Financial advisors surveyed for this year’s Dealers’ Report Card say that they are more pleased in general with the support services they receive from their firms. However, the overall message to executives: there’s still plenty of work to do.
The ratings that advisors bestowed on their firms in seven key categories — “products and support for high net-worth clients,” “support for wills and estate planning,” “support for tax planning,” “support for insurance planning,” “support for helping clients accumulate assets for retirement,” “support for helping clients plan for post-retirement income” and “support for developing a financial plan for clients” — are up by 0.3 of a point, on average, to 7.6 from 7.3 in 2010. This is led by advisors’ satisfaction with the support they get for tax and insurance planning.
Some of the top marks in this bundle of support services go to Mississauga, Ont.-based PFSL Investments Canada Ltd. , whose strategy to satisfy what it calls “middle-income Canadians” seems to please the firm’s advisors. PFSL doesn’t purport to meet the needs of those with complicated tax or estate planning needs; instead, it focuses on fundamental “financial needs analysis,” says Jeff Dumanski, the firm’s president and chief marketing officer, who notes that PFSL offers software for retirement and income planning that advisors can use with clients of any level of financial means.
Winnipeg-based Investors Group Inc. also stands above many of its peers because it offers all seven support services, scoring above the pack in three of the categories.
“It’s our core competency,” says an Investors Group advisor in Ontario, referring to support for retirement planning.
Kevin Regan, the firm’s executive vice president for financial services, says all Investors Group advisors have access to detailed financial planning software that meets most clients’ needs in these categories.
For more complicated cases, a team of specialists in Winnipeg is available to every advisor — although the priority is for wealthier clients needing more complex post-retirement estate and tax planning. The team’s central location makes it easier for them to commute across Canada.
“This [service] is tailored to the client,” Regan says. “You don’t know what you know until you sit down with the client — and that’s why it’s rated so highly. [There’s] an expert sitting on your shoulder, helping you go through these things right in front of the client.”
The single most improved firm across the board is Toronto-based Assante Wealth Management (Canada) Ltd. , with improved ratings of half a point or more in four of the seven support categories.
Says an Assante advisor in Ontario about the firm’s support for HNW clients: “It’s very, very good. I do a lot with them. I think we’re the best in the industry.”
Still, the firm is investing further in these areas. Financial planning has been a topic at recent regional and national council meetings. And Assante is running a pilot program to add financial planning software to advisors’ desktops to allow easier in-depth servicing for a broader range of clients.
Another firm that has made some strides forward this past year is Lévis, Que.-based Desjardins Financial Security Independent Network — particularly in areas of support for retirement planning and post-retirement income planning.
Desjardins executives note that its “elite case department” handles requests for HNW clients, and also provides access to legal and accounting services. And company executives point out that the firm sponsors a poll every year asking consumers about their expectations for retirement, with a focus on the products and services they need to meet their goals.
Still, many Desjardins advisors remark that they’re not entirely sure what support services their firm offers — and that’s true at other shops as well. Often, there’s a disconnection between what services executives say are available and what advisors are aware of, indicating that there’s a communication problem.
Even when most of the dealer sector offers support in — say, the area of retirement services, for example — the ratings can vary widely, and there’s often a smattering of rueful comments from advisors across the table at all firms. So, it would be unfair to pick out one firm on this topic.
Still, Mississauga-based Investment Planning Counsel took a lot of heat from its advisors in the survey, who knocked down the ratings for a couple of support categories by more than half a point. They note that there are integration issues to solve with the acquisition of Regina-based Partners in Planning Financial Group Ltd.
“They’re trying, but it’s still lacking,” says an IPC advisor in British Columbia, referring to the firm’s support for HNW clients.
In the area of retirement planning, a colleague in Manitoba says the firm’s software is “too dumb.”
As for improvements, says IPC president Chris Reynolds, IPC will be experimenting with financial planning services offered by a third party later this year. IE