Terry Ray

The Advisor's Advisor

Terry Ray, BA, CLU, Ch.FC, CFP, TEP
Regional Vice President
Wholesale Distribution, Western Canada

1160 - 1140 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC, V6E 4G1
Office: 604-257-3988
Cell: 604-961-5986
Email: terry.ray@sunlife.com

Born and raised in South Africa, Terry came to Canada as a young man, continuing his career in the life insurance industry, with the core purpose of benefitting the lives of his family, team and business partners.

In his blood was the concept of the "Big Five" most difficult animals on the African continent to hunt:  the Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Elephant and Cape Buffalo.  In two ways and for more than two decades, Terry has made the Big Five a metaphor for his work with Sun Life Financial.

Terry has excelled at the challenge of identifying, understanding and working successfully with the top tier advisors in the high net worth life insurance market in Western Canada.  It is his vision to understand the needs of these industry leaders intimately and be the "the advisor's advisor."  Indeed, he is often recognized for his unique perspective, gained by working as an insurance advisor himself for more than 10 years - during which time he qualified regularly for the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) and became a Life Member.

The recruitment of a high performance team to support these advisors has been helped by applying a model in psychology which embodies the "Big Five" factors of inventiveness, efficiency, energy, analytical ability and confidence.  Through application of this model, Terry has a proven record of discovering, mentoring and developing a team that understands advisors' businesses deeply, helping them increase their revenue and grow their practices.

Terry's uncanny eye for talent and for the key drivers that help advisors grow is summed up by a favourite quotation from Nobel Prize winner Albert Szent-Gvorgi:  "Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought."

Education and industry involvement

  • Financial Advisor
  • Chartered Life Underwriter (Financial Advisors Association of Canada)
  • Chartered Financial Consultant (Financial Advisors Association of Canada)
  • Certified Financial Planner (Financial Planner Standards Association of Canada)
  • Trust and Estate Practitioner (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners)
  • Active Member, Conference for Advanced Life Underwriting (CALU)

Career highlights

  • Life Member of Million Dollar Round Table
  • Established and developed Sun Life's independent life insurance distribution channel in Western Canada