One of the traditional features of the Brokerage Report Card is uncovering what advisors think is important about their firms. And even though that trend continues this year, Investment Executive also spoke with brokerage executives to find out if their values matched up with those of their advisors.

On the advisor front, there were no surprises: freedom to make objective product choices, ethics and firm stability rank among the aspects they consider most important.

However, most brokerage executives tell a different story, citing everything from “growth” or “clients” to “reputation” as their top priorities. And although their answers don’t exactly align with what their advisors say, the good news is the executives are taking the necessary steps to find out what their advisors value most.

Montreal-based National Bank Financial Ltd. , for instance, makes it a priority to have face-to-face contact with advisors in the field, says Gordon Gibson, senior vice president and managing director, while other firms are going the extra step by forming advisory committees to keep their fingers on the pulse of advisor needs.

Vancouver-based Canaccord Capital Inc. , for example, consults with its Retail Advisor Committee before it pours money into any new initiative. “It helps us to work together to give advisors what they want,” says Bob Larose, executive vice president of private client services.

Toronto-based ScotiaMcLeod Inc. is taking a similar route through its own advisory committee and a portfolio advisory committee that provides advisors with investment ideas and business-building techniques. “I would say we value growth, and we invest our money in helping advisors grow their business,” says Hamish Angus, head of ScotiaMcLeod.

Reputation, ethics and integrity are among the traits most valued at Toronto-based RBC Dominion Securities Inc. , according to managing director David Agnew. In addition to setting up the DS Advisory Board, the firm has conducted advisor surveys in an effort to uncover the areas that need attention. The data compiled most recently has prompted DS to re-examine its technology, product lineup and support systems for wills and estate planning, among other things. “We use these survey results to form our priorities on where we spend our money,” says Agnew.

Making sure advisors’ values align with those of top management may be somewhat easier at the smaller firms, for which the corporate structures tend to be flatter than at their national counterparts. At Montreal-based MacDougall MacDougall & MacTier Inc., president and CEO Tim Price is also a producing advisor, which allows him to spot problems first-hand. In addition, advisors comprise three-quarters of the firm’s board. “I think that makes us sensitive to making decisions that are in the best interest of clients, as well as the advisor,” Price says.

Not surprising, advisors at the top-rated firm in the survey, Winnipeg-based Wellington West Capital Inc. , feel their firm does a good job aligning its values with theirs. Officially, the firm stands for “clients, integrity and branch ethics,” says chairman and CEO Charlie Spiring. Although this doesn’t match up exactly with the freedom, ethics and firm stability advisors say they value, it doesn’t mean Spiring isn’t listening.

The firm set up its advisory council with the express purpose of finding out what advisors want. “We’re going to our advisors all the time to ask for their advice and their opinion on what we do right and what we do wrong,” says Spiring.

That attention is paying off. “The firm really envelops you and promises to be something,” says a happy advisor in Ontario. “And they stand by that promise.” IE