Financial planning in the spotlight

These firms have seen their ratings rise because advisors value the technological improvements to their financial planning software, the better education and training they’re being provided with and the increased flexibility advisors have to choose the best solutions for their clients’ financial plans.

“The firm offers great software,” says an advisor in Ontario with Worldsource. “The planning software was recently upgraded, and now advisors can create customizable plans that can be either very simple or very complex.”

Furthermore, Worldsource president and chief operating officer Andy Mitchell points out that the firm strongly encourages industry-related training and has developed its own platform to help its advisors ensure clients are prepared not just to, but through, their retirement.

At IPC, there are many financial planning support services open to advisors; but because the firm is an independent shop, advisors have choices. Advisors can opt into the services they feel are most essential, says Chris Reynolds, IPC’s president and CEO, while other, less desirable services can be left on the table.

IPC also has begun to emphasize progress reviews on clients’ financial plans recently to ensure that clients are moving toward achieving the goals set out in those plans. Reynolds says this strategic shift is something he believes advisors will gravitate toward.

But the à la carte approach to providing support for financial planning is not shared by all firms. For example, Richard McIntyre, executive vice president and head of retail at DundeeWealth, says his firm has developed a “holistic” approach to helping its advisors create proper financial plans.

“With DundeeWealth as our name, wealth is pretty core to what we do,” he says, then makes note of the firm’s financial planning software, which is being used by 54% of DundeeWealth advisors, and two-day boot camps for wealth-management training that run periodically throughout the year. “We take 50 advisors away into some dark hotel somewhere and really take them through how to structure their wealth-management offerings for their clients.”

Meanwhile, Manulife advisors indicated that they appreciate the flexibility their firm provides in allowing them to choose the best solutions for their clients. Still, many Manulife advisors say they believe that the firm could provide them with a more comprehensive package.

The firms that have put a serious focus on financial planning and the related services – such as Winnipeg-based Investors Group Inc. – are the firms whose support in the financial planning area are considered the gold standard.

“It’s one thing to provide [advisors] with the financial planning software,” says Mark Kinzel, executive vice president of financial services with Investors Group. “It’s another on how really to use that [software] in situations.”

To accomplish that, Investors Group has produced a comprehensive network of training platforms, including extensive material online on demand, webcasts and national conferences.

In addition to focusing on training advisors, many of whom have earned their certified financial planner designation, Investors Group also has assembled a team of experts who can help advisors with more complex situations, which are more present than ever, given the current market volatility.

“Our focus on planning,” says an Investors Group advisor in Ontario, “is – bar none – the best. And it’s what separates us from the rest.”

Another firm that’s highly lauded in this category, Mississauga-based PFSL Investments Ltd., takes a different approach. That’s because PFSL does not offer financial plans in the traditional sense. Rather, PFSL advisors provide their clients with a “financial needs analysis” (FNA) document that takes a very detailed and comprehensive view of the client’s personal finances.

Although the FNA is very broad and holistic in its approach, it is not completed by an accredited financial planner. Nevertheless, the document does offer PFSL’s middle-income clients a step-by-step process to improve their financial picture, which can then be put into place by the PFSL advisor.

“I met a person from [a major brokerage firm],” says a PFSL advisor in Ontario, “and he said he needed our FNAs.”

Although many dealer firms are focusing much of their efforts on financial planning, others – such as Calgary-based Portfolio Strategies Corp. and Lévis, Que.-based Desjardins Financial Security Independent Network – proudly boast their independence and are continuing to push the services provided by third-party mutual fund manufacturers or allow their advisors to decide which third-party software platform they want to adopt.

“[Our] firm is very hands off,” says a Portfolio Strategies advisor in Alberta. “Advisors are paid more, but we are responsible for all our own support services. That works for some; but for others, it’s a pretty bad deal.”

Desjardins takes a very similar approach, says Shawn Smith, Desjardins’ vice president of distribution for the Ontario and Atlantic regions: “[Desjardins] advisors can use their increased compensation to create their own services in those areas. Many fund providers offer support services as well, and we leave that choice up to our advisors. They value that independence; they don’t want to be locked into any one solution.”

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