Sam Chinniah, senior vice president with T.E. Financial Consultants Ltd. in Toronto, serves ultra-high net-worth clients. He has built an impressive roster of 150 wealthy client families by building strong, trusting relationships.

Chinniah says his straight-shooter approach to total wealth management has four components:

1. Make honesty your priority.

“If people can’t take you at your word, you are not anything,” Chinniah says. “People can see through fakeness. But if you always say the right thing, even if it’s not what the client wants to hear, they will develop a healthy respect for you.”

2. Service clients to death.

“You need to go the extra mile,” Chinniah says. “Leave no stone unturned. A lot of times, I don’t get paid for everything I do. But sometimes the extra step is needed to take things to completion.”

For example, Chinniah often follows up on an estate strategy by reviewing the will and attending the execution meeting to ensure it is “signed, sealed and delivered.”

3. Give generously of your time.

“I am always available to clients, without restrictions,” Chinniah says. “If you are too busy for your clients, you don’t deserve them.”

4. Underpromise and overdeliver.

“It’s about managing expec-tations,” Chinniah says. “Make a timeline for the work to be taken to completion. Don’t say you will do something for tomorrow unless you can do it.”

— OLIVIA GLAUBERZON