Whether Shaun Humphries is in the water, on his bike or running a race — or running his book of business — he is a man with a plan.

The certified financial planner and senior financial planning advisor with Assante Capital Management Ltd. in Winnipeg has been in the investment business for more than two decades. He has been running triathlons for almost as long. Those two vastly different pursuits, however, have some striking similarities, he says. They both require a long-term plan, patience and, even though they’re individualistic activities, a strong support team.

Humphries says a lot of fellow triathletes have fallen by the wayside over the years, mostly because they didn’t pay attention to their bodies and suffered injuries as they let the short-term focus of the moment “kick” them out of the sport for the long run. The same thing, he says, happens with advisors.

“Some guys in our business have been extremely successful, but they flame out,” he says. “They either didn’t have a good enough team or they took shortcuts. It’s a long-term endeavour.

“You can’t do triathlons without a supportive spouse or a massage therapist or getting experience from other triathletes.”

The long-term focus has been particularly crucial in 2009 because Humphries has spent a lot of time dealing with the anxieties of clients worried by the financial crisis.

“We used education to reinforce the principles we’ve talked about, so that as clients hung by their fingertips, they didn’t let go,” Humphries says. “There was a lot of anxiety and concern, particularly among retired clients. I had to put on my psychiatrist’s hat and walk people through.

“The single biggest thing we did was we went right back to the drawing board to the financial plan. We drew a line in the sand and said, ‘If there is no bounce-back in this market, you can still make [your retirement plan] happen.’ [Clients] understood [the bear market] didn’t derail their plans. That was huge peace of mind for clients.”

For others, Humphries had to change their expectations and strategies to reflect the new reality: “People wanted to know, ‘Where do I sit? What do I need to do now?’ The whole financial planning piece really reconfirmed to me that taking an overall financial planning perspective was critical to getting clients through a tough period.”

But not all of his clients made it through. Humphries says the topsy-turvy stock market forced a few of his clients to leave the equities game altogether.

“They weren’t sleeping at night,” he says. “From a mental and physical standpoint, they were overcome with emotion. It was a constant panic attack. We had a few situations [in which] it made sense for the client to get out. That was the right decision.”

These clients moved exclusively into fixed-income instruments, such as GICs and bonds.

Humphries first got into the financial services industry in 1987, when he joined Royal Trust in Regina. Three years later, he took an internal transfer to Winnipeg. From there, he moved to Summit Securities Ltd. and then to AQ Financial Group before signing on with Assante in 2000.

When Humphries was starting out, he built his business by holding investment workshops and focusing on continuing education for clients and potential clients. At that time, the low-interest fiscal environment helped to create a great opportunity for advisors to gather assets as the mutual fund industry matured.

Even after building up a core group of clients and seeing his business grow organically, Humphries continued to offer workshops.

“If our clients are more educated,” he says, “they’ll make better financial decisions and buy into the recommendations we’re making.”

Humphries credits his three-member team — para-planner Mylene Desautels-Cooke, administrator Jacqueline Boyer and marketing assistant/administrator Janelle deRocquigny — with allowing him to do what he does best: deal with clients.

Humphries prefers to take his holidays in the summer, and even though none of his assistants are licensed to sell securities, his absence has never been an issue. He makes arrangements with the branch’s two other co-owners to handle trades and he ensures that his staff can get in touch with him in an emergency.

“In Manitoba, once July and August happen, people are just gone,” he says. “They work really hard throughout the year, and they want to get out and enjoy the summer.”

@page_break@As important as Humphries’ team is at the office, the one at home is even more crucial. His wife of 24 years, Tanya, plans the family schedule months in advance. That way, Humphries can maximize his time with their four kids — Hannah, 13, Avery, 11, Joshua, 8, and Paul, 3.

That planning also allows Humphries to squeeze in enough workouts in the water and on the road to remain competitive on the triathlon scene.

Early on in his sporting career, Humphries completed three Ironman competitions — which encompass a four-kilometre swim, a 180-km bike ride and a 42-km run. His best time was an impressive 10 hours, 28 minutes. In the past decade, he has focused on “sprint” competitions: 750-metre swims, 20-km bike rides and five-km runs. “They invented that distance so aging baby-boomer athletes can still do the sport,” he says with a laugh.

But Humphries is bound to be involved for years to come, as his children are following in his footsteps. The elder three do “Kids of Steel” triathlon programs and are on the provincial youth triathlon team. The Humphries family often goes to nearby Birds Hill Provincial Park to do some biking and running and then finish off with a picnic.

“We train and race together,” he says. “I try to persuade my kids to do triathlons so I don’t feel as guilty doing my training.” IE