As financial advisors look ahead to 2026, some are treating the new year as a reset, while others are doubling down on what’s already working.Shofi -/iStockPhoto / Getty Images
It’s 11 p.m. in Hong Kong and Jacky Kuk is keeping his voice low over a Zoom call while his child sleeps in the next room. He’s visiting family overseas, but that doesn’t mean he’s off the clock.
The advisor and founder of 1 Degree Planning in Burnaby, B.C., is still running his practice while maintaining his financial literacy YouTube channel with more than 33,000 followers. And with 2026 newly hatched, he’s making big plans for the year ahead, including three major technological upgrades.
As financial advisors look ahead to 2026, some are treating the new year as a reset, while others are doubling down on what’s already working. Artificial intelligence is firmly on the agenda, but so is a renewed focus on the human side of advice: listening closely and building trust.
Here’s what four advisors say they’re prioritizing for this new year:
A fully functional CRM
For Darren Ryan, senior insurance advisor and certified financial planner (CFP) with Ryco Financial Inc. in St. John’s, the coming year is less about flashy innovation and more about operational basics. His main focus is finally implementing a fully functional client-relationship management (CRM) system.
“I’m not going to go viral with this one,” he quips. “It’s boring.”
But using an unreliable CRM is “a nightmare,” he says. Meanwhile, staff are asking for extra monitors so they can keep their CRM open rather than depending on ad-hoc tracking and overloaded e-mail inboxes. Management bonuses are even tied to getting the system fully up and running by year’s end.
Being a smaller, family-owned business, operations can take a backseat to client demands. In 2026, Mr. Ryan says that’s going to change.
Education and mentoring
Justine Zavitz, vice-president and advisor with Zavitz Insurance & Wealth in London, Ont., keeps up with continuing education credits, but the past few years have been dominated by work and young children.
“I’m a big education nerd,” she says.
This year, she plans to step back and decide which new designations to pursue, particularly in areas such as estate and trust planning, as clients’ needs become more complex.
“A lot of my clients aren’t making their first dollar anymore – they’re creating quite a net worth and thinking about how to pass it along,” she says.
She’s also accelerating a transition already underway: shifting more clients to some of the newer advisors in the office. It frees her up to focus on more complex cases while giving junior advisors more time with clients. Ms. Zavitz steps in as a mentor when needed.
“We’ve seen how impactful it has been across the board for all of us. We’ve all had fantastic years – it makes me want to do more of it,” she says. “And it feels good to pay it forward.”
Harnessing technology
As for Mr. Kuk, he’s looking to make three major technological upgrades this year – all with the intention of making his practice more efficient.
He’s working with fintech company EdgeFlow to build the backbone of a system that will automatically upload client meeting notes to the CRM, generating follow-ups and slashing post-meeting administration time. He’s also adding custom-built, company-specific features.
Next, he wants to rebuild his client onboarding system to fix bugs. Currently, it requires too much manual work. He’d like to add a way to automate contracts and invoices.
“I would like to press a button and they’re ready to go,” he says.
His most ambitious goal could be a game-changer for 2026. Mr. Kuk is exploring new encrypted AI systems that scrub and analyze years of client e-mail exchanges and internal communication, making them report-ready. No more ideas that disappear into the ether – it’s all there and searchable using an AI bot.
“I’ll see the evolution of my business,” he says. “These are all the conversations with all the clients I’ve ever faced.”
Focus on clients (and new niches)
For Andy Kovacs, CFP with Moments of Truth Insurance Services Corp. at Sun Life Financial Distributors (Canada) Inc. in Markham, Ont., AI certainly has a place in an advisor’s practice for administrative work. But he plans to focus on the personal touch.
After all, meeting people is the best part of his day.
“AI will never be able to deliver a [life insurance] cheque, put an arm around the shoulder and say, ‘You’re going to be okay,’” he says.
In recent years, Mr. Kovacs has shifted his practice to focus on a niche that often gets overlooked: personal support workers caring for elderly and disabled Canadians. It’s a large and largely underinsured client base.
The work is busy and lucrative, but meaningful. His old life chasing high-net-worth clients just made him miserable, he says. In 2026, he plans to stay on this new course.
“I just see so much good and potential,” he says.