HELENE ATA, CFP®, RRC®, MFA-P™, QAFP®, Financial Planner, Division Manager and Executive Financial Consultant, IG Wealth Management Inc., Mutual Fund Division, Toronto, ON.
- NATALIE NOBLE
- a few seconds ago
- 7 min read
HELENE ATA
“We’re fully invested in doing the right thing for clients. Their success is our success.”
For Helene Ata, CFP®, RRC®, MFA-P™, QAFP®, juggling isn’t a side effect of her 20- year career success. It’s the job itself. As a Financial Planner, Division Manager, and Executive Financial Consultant with IG Wealth Management (IG), Helene’s days move between client meetings, building financial plans, team check-ins, recruiting strategy, coaching sessions, and continuously growing her own practice.
“It’s a bit of everything,” she says of her day-to-day. “I’m servicing clients, growing my business, and supporting both my internal and external team,” says Helene. “I’m thinking about my next client appreciation and marketing event, my next LinkedIn post, and my next meeting. There’s always something different and exciting.”
Life outside work expands beyond those full days. It shapes her perspective and the way she runs her business in Pickering, Ont., where she’s lived for 30 years since marrying her husband, raising her family, and caring for her parents in their home as they aged. “When I first started in this business my parents moved in with us,” says Helene. “If it wasn’t for my late mom and my husband, I couldn’t have done the things I’ve achieved in my career. In the beginning I had studying, work, events, and courses to attend. That family support was everything.”
With her mother’s recent 2026 passing after years battling Alzheimer’s disease, Helene’s advocacy for families on a similar journey is personal and strong. On May 30, Helene will participate in the IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s through Durham Alzheimer’s Society. “It’s one way to honour my mom,” she says, “And, to support other families who walk that same difficult road.”
The experience is infused into Helene’s work today. “For a long time, I’ve juggled my family, my puppies, my house, my everything, really,” says Helene. “Because of my own experience and responsibilities, I gravitate to working with families who are also looking after each other. I find great commonality and mutual understanding there.”
The result is a model that balances structure with flexibility, discipline with empathy, and professional ambition with personal priorities. What might sound overwhelming to some, instead reveals something more intentional: a practice built on the ability to show up fully, wherever she’s needed most.
“In our industry, relationship building and trust come first,” says Helene. “People simply need to know they’re in good hands and that you care about them just like you care about your family. I can’t control the market or global events. I can promise clients I’m going to do everything to their best interest and I’m going to be here for them. Every client has my email and my personal phone number where they know they can reach me anytime.”
Helene’s seeing proof that clients want that personal touch and trust, not a pitch. She’s had three new clients in the last two months reach out after searching the internet and liking her credentials. These initial conversations hinged more on connection than getting into the details. “I recently closed a client after a 90-minute conversation where we barely discussed finances,” she says. “We talked about family, travel, life. At the end, they asked, ‘Where do I sign?’”
After meeting with multiple institutions, the client said no one had taken the time to understand what mattered to them. That moment reinforces a simple truth for Helene: trust is built through connection. Helene continues to build that trust through her “family tree” approach to planning. “It’s less about ‘who do you know’ and more about ‘tell me about your world,’” she says, explaining that she works to understand clients, and their broader network, including siblings, those married-in, beneficiaries, powers of attorney, and professional advisors.
That perspective extends into how she engages clients throughout the year. Through regular events, educational seminars, and “family summits,” she brings together key decision-makers to ensure everyone understands the plan and their role within it. “True financial planning doesn’t happen in isolation,” she says. “When we understand the dynamics and build relationships across the entire family, we’re better positioned to protect wealth and ensure plans are carried out as intended.”
Education plays a key role in that process. Helene frequently delivers community presentations focused on family planning, estate considerations, and intergenerational wealth transfer. Presentations scheduled across upcoming months will address a strong demand for conversations that bring clarity, preparation, and confidence to families’ future planning.
Leading through shared experience
As a division manager, Helene wears two hats: one growing her own book of business as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional in her client service work, and the other recruiting and coaching IG Advisors. “I’m no different than any other Advisor and I stay in growth mode,” says Helene. “I also have a division of Advisors seeking a place more suited to their own approach, clients, and growth, whom I’ve onboarded and supported over my career here at IG.”
