Bruce kerr is not about to retire anytime soon. The 63-year-old financial advisor and president of Bruce R. Kerr Insurance and Investments Ltd. in Winchester, Ont., about 45 kilometres south of Ottawa, is enjoying his job too much to call it quits in the next few years.

“It’s something I really enjoy,” he says. “I enjoy the people; I enjoy the clients. And when you’ve built up a business, you like to hang in there.”

It is fortunate for the financial services industry that Kerr — and a number of 50- to 60-something advisors like him — are choosing not to pack it in and head to warmer climes. The industry, like the larger population, is undergoing a demographic shift. The average age of financial advisors, including bankers, insurance advisors, financial planners and stockbrokers, is 46, according to Investment Executive’s 2005 Report Card research. And the average goes up every year, indicating that firms are not recruiting young talent at a rate that offsets the aging trend.

This presents a challenge to the industry. At a time when an aging and retiring population is placing more demands on its services, the advisory channel is heading toward retirement, too. Unless the financial services industry develops ways to retain experienced advisors and get them to pass their knowledge on to their successors, there will be a costly drain of knowledge. It makes good business sense, then, to keep older advisors on board — for the benefit of their clients and their colleagues.

So, what can firms do to keep advisors coming to the office, even if they “ease up” on their working hours?

One challenge for older advisors appears to be keeping up with the increasingly heavy burden of administrative tasks.

“The amount of paperwork, whether from the regulatory side, from the compliance side or from regular day-to-day client contact, is driving a lot of the older advisors to say they need help,” says Rob Kochel, vice president of institutional relationships at AIM Funds Management Inc. in Toronto.

Much of the record-keeping required by advisors today is computer- and Web-based, areas in which many older advisors are less dexterous than their younger colleagues, says Kochel, who offers practice-management advice to advisors. Some forward-looking firms have developed solutions to this problem.

“They’ll bring in a younger person to help with computer tasks and develop a mentoring program, because the magic is that these old advisors still have strong books and incredible relationships,” Kochel says. “The firms don’t want to miss the opportunity to take advantage of that for as long as they possibly can.”

This type of relationship is a two-way street. Older advisors can pass along what they have learned about investing, financial planning, selling, marketing, developing client relationships and dealing with people. And they often have strong, long-standing relationships with their clients and valuable books of business. Younger advisors can help the veterans maintain their client relationships by taking on the more mundane tasks, such as record-keeping and other computer-based functions.

That is not to say older people are inherently incompetent when it comes to computers. It is a mistake to underestimate an older person’s ability to learn, says Dr. Miroslava Lhotsky, a physician in Toronto who specializes in mid-life health. It is well known among psychologists that we learn best between the ages of four and eight — “When our brain is like a sponge,” Lhotsky says.

But we can still learn new tricks into old age. Tests have shown that people in late middle age can learn new skills — a new computer program, for example — as well as their 30-something counterparts, provided they both start from a common base of foreknowledge.

“There is a myth that older people don’t learn. But I think they get intimidated because younger people know computer basics,” says Lhotsky, author of The Juggling Act: The healthy boomer’s guide to achieving balance in life. “But the older people did just as well in tests, and there wasn’t as much difference after the initial training.”

Another myth about older people in the workforce is that they are just putting in time until they retire. Not true, says Lhotsky: “People like to work, and they like to be valued. For many of us, our work is our identity.”

@page_break@Which is one reason many people want to remain active in the financial services industry after they officially retire.

“A lot of advisors want to stay involved,” Kochel adds. “The idea of retiring outright and putting their feet up is not always the case. This is the type of job and the type of industry that allows you to wind down gracefully over time.”

Helping the aging advisor in the office begins by treating him or her with respect, says Halifax psychologist Jason Roth. “Wisdom is knowledge plus experience,” he says. “In our culture, we tend to be more attracted to the glamour of youth, the snazziness of the latest, than we do about recognizing the wisdom that comes from knowledge and experience. With age, there is a greater chance at wisdom.”

