As you are aware, on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. Yesterday, AB health officials closed all schools and daycares in our province. This is a challenging time but we are all willing to do our part to stop the spread. We are prepared in our office and in partnership with your Portfolio Manager, to remain available and continue operating business as usual. Technology allows us to work remotely, and effective immediately this is how our office will be working until further notice. If you have a meeting scheduled with one of the advisors on the team, we will be contacting you directly to complete any scheduled meetings by phone and screen sharing.
As the situation continues to evolve, we wanted to share with you our preparedness efforts to ensure the health and safety of our staff, as well as our continued service to our clients.
For some time now, we’ve had the capacity to work remotely. Our technology team has set each member of our team up with fully secure workstations and network environment. Additionally, we are:
• Utilizing a secure VPN (Virtual Personal Network) to access our internal systems. This is a safe way for our office to communicate while offsite.
• Arranging for all phone calls to our office to be directed to the personal cell phones of our staff. Should you wish to contact your advisor or an admin team member, we will be available directly by phone using the same office line you’re used to reaching us at.
• Continuing to schedule our regular reviews with clients. We are offering both phone and video meeting options to clients.
• In contact with your Portfolio Manager regularly. We have assessed their preparedness and are entirely assured that they are completely prepared to run their offices remotely as well.
We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation and follow guidance from government health authorities. We are confident in the actions we are taking to safeguard our employees, our clients, and our community.
Our office is fully available remotely and will continue to provide you with ongoing service. We encourage you to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.