Founder, Gold Key Insurance Services Ltd.

Specializing in Estate & Financial Planning

With over 30 years of experience in the insurance and financial services industry, Sharn Bhinder is the visionary founder behind Gold Key Insurance Services Ltd., now one of Canada’s largest independent brokerages. Known for her forward-thinking leadership and client-first approach, Sharn has been instrumental in shaping Gold Key’s success since taking the helm in 1998.

Her career began in the early 1990s, where she quickly gained a reputation for her deep knowledge of insurance, strategic planning, and business development. Drawing on these strengths, Sharn launched Gold Key with a mission to bring innovation, integrity, and unmatched client service to the industry. Under her direction, the company has expanded across British Columbia and continues to grow nationally, supporting over 300 thousand clients nationwide.

Sharn specializes in estate and financial planning, helping clients protect their legacies, reduce tax exposure, and grow their wealth with tailored life insurance strategies. Her expertise lies in structuring comprehensive solutions for families, professionals, and business owners using permanent life insurance, mortgage protection, corporate-owned insurance, and more.

Today, Sharn’s role is focused on high-level advisory and strategic initiatives. She remains deeply connected to the company’s values, clients, and long-term vision—guiding the Gold Key team as they continue to deliver trusted advice and industry-leading solutions.

Sharn Bhinder

LLQP CAIB

Associate Vice President HUB Financial Inc.

Strategic Partner

Shortly after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, Daryl began his career in 2006 as an advisor with a captive agency, and remained there until he joined Manulife Financial in 2009 as part of their Insurance Inside Sales team in Waterloo, Ontario.

In August of 2011 he moved from Ontario to BC with his wife, Teresa after he accepted the position of External Wholesaler with Manulife in Vancouver where he worked with direct channel and MGA Advisors in Greater Vancouver and Vancouver Island. In 2014, Daryl was promoted to Director of Insurance Sales and began supporting of many of their top producers in Vancouver. He remained in this role until he joined HUB Financial in October 2023. With over 15 years of experience in the insurance sector, Daryl brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record assisting advisors with their complex cases, supporting them on their files from the early preliminary underwriting stage, all the way to delivery.

Daryl’s goal is to understand clients’ personal and/or corporate objectives before employing a comprehensive process to help increase their net worth, reduce the impact of taxes now and in the future and ensure that their wealth is transferred to their heirs efficiently as possible using creative, tax-exempt insurance strategies. When he isn’t talking about insurance and insurance strategies with you and your clients, he (and his disposable income) can be found supporting his two children, London and Everley in their passions and activities (hockey, lacrosse and gymnastics).

Daryl Faulkner

Managing Director of Operations

Katherine Smith is the Managing Director of Operations, bringing over a decade of leadership experience in driving organizational performance and operational transformation. Known for her strategic mindset and detail-oriented execution, she excels at aligning business operations with long-term objectives while enhancing efficiency and accountability across all levels of the organization.

Katherine has a strong track record of identifying and resolving structural inefficiencies, leading enterprise-level projects, and fostering high-performing teams that deliver measurable results.

Her expertise spans operational strategy, process improvement, budgeting, compliance, risk mitigation, and cross-functional collaboration. She is particularly skilled at implementing workflow automation and integrating technology to streamline systems and support scalability. Katherine leads with a collaborative and outcomes-driven approach, creating a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. Her ability to balance strategic oversight with hands-on leadership has made her an invaluable force in building resilient, agile, and high-growth operational frameworks.

Katherine Smith