Shelley Humphries, Chief Compliance Officer of Greatway Financial is honoured to be certified as "Top 10 Women Leaders in Finance of 2022" by IEra-Women Leaders Magazine
Shelley Humphries, CCO (Chief Compliance Officer), Greatway Financial, has been an outstanding addition to their community and has contributed to the company's growth for more than 6 years. It is difficult, if not impossible, to summarize her achievements of the dedicated service she has provided for Greatway Financial. Overall, under Shelley's leadership, Greatway’s compliance team and the regime were established from scratch and have become one of the best in the MGA industry. “We all recognize Shelley for her unconditional dedication, grace, and congeniality!” says Danica Antonio Pagcaliwagan, Executive Director, Advisor Operations & Marketing, Greatway Financial Inc.
Shelley Humphries, CCO (Chief Compliance Officer), Greatway Financial, has been an outstanding addition to their community and has contributed to the company's growth for more than 6 years. It is difficult, if not impossible, to summarize her achievements of the dedicated service she has provided for Greatway Financial. Overall, under Shelley's leadership, Greatway’s compliance team and the regime were established from scratch and have become one of the best in the MGA industry. “We all recognize Shelley for her unconditional dedication, grace, and congeniality!” says Danica Antonio Pagcaliwagan, Executive Director, Advisor Operations & Marketing, Greatway Financial Inc.
Shelley has had the opportunity to work with some amazingly strong women in the fields of management, law, and compliance. “It was a great pleasure to refer them for advancement and more challenging roles as they sought opportunities to advance themselves,” she says. “Our compliance team is encouraged to take relevant industry courses for both their education and advancement opportunities, and to attend industry events, etc.” The more knowledge each person on the team has, the better able they are to assist and guide our representatives and the better qualified they are to advance within the organization.
“I am retiring the end of March. As a young woman just out of business college, my first position was as a Junior Production Artist in the advertising department of a large grocery chain. In addition to having more time to spend with family, I am looking forward to pursuing my love of drawing and painting as a possible retirement income source.”
There are two quotes that Shelley likes and finds inspiring:
‘Don’t tell me the sky is the limit, when there are footprints on the moon.’ – Anonymous; &
‘Accentuate the positive. Look a little deeper for the good. Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, with great and strong purpose in your heart. Love life.’ – Gordon B. Hinkley.
The steadfast leader has been in the industry for 37 years, encompassing a series of management positions in the areas of sales, operations, purchasing, and for the last 17 years in the field of compliance, including life insurance, mutual funds, stocks, and offshore investments. Each year has brought more responsibility and a great deal of experience, but the last 6+ years as Chief Compliance Officer with Greatway Financial have been the highlight of her career. “I’d encourage anyone with an interest in this highly regulated area of insurance and investments to pursue the necessary courses offered either through the Canadian Investment Funds Association or through the Canadian Securities Institute.”
As far as advice she would like to share from her journey is to have a positive attitude and be willing to share experience and expertise with others to help them along, always keep current with industry news and forums, and be willing to put yourself out there. “Personally, I have always loved learning and taking courses to increase my knowledge of the industry. Typically, compliance is largely dominated by males, but there are an increasing number of females entering this realm,” adds Shelley. “Being a female leader definitely has it’s challenges. If you speak too strongly people think you’re being bossy. If you are more reserved, they think you are weak. By continually educating yourself and being knowledgeable about a topic, you are more naturally able to confidently express yourself.” Armed with this unique ideology, Shelley and her team have taken the company's Compliance department to new heights.
Greatway's long-term plans include further expansion to serve many more families by opening 6-8 offices this year in addition to the existing 34 locations already across Canada. Greatway is also looking forward to establishing operations in the United States shortly.
It is pertinent to mention, Greatway was founded by Marlon Antonio after years of thinking and finding efficient ways to help others have a meaningful life. Based on Antonio's past experiences, his thirst for knowledge, and hunger for helping others, he found a way to serve others by understanding how to establish a solid financial foundation. Greatway's vision to educate Canadians on various financial strategies to avoid financial ruin was established through this. This means helping Canadians become financially literate and ready for life's every inevitability; Mortality (Death), Morbidity (Getting Sick), and Longevity (Retirement). Greatway's services include Life insurance, retirement, critical illness, and travel insurance, to list a few. WL