Balanced approach needed: Includes chart

Edward Jones advisors rated their firm tops in training, with a score of 9.1. Although much of the firm’s focus is on training raw recruits, emphasis is also placed on career-long development, says Gary Reamey, principal and head of the company’s Mississauga, Ont.-based Canadian division. “We view training as investment, not an expense,” says Reamey, who estimates his firm spends at least $100,000 to train each advisor.

The independent brokerage hires 26 to 28 new advisors a month, with about 80% of rookies remaining at the firm after three years, he adds.

Edward Jones offers not only an advisor training program for new recruits, but also a six-month financial advisor apprentice program for university graduates, which feeds into its regular advisor program.

The apprentice program combines in-class training, during which students familiarize themselves with the firm’s business model, and time spent working in financial advisors’ offices, during which the students observe and assist advisors with administrative duties. The students also begin studying for their securities exam at this time. “They get a feel for whether this is the career they want to go into for the long term,” says Sucharita Maitra, the firm’s partner in charge of training.

The regular advisor training program, which is intended for graduates of the apprentice program or candidates with previous business experience, involves all the Investment Dealers Association of Canada‘s required training, plus marketing research, product knowledge and selling skills, among other training. Veteran Edward Jones advisors are brought in to speak to trainees about advisor skills and about the company’s investment philosophy.

The bank-owned brokerages all scored within a narrow range of each other in terms of their training programs. Many of the new recruits at the banks are embarking on their second careers after starting out in other fields or are moving over from the parent bank’s retail arm.

TD Waterhouse Private Invest-ment Advice, which ranked highest among the bank-owned firm with a score of 7.6, up 0.9 from last year, received mostly good reviews from its advisors. “There are high-calibre people involved, and there’s an incredible commitment from management to training,” says a TD Waterhouse advisor in Ontario.

CIBC Wood Gundy scored a 7.2, up 1.2 from last year, but its advisors felt the firm still could be doing more. “We need more financial planning and sales training,” says a Wood Gundy advisor in Ontario.

ScotiaMcLeod Inc. , which also scored 7.2, has been concentrating on growing its advisor base and has made a strong effort to provide new hires with the proper training. “We really focus on them for the first three years to make sure they’re up and running,” says Hamish Angus, head of ScotiaMcLeod in Toronto.

However, some veteran brokers feel that their training needs aren’t being met.

“They don’t provide any [training] for veterans,” says an RBC Dominion Securities Inc. advisor in Ontario. “If you have been here for three years or less, they have excellent training; but for me, absolutely nothing.”

Others feel shut out of good-quality training aimed at advisors with bigger books.

“The training is a lot better for those on the higher end of producing,” says a DS advisor in Ontario.

“I’d like to see them lower the bar, so that everyone has the opportunity to attend,” adds a Wood Gundy advisor in Saskatchewan.

But even though many advisors expressed a desire to receive more training, others thought they were better off without it.

“We don’t have any [training], I don’t want any and I don’t participate in any,” says a Leede Financial Markets Inc. advisor in British Columbia.

And even though independent firms such as Odlum Brown Ltd., Blackmont Capital Inc. , and MacDougall MacDougall & MacTier Inc. received the lowest training scores, their advisors also ranked training relatively low in terms of importance. IE