Roth, 56, learned long ago to respect the wisdom that comes with age. When he was 24, he entered a racquetball tournament that matched him up with a 62-year-old opponent for a best-of-three set. “I won the first game 21-12, but I knew I was in trouble,” Roth recalls. “I was drenched and he hadn’t broken a sweat. He won the next two games, 21-10 and 21-1. When it was over, he said, ‘You’re arrogant because you think your speed and youth will beat my skill’.”

In business, as on the racquetball court, speed and energy are strengths; but there is no substitute for experience.

Lhotsky says some older workers may experience problems related to aging, but these don’t begin to outweigh the value of experience. And there are ways to work around some of the limitations that creep up when we start to get on in years.

Many older people don’t have as much energy as their younger colleagues, for instance, and people over age 55 experience a diminishing of reserves, or the ability to recover quickly from a minor illness such as a cold or the flu. Also, the immune response weakens with age, which is why older people are encouraged to get flu shots.

Working long hours and doing shift work also takes a bigger toll on older people because they are not as adaptable as they once were.

“We are not as resilient,” Lhotsky says. “No matter how much we like to think of ourselves as being fit, people over 50 will tell you we don’t pull the overnight parties and go to work the next day the way we did when we were 20.”

And the changes are not all physical. As we age, our priorities also change, says Roth. Younger people are usually more interested in devoting their spare time to improving their careers, whether it is prospecting for new clients or attending conferences. Generally, older people are more interested in spending time with their families and enjoying recreational activities during their personal time.

“I have associates who are much younger, and their inclination is to go to a weekend conference,” Roth says. “I’d rather spend my weekends hiking. I think the concept of balance is far more important to me than it is for a younger person.”

Roth’s penchant for the outdoors reminds us that aging baby boomers are fitter and more active than previous generations were at the same age. The adage that “50 is the new 40, and 60 is the new 50” tells us that we’re all behaving as if we were 10 years younger.

“The aging population is not eager to retire and become invisible,” Lhotsky adds. And, in order to benefit from their experience, our industry is going to have to make work arrangements that suit their priorities.

Here are some ways in which companies and colleagues can make the workplace more accommodating for older advisors:

> Flex hours. Companies should be flexible about the hours older people work, Lhotsky says. “They are going to enjoy working more if they can work perhaps six hours a day or three days a week,” she says. Some firms arrange to have two people share one job.

> Allow family time. Aging boomers often have increased family pressures. Many people in their 50s are members of the sandwich generation, having both parents and children who are dependent on them. They may need to take time off for family obligations. Firms should accommodate these pressures by offering the option of flexible hours or shorter workweeks.

> Offer perks. Some firms that recognize the value of their older, wiser staff members are using innovative ways to induce them to stay on board, Lhotsky says. Some firms offer privileges to prized older employees, such as membership in a gym or paid prescription medication.

> Get creative. More innovative solutions include creating a pool into which older staff make regular payments throughout the year to fund extended vacations in the summer.

There is no single solution for all companies, but the key is flexibility, Lhotsky says. The plan should suit the company and the staff.

“The challenge is to create awareness, both among aging advisors and among younger people, of the wisdom and benefits of accumulated knowledge,” Roth says.

Educating younger people to see the value that older people bring to their jobs is essential. “We don’t have to throw out the aging population, but we don’t want to push them to the limit, either,” Lhotsky says. “We want them to stay and give us what they have to offer.”

Teaming an older advisor up with a recent recruit can benefit everyone — and provide the much-needed succession plan. Kochel tells of one such mentoring/succession arrangement.

The older advisor had a strong book and excellent social skills when it came to dealing with clients. He recruited a young advisor and arranged a five-year plan in which the senior advisor introduced the junior to his clients and gradually shifted those clients over to him. There was an understanding that the senior advisor might decide to keep a handful clients after the five-year transition period was over.

