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Back to HomeFeature Article - April 26, 2012 New Sun Life advisor in Frontenac CountyBy Jeff Green

Alex Cassell likes to do thorough research, and that just might be why he is now helping people with their insurance and investment needs instead of with their fuel injection or braking problems.

Not too many years ago, he was a mechanic with a young family looking to purchase his first life insurance policy.

“I don’t know if it was because I had done some research before or that I was asking so many questions, but the financial manager to whom I was talking asked me if I was interested in a new career,” he said

So, over evenings and weekends, Alex Cassell did course work in the financial planning and insurance industry. Twelve months later, he was an agent in `the Kingston area, and not too long after that he was being groomed for a management career in the Perterborough office of Sun Life.

Cassell recalls that the move to Peterborough was a big one for his family, particularly in light of the fact that his wife Lisa had just given birth to their second child, Annie, a sister to their still young son Caleb.

While a career in management suits some people, it did not suit Alex Cassell, and when the Westport-based Sun Life agent Brad Norrad decided to retire, Alex asked if he could take over his clientele and return to the kind of work and location that he enjoyed most.

So, in November of last year he opened a small office in Sharbot Lake, at the junction of Highway 7 and 38. He began servicing the existing Sun Life clientele in Frontenac County and seeking new and expanded clientele as well.

“My office is in Sharbot Lake, but it is also in my car,” he says, “since I spend most of my time going to see people all over Frontenac County and beyond.”

Behind the scenes, Lisa will be working out of an office in Elgin, near the Cassell family home in Lyndhurst, where she will be doing scheduling and bookkeeping for the family business

Alex Cassell sells and provides ongoing advice and service for a variety of insurance and investment products.

“I am able to offer a set of financial options for people,” he says, “for life insurance with Sun Life, as a broker for health insurance from many sources, and as far as investments are concerned, I can tap into as many as 3,500 mutual funds. As well, because of my association with Sun Life, I can offer segregated funds, which balance out risk with security for clients who want reasonably high returns but a greater measure of security.”

A grand opening of the new business will be held in May, an event that will double as a fundraiser for the Central Frontenac Relay for Life