About Us

Firth Bateman has been in the financial advisory business since the mid-nineties, licensed in British Columbia and located in the Lower Mainland area of BC. Firth began his career in the financial services industry as a life insurance agent with what was then known as the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (now Sun Life Financial) in the fall of 1995. Firth left Sun Life and began his own independent financial advisory services practice in early 1996.

Prior to entering the financial services industry, Firth had a long and varied career, across Canada, working extensively in social services-related occupations. Before entering financial services, Firth was employed as a “child protection” social worker in British Columbia. His duties comprised investigating allegations of the abuse and neglect of children and addressing the circumstances of any abuse once the needs of families and children involved were established and verified – often through the courts.

Previous employment involved working with both institutional and community corrections programs in Ontario and in the Northwest Territories. Firth also taught school (elementary) in Toronto for a time.

Firth has been heavily involved with his community in a volunteer capacity, serving on the boards of directors of various community organizations, with both environmental and community support purposes. Firth has sat as a member of a variety of municipal committees in his community of residence – Delta, BC. Currently, Firth serves as a member of the Delta Police Board, sitting, as well as in the capacity of a board member, in the capacity as Chair of the Finance & Risk Management Committee of the DPB, and as a member of the Governance Committee. Additionally, Firth sits on the board of the Canadian Association of Police Governance (CAPG – http://www.capg.ca), headquartered in Ottawa. Firth chairs the Advocacy Committee of the CAPG and sits, as well on the Research & Policy Committee.

This wide and varied background has resulted in Firth gaining a comprehensive appreciation of the needs of people to ensure that the various risks and capital requirements they encounter in their lives are addressed. From his broad experience, Firth understands that a collaborative approach is essential in trying to assist people with the wide variety of fiscal challenges they face and encounter. He employs this collaborative and consultative approach in his discussions with clients and in his efforts to ensure that their needs and wants are addressed effectively.

Firth Bateman includes a variety of financial professionals in his discussions with the people he provides services to. These consulting professionals are employed by Firth and FB FINANCIAL & Associates independently, and they come from a background of experiences and qualifications – certified and registered financial planners and investment professionals, accountants, lawyers, risk management specialists (particularly in the field of living benefits), etc.

Referencing his significant time spent in supporting families and children in his previous capacity as a child protection social worker, Firth describes his work in the context of FB FINANCIAL & Associates as “financial social work.” The general process manifested in both the social work and the financial services milieu are very similar: i) identify and recognise and describe a problem to be resolved; ii) encourage – in the case of the work of FB FINANCIAL & Associates – a “client” to recognise the so-called ‘problem; iii) “sell” the client on addressing the problem; iv) undertake steps to design a means of successfully addressing the problem identified – supported by various professional advisors whose particular expertise and skills are suited to addressing the circumstance being worked with; v) work with clients to implement and act on solutions to circumstances that are developed; vi) review and support plans and efforts to act on plans periodically and in an ongoing and regular fashion.