The plan was a success because the junior got a chance to meet all the clients over the five-year period and increased his level of responsibility while handling the administrative work. When the transition was complete, the clients knew the new advisor, who was by then fully trained and qualified to handle the book of business.

Kerr is following a similar process. Although he has no plans to retire, he is easing out of the business. Three years ago, he started cutting back on his hours and passing more business responsibilities to his daughters, Juli Pilotte and Joanna Helmer, who eventually will take over the business entirely. Pilotte looks after the insurance side of the business, while Helmer handles the investment and financial planning side.

The arrangement suits Kerr fine. It allows him to take two three-week vacations each year with his wife, Lorna, who also works in the office. And it allows him to enjoy a three-day workweek during the summer. During golf season, he can knock off at noon every Thursday to participate in Men’s Day at his local club.

Call it a reward for building a successful business from scratch, for decades of working evenings and weekends, serving existing clients and prospecting for new ones, in addition to keeping a busy schedule as a volunteer in his community.

He may not be putting in the long hours he once did, but his knowledge and experience are still assets to his firm and are valued by his clients and associates. IE





More experienced, more loyal



What some older people may lack in energy and computer savvy, they may make up with other qualities.

There are definite advantages to getting older, says Dr. Miroslava Lhotsky, a physician in Toronto who specializes in mid-life health. And smart companies should be capitalizing on their older employees’ strengths.

> People over age 55 are often better at solving complex problems. “Our immediate recall may not be as fast, but as we get older, we have this wealth of experience to draw upon in solving problems,” Lhotsky says.

> Older people are not as quick to jump to conclusions. Experience tells the more mature among us that things may not be as they seem. “It’s the way we function as we get older,” Lhotsky says. Mature folks tend to consider more options or think a situation through before making a decision.

> Older people are more loyal. They are devoted to their jobs, have an excellent work ethic and are often in for the long haul. Younger people are more apt to be looking for the next opportunity to make a bigger salary or climb the corporate ladder.




A respected elder<.b>



Russell Isaac arrives at the Vancouver office of Sora Group Wealth Advisors Inc. by 10 a.m. every day. He spends his day meeting clients, perhaps taking one to lunch, and leaves for home around 3 p.m.

Isaac, 76, is regarded as a pioneer in the financial services industry. He founded Canada’s first independent mutual fund dealer, Great Pacific Management Co. Ltd., in 1964. Great Pacific was purchased by Cartier Mutual Funds Inc. in 1999, and two years later Isaac was fired as president. He was 71.

Rather than fold his tent, he co-founded the private asset-management firm that would eventually be called Sora Group. In addition to running the company, Isaac managed a book of more than 125 clients — up until two years ago, when he started cutting back on his hours.

Now he focuses on looking after his clients, while his son, Robert, 48, runs the firm as president.

Some of those clients have been with Isaac for more than 40 years. “My clients are my best friends,” Isaac says. “You have to keep in touch with your clients because they are out there and can easily be taken by somebody else. You have to be their mentor, spend time with them, take them to lunch. That’s what I enjoy.”

When Isaac started reducing his workload, he began sharing the portfolio-
management responsibilities of his book with other advisors in the firm.

“So Russ is more involved in the relationship side, talking to clients,” Robert explains.

The elder Isaac gets a lot of support in the office, in which there is a general attitude of teamwork and co-operation. Isaac is by far the oldest person at the firm, at which the average age is about 40.

“Everybody will kick in when they can help him to do anything because he is very well respected here,” Robert says.

For example, the firm has a corporate car and driver for use by clients. “Even if the driver is busy, he will drop everything to take care of Russ if he needs something,” Robert says.

Isaac has no plans to retire — and the staff is in no hurry to see him go.

“He is loved by everybody here,” says Robert.

“It’s a great environment,” he adds. “Everybody appreciates what he has done in the industry. And whatever they can do to help him get his business done, they’ll do it.”

— Grant McIntyre