ahead of Canada in some areas, and share Canadian expertise with our colleagues in other countries.
He believes it’s critical to give financial planners access to research, but also to train them to understand and use the research. That training should include learning how research ties into the way financial planners run their practices, the advice they give, and how their biases might get in the way when they’re working with clients.
Shawn also sits on the board of the Canadian Foundation for Financial Planning, which supports more widespread access to financial planning by facilitating pro-bono work by volunteer financial planners.
“At the end of the day, our responsibility is to individual Canadians, ensuring they can access high-quality professional financial planning advice if they need it,” he says. “Pro-bono initiatives mean that people who don’t have the minimum amount of assets under management to show up on the radar of the planners in a lot of institutions can still access good financial planning advice.”
Volunteering remains a priority for Brayman because, in his experience, volunteers come away with more than they give. Every interaction can lead to shared knowledge, strategies, and the excitement associated with new ideas. The result is countless opportunities for learning, inspiration, and (ultimately) improved professionalism.
