A focus on women and literacy

And now that Jamison has her own advisory practice, which focuses on wealth management for women, she has resolved that her clients will be financially literate and at ease with investing.

Jamison’s dedication to her clients’ comfort is visible right down to the design of her office, in which traditional hardwood desks and stiff black office chairs are hidden away from the areas her clients frequent.

Instead, visitors are welcomed into a large, open reception area with bright red contemporary chairs and a vase of fresh flowers adorning an uncluttered white table. Review meetings often are held in a casual “living room,” in which Jamison and her clients sit closely around a small glass table, which is conducive to deeper conversations. Some client events are held in Jamison’s “financial literacy centre,” a white room decorated with whimsical artwork. The room holds multiple classroom-style desks that can be removed easily so clients can enjoy free yoga classes.

Began in the hotel industry

Jamison acquired this attention to detail in her first career. In 1989, she began working in the hospitality industry, where she became guest services manager at a hotel, ensuring all her VIP guests’ wishes were fulfilled. When Jamison met her husband, who also was in hotel management, she decided to switch careers; the couple felt having both partners in a 24-hour service industry would be difficult.

So, in 1996, Jamison decided to put her financial knowledge to professional use, entering the financial services sector. Her first job was as an advisor with Richardson Greenshields of Canada Ltd., which was bought by Toronto-based RBC Dominion Securities Inc. (DS) that same year. DS happened to be her father’s firm, so Jamison joined his practice.

Jamison’s first challenge was to build her client base. At first, she did not specialize in any specific market. But approximately five years later, Jamison began to narrow her focus after realizing that many of her women clients were curious about their finances and wanted to learn more.

The focus of Jamison’s business became not just about managing her clients’ money, she says: “It was about teaching them.”

She began researching financial issues that are particularly relevant to women, such as their tendency to live longer than men, have access to smaller pensions and be out of the workforce for longer portions of their lives.

In 2006, Jamison gave a stronger marketing push to her focus on women clients. She acquired the trademark “Women & Wealth” in 2007. Many male peers questioned Jamison’s decision to narrow her focus to women and risk neglecting the male population. “My standard answer was: ‘I want to address the issues that the industry hasn’t addressed for half of the population, which is women’,” she says.

Jamison is licensed to provide investment services and life and disability insurance. She has expanded her Women & Wealth platform to include services such as money coaching; “health and wealth connections,” which includes conversations about the link between health and finances, as well as client events such as yoga classes; and a “Money Concierge” service, which also is trademarked.

“Your go-to resource”

“[The hotel concierge] is your go-to resource,” Jamison says. “I tell clients: ‘Think of me as your money concierge. So, any time you have any questions related to money, you come and talk to me first. I will have the answer or I will direct you to someone who has the answer’.”

The next step occurred when Jamison moved to ScotiaMcLeod from DS in 2013. She spent a year developing the office space that would reflect her boutique-style wealth-management business. After a year of planning, the office was ready for clients in late 2014.

Jamison’s practice is all about the details. As she did when she was a hotel manager, Jamison keeps notes about her clients’ food and beverage preferences and whether they might bring children to her office who will need to be entertained.

Clients notice this attentiveness to their preferences, she says.

Jamison illustrates her point by comparing a high-end hotel to a motel. Both have beds and bathrooms, so the products are the same. The difference is in the details. A high-end hotel has finer furniture, a pleasant atmosphere, a concierge desk to handle guests’ concerns and professionals who deliver services to guests’ rooms.

“If these details matter in another industry, why don’t they matter in our industry?” she says. “We are in a service industry, and this is what people don’t realize. We’re now creating client experiences.”

Helping Jamison manage these details is her support team. Neil Jamison, Natalie’s father, is an advisor in his daughter’s practice. He is responsible for non-client facing activities, such as trading, which allows Natalie to spend more time with clients. An associate, Priscilla DeOliveira, manages tasks such as scheduling and event planning.

When Natalie Jamison is not in her office, she is likely to be spending time with her family, which includes two young daughters, or indulging in favourite activities such as gardening and French cooking.

A more recent addition to Jamison’s list of hobbies is kick-boxing, which she took up a year ago, specifically because she found it to be an intimidating and male-dominated sport. “I’m always trying to challenge myself to try new things,” she says. “I actually found out once I tried it, that it wasn’t really that scary. And now I love it.”

Another favourite pastime is golf, a sport Jamison’s father taught her at the age of five. Unbeknownst to them both, the sport would be another way her father would contribute to her future career.

“[Golf has] served me well in business,” Jamison says. “I am in a male-dominated industry in which all the guys play golf.”

 

Advisors who want to help high net-worth women clients must learn how to make those clients more comfortable with the financial planning process, says Natalie Jamison, a financial advisor with ScotiaMcLeod Inc. in Oakville, Ont. She describes three strategies she uses to ease her clients’ concerns:

1. Pay attention to the details

Simple things like fresh flowers or a high-quality brand of tissues are not silly if your clients appreciate them, according to Jamison.

If you are serving high net-worth clients, she says, you must ask yourself: “Where do they normally shop, stay, vacation, golf? What are the little details and luxuries that they expect to see wherever they go?”

2. Ask each client who she would like to include in her next meeting

Advisors do not ask this question enough, according to Jamison.

But the response could make the difference between a client attending the meeting or rescheduling. For example, your client might say she has to bring her child because she does not have a babysitter.

This question also could pose an opportunity to meet the next generation of your client’s family. Your client might appreciate that her young-adult daughter, who is not financially literate, is welcome – and might learn from the experience.

3. Incorporate financial education into every meeting

Jamison sets aside 15 minutes of every hour-long client meeting to discuss a financial concept the client wishes to learn about. The topic is decided upon prior to the meeting.

Women clients often don’t ask directly for this guidance, Jamison says, but they do want to be educated.

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