The dual roles don’t take her away from either job, rather strengthen each. Someone who benefited early in her career from strong mentor relationships, Helene says there’s value on both sides. “I started with IG in between having children, looking for temporary work as an assistant. My leaders quickly convinced me to get licensed and I had a wonderful mentor who instilled belief in paying that forward,” she says, adding that it was also her husband’s encouragement and support that allowed her to take that step. “When I became a Division Manager, I wanted to give back through coaching and mentoring as well, using my own experience to determine where I could make the best impact.”
She’s also a leader within her own practice which recently experienced a shift as the bulk of the team retired or moved on to new roles. “I went from a large team to a small one that I’m now growing back. In fact, I have recently hired a wonderful dual licensed Associate Consultant who will be a great addition to the team and will add great value to our clients.” says Helene. “The collaboration I have in my own practice and through my IG team is so important to our planning-forward vision. In dealing with retirement and post-retirement, estate planning, and cascading down to generational money, there’s a lot of expertise required.”
To deliver her full scope of financial planning, including estate and insurance advice, Helene’s credentials and licensing across Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta are foundational. “Achieving my CFP® designation took hard work while I was also having children and had family to look after. All the continued education and annual CE credits required to maintain licenses and registrations, stay compliant with regulations, and keep technical knowledge current for professional development and credibility has created incredible access to information. Clients today are more informed and want to see these credentials,” she says. “More recently, I did some coursework in philanthropy and hold my Master of Financial Advisor in Philanthropy (MFA-P™). It’s a growing area clients are interested in and I enjoy charitable giving conversations where we can create the best strategies to reach those goals.”
To continuously deliver her high level of care and continuity requires the right structure behind the work, something Helene believes sets IG apart. “Our long history speaks for itself,” she says. “But just as important is the company’s approach to developing and training Advisors, including our own internal IG University. We’ve earned our place as leaders in financial planning and advice, but that success didn’t happen overnight. As we mark our 100th anniversary in 2026, we celebrate not only our beginnings, but the people, ideas, and innovations that have shaped our journey. It’s a legacy of planning – now and forever.”
All IG Advisors are dual licensed and equipped to provide both investment and insurance solutions. Helene sees that integration as essential. “When we talk about retirement, estate planning, and intergenerational wealth transfer, insurance is key to that conversation,” she says. “I don’t understand how an Advisor can be a full financial planner if they can’t address client’s insurance strategies and protection on top of their estate planning needs.”
The firm’s self-employed business structure also supports Helene’s entrepreneurial inclination while allowing her to align her team’s efforts with the best client outcomes. “This really gives us skin in the game and the drive to hustle,” she says. “We’re not salaried. We’re building our own businesses. That means we’re fully invested in doing the right thing for our clients. Their success is our success.”
Everything comes full circle
Within Helene’s leadership philosophy, learning is reciprocal. While she brings experience, structure, and guidance to the Advisors she coaches, growth flows both ways. “We learn by teaching,” she explains. “While I’m sharing knowledge and experience with my Advisors, I’m also constantly learning from them, their ideas, and their perspectives. Their journeys and challenges sharpen my thinking and make me a better planner and leader.”
This collaborative mindset is a defining feature of her leadership style that remains grounded in humility, curiosity, and shared success. The sentiment holds true through Helene’s work each day from how she supports her team to the ways she guides clients through life’s challenges and the financial decisions that accompany them.
It’s also shown as she gives back to her community, a long-time and natural extension of her professional and personal values. Over the years, Helene’s supported organizations such as the Heart & Stroke Big Bike Ride, United Way, local food banks and is actively involved in local Pride events supporting inclusion and visible community support. “Being present in the community matters,” says Helene. “It reflects who we are as people and as planners. These organizations support families during some of the most challenging moments of their lives — the same families we are privileged to work with.”
As she continues to balance her robust schedule, Helene is grateful for the many layers of support that have allowed her to continue to grow the career she loves. “People believed in me and helped me succeed, including mentors at work and family at home,” she says. “It’s so important to do the same for others.”
Whether through planning, coaching, or community involvement, Helene’s approach remains consistent: lead with empathy, build relationships first, and ensure families feel supported not just financially, but personally, through every stage of life.
Natalie Noble’s love of writing stems from her passion for hearing and sharing people’s stories. Over the years, she has written for various business, real estate, and agriculture publications. At the heart of her work is a desire to continuously learn and connect.
Helene Ata, RRC®, MFA-P™, QAFP®, CFP®
Division Manager and Executive Financial Consultant
This is a general source of information only. It is not intended to provide personalized
tax, legal or investment advice, and is not intended as a solicitation to purchase
securities. Helene Ata is solely responsible for its content. Seek advice on your specific
circumstances from an IG Advisor.