Firms deliver, but need to improve

In particular, advisors, regardless of the channel of the financial services sector in which they operate, praised their firms most for providing the independence they need to do what’s best for their clients, whether it’s the products they sell or the way advisors run their businesses.

“Independence – that sums it up in one word,” says an advisor in Alberta about the best aspect of working at Vancouver-based Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management.

“I can choose whatever products I want [to sell],” says an advisor in Atlantic Canada with Toronto-based Bank of Montreal (BMO). “I don’t have a gun to my head, telling me what’s right for my clients.”

“We don’t really answer to anyone except our clients,” adds an advisor in British Columbia with Mississauga, Ont.-based Edward Jones. “As along as we’re profitable and ethical, we’re basically left alone to run our businesses.”

Besides independence, advisors constantly brought up the importance of having a solid work environment, including good co-workers, as a critical element in their success.

“We take a lot of pride in what we do and we have a lot of fun in our local office,” says an advisor in Alberta with Toronto-based CIBC Wood Gundy. “There is healthy competition and we build each other up. The staff strive for excellence.”

Although the camaraderie at the local branch is important, advisors also lauded their firms for providing a strong corporate culture in which all advisors are treated equally and respectfully.

“It all comes down to culture,” says an advisor in Ontario with St. Catharines, Ont.-based Meridian Credit Union. “Culture is something that makes you feel comfortable doing what you’re doing.”

“We’re viewed as individuals, not numbers,” adds an advisor in Ontario with Montreal-based National Bank of Canada. “Senior management knows the staff; we have access to them. We’re people here.”

Beyond the work environment, advisors were keen to point out that their firm’s stability is crucial to their individual success because it provides comfort to clients who do business with their firms.

“It’s nice working for one of the top five banks in Canada,” says a Wood Gundy advisor in Ontario about his firm’s parent, Toronto-based Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. “Clients know that we’re stable. They don’t have to worry about where their money is going.”

The firm’s stability doesn’t provide comfort for just clients, though; it’s also something advisors crave. Says an advisor in Ontario with Assante Wealth Management (Canada) Ltd.: “We’re supported by the deep pockets of our parent firm [CI Financial Corp.], which provides stability. I don’t have to worry that the firm won’t be around.”

“The best part about working here is the stability and security of the Investors Group brand and the support [the firm] gives us,” says an advisor in Atlantic Canada with Winnipeg-based Investors Group Inc. “I am not even able to tap into a quarter of the support it offers advisors.”

Although advisors were keen to talk about the best aspects of working at their firms, they also had plenty to say about categories in which their firms are coming up short the most.

Technology, for example, has been a perennial concern for advisors, with many firms offering software that is outdated, inefficient or downright complicated to use. Furthermore, advisors complained that whenever firms do decide to upgrade their existing technology, there are long delays – and the upgrades are outdated by the time they’re implemented.

“[The firm] has to improve technology and make it easier to deal with,” says an Investors Group advisor in Ontario. “It’s there to serve us – not the other way around.”

“There’s an old saying in real estate: ‘Location, location, location’,” says an Assante advisor in Ontario. “In this business, it’s ‘Technology, technology, technology’.”

Another concern among advisors was that although their firms are attempting to become one-stop shops and earn a bigger share of clients’ wallets, the firms are not doing enough to promote their brands. Thus, advisors want to see bigger and bolder advertising and marketing strategies from their firms.

“Get your name above the fray,” says a Canaccord advisor in B.C. about competing with Canada’s major banks. “That’s the key with all the firms [to] getting above those Big Five 800-pound gorillas.”

“[The firm] seems to rely on the marketing of individual advisors for brand recognition,” adds an Investors Group advisor in Ontario. “Advertising tends to be boring and bland. I would like to see advertisements that are more gripping and effective.”

Lack of advertising was a particular weak spot for advisors who ply their trade with the smaller, independent firms.

“Public awareness is our weakest link,” says an advisor in B.C. with Toronto-based Raymond James Ltd. “We’ve built this amazing place, but no one knows about it.”

“We’re a smaller firm,” adds an advisor in the same province with Calgary-based regional Leede Financial Markets Inc. “And it would help if we could get our name out there more via advertising.”

The final category in which advisors would most like to see their firms improve is total compensation. Says a BMO advisor in Atlantic Canada: “You get that answer from everyone, but it’s the truth.”

“We have an awful lot of responsibility,” laments an advisor in Ontario with Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada. “We aren’t selling furniture here, and I don’t think the compensation reflects that.”

It’s no surprise, then, given the financial services sector’s increasing focus on holistic wealth management and advisors being asked to do more, that many advisors feel their pay is not commensurate with the amount of work they’re now required to do.

“Pay us more for what we do,” says an advisor in Ontario with Waterloo, Ont.-based Sun Life Financial (Canada) Inc. “There is a lot of service required in the industry now for which advisors aren’t being compensated.”

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