A Day in the Life

How financial planner Kelly Ho got her start

Kelly Ho didn’t find a career in financial planning: it found her.

While a student at the University of British Columbia, she was a member of the Kiwanis Club, an international organization dedicated to improving the lives of children. One of her responsibilities at Kiwanis was to deliver a “farewell address” to club members upon leaving university, and when her turn came to do so after graduating with a double major in family studies and sociology, Ho concluded her speech with a pitch: “I just graduated and I’m looking for a job, so if you know anybody who’s hiring, let me know.” To her surprise, it worked. Two audience members came forward with concrete job offers. “One was at a not-for-profit, which was looking for a coordinator,” Ho recalls. “The other was to be an assistant to a financial planner. That’s the one I took.”

Fifteen years later, Ho is a partner at DLD Financial Group, a full-service financial planning firm in Vancouver, and she holds a Certified Financial Planner^® designation from FP Canada™, the most widely recognized financial planning designation in the world. As a CFP^® Professional, Ho works with her 300 or so clients to identify, evaluate and meet their financial goals. But the job is more than that to her.

To view the full interview, please see the attached PDF below.