Let’s get to know our newest members, The Consulting House team.
Where your firm operates, geographically speaking.
Our office is in Toronto however, we serve clients with employees across Canada, United States, Chile, Ghana, Lithuania, Portugal, and Mexico.
How did you enter the industry?
Our father was an underwriter for one of the large insurance companies. He recognized an opportunity to provide the same level of expertise and service as the large consultants but without the large fees that come with them. He started The Consulting House in 1985 and the family joke is that the three of us started in the business at that time as children. We each officially joined the business years later, at different times after having spent time working at other financial companies.
What makes your firm different?
We are a very hands-on and client-focused organization. We make it a priority to help clients with the important decisions on their group benefit and retirement plans. Our goal is to make each client feel like they are our only client.
What is something that people do not know about you?
All three of us grew up playing hockey and started our working careers in the hockey department of National Sports at Yonge and Sheppard. Over 20 years later, we find ourselves working at the very same location, only 10 floors up in the Hullmark Corporate Centre.
What is the biggest lesson that you have learned in the business?
Long before COVID-19, we believed in being proactive by encouraging our clients to move away from just treating illness and moving towards preventing it. We’ve been recommending wellness strategies to help our clients, help their employees to identify health risks early and to implement strategies to address them. Whether it be, onsite health screenings, Employee & Family Assistance plans, Virtual Health and more.
What are you hoping to do with The Benefits Alliance Group?
We hope to learn and share best practices. Improve the already high level of service we provide to our clients and those of the Benefits Alliance in general.
Do you have insights about the industry that you would like to share?
The value and importance of a group benefits plan has never been more prevalent. We are still in the midst of this pandemic which has highlighted the gaps in the healthcare system. The gap in Mental health resources and access to care being one of the most important.
Thoughts about the future of our Industry?
We continue to see upward pressure on the cost of healthcare and in turn, group benefit plans. New innovations such as Virtual Health will help but more is needed to be able to sustain the level and quality of group benefit programs that employers provide.