With a skyrocketing population mining the oilsands for big money, working as a financial advisor in Fort McMurray, Alta., might seem like winning the lottery. Advisors say, however, there are plenty of challenges inherent in working in a town in which a man can walk off a direct flight from Newfoundland and straight into a job that pays $100,000-plus a year.

“Clients aren’t pulling up to my office with trucks full of gold, which is what a lot of people envision,” says Brian Wanner, a certified financial planner at the Fort McMurray office of Investors Group Inc.

That said, Wanner won’t argue the fact that business is brisk. He has worked as an advisor in the 60,000-strong oil boomtown for the past seven years and has about 600 accounts with 400 families; his clients range in age from 30 to 55 and have incomes in the $80,000-$120,000 range.

Wayne and Ryan Pinkney, a father-and-son financial planning team who operate a Berkshire Investment Group Inc. office in the city, tend to a similar demographic. Father Wayne has been an advisor since retiring as a school administrator in 1995 and looks after 450 clients; son Ryan joined the firm in 1999 and has a book of 1,000 clients. The majority are men who work for oilsands companies or contractors.

“Family income for our clients is well in excess of $100,000 a year,” says Wayne Pinkney.

While advisors in other towns may dream of tapping into such a well-heeled demographic — the town’s population has almost doubled in size in the past five years and is set to hit 100,000 by 2010 — mining the financial services industry in Fort McMurray takes time. “You will earn more than you would in the oilsands — if you make a commitment to this career,” says Wanner. “There’s definite room for growth.”

The oil boom influences every aspect of a Fort McMurray advisor’s business. With skyrocketing real estate costs (the average home sells for $400,000; the average trailer home fetches $280,000), renting office space is considerably more expensive than in other parts of Canada. Staffing it is another challenge.

“With the high cost of living, most people’s ultimate goal is to get hired on with the oilsands,” says Ryan Pinkney. He estimates he pays his assistant at least 20% more than he would if his office were located somewhere other than Fort McMurray.

Advisors are also at a premium. The Pinkneys would love to have a third planner in the office, so much so they’re willing to subsidize rent for the right person. Wanner says Investors Group could stand to fill three to five more seats at its Fort McMurray location, in addition to the five advisors already working in that office.

Dave Christie, Calgary-based regional vice president of RBC Financial Group’s investment and retirement planners, recently travelled to Fort McMurray to drum up new advisor talent for the company’s local office. He says it is tough to sell outside advisors on the city because of the high cost of relocating. “Most of our success has been with recruiting within the community,” he says.

Such staffing woes are felt across the region’s service sector. With an unemployment rate of about 4% (the national rate hovers around 6%, a 32-year low), many Fort McMurray businesses simply can’t compete with the high wages of the oilsands. That was the case for the Real Canadian Superstore, which recently held job fairs in several Atlantic provinces in order to staff its Fort McMurray location. The incentive package for retail employees included airfare for both the new hire and his or her spouse, the first month’s rent and additional money for moving expenses.

Aside from logistical concerns, Fort McMurray advisors must contend with the challenges that go along with managing first-generation money. “You’re doing a lot of education, showing the value of long-term financial planning,” says Wanner. “You don’t see a lot of money transitioning from one generation to the next, as you would in other communities.”

Area advisors are also competing for dollars with the “toys” that many oilsands workers are able to afford for the first time in their lives. “A lot of people end up getting caught up in the lifestyle — the sleds and the quads,” says Wanner, referring to snowmobiles and 4X4 all-terrain vehicles.

@page_break@“Many clients have greater recreation expenses, which makes financial planning [in Fort McMurray] unique,” Christie adds.

The Fort McMurray population is also a transient one. “People come into Fort McMurray, give it heck, make money and leave,” explains Wayne Pinkney.

About 15% of oilsands workers are from Newfoundland, and most plan to retire on the Rock. Wanner says working for a national firm is an advantage in this regard, as he’s able to arrange transfers for clients when they decide to return home. That exodus from the oilsands is becoming less of an issue, however, as first-generation workers start families and put down roots in Fort McMurray.

The advisor population can also shift; the Pinkneys have taken on four books of business from other advisors in the past few years. “A lot of people come here but then can’t afford to stay,” Ryan Pinkney says.

Advisors must also be willing to accommodate clients whose schedules can change on a dime. “About 40% of our appointments are rescheduled,” says Wayne Pinkney. “People get called in to work unexpectedly or suddenly leave for Edmonton when they have time off.”

He works both days of the weekend, and says Saturdays are particularly good for walk-ins. Wanner also sees a lot of off-the-street business.

Wanner and Ryan Pinkney have made niches for themselves in the Fort McMurray market in deciphering oil-company stock and pension plans. “You need to know whether they’re doing proper income-splitting with their spouses and be familiar with the assets they’re growing in their defined-contribution plans,” says Wanner. “I had one client who had his money sit in a money market account for 25 years.”

One-on-one consultations are valued over the massive group presentations on stock and pension plans that most workers receive from their employers.

“Ryan has established himself with one of the oil companies as the go-to person who can explain its pension plan,” says Wayne Pinkney. “It’s a major theme that we hammer home in our advertising.” Their business, like Wanner’s, receives the majority of referrals through ads and word of mouth.

With so many workers owning oil stocks, advisors must also contend with a clientele who has grown accustomed to excellent returns. “With all of the oil activity and the emphasis on stocks, many people closely follow the market,” says Ryan Pinkney. With large groups of men being bussed to and from the mines, talk inevitably turns to stocks. “Many own company stock that has performed exceptionally well, and they’re looking for riskier, higher-yield investments.” He notes the majority of his clients don’t like guaranteed investment certificates.

Wanner is also familiar with the risk-taking ways of Fort McMurray investors. “This is a resource town, and people are chasing resource stocks. But they need to make sure they have diversification,” he says. “Their income is based on the oil industry, as is the value of their home, so they need to have some balance in their portfolios.”

Chris Turchansky, manager of financial advisors for northern Alberta with ATB Financial’s investor services, says encouraging diversification can be difficult: “There’s a belief that oil will never fall; that this rate of growth will continue forever.”

Advisors, too, must recognize that the financial services boom may not last. “It’s tempting to forget practice management when times are good,” says Julie Littlechild, president of Advisor Impact Inc. in Toronto. “It’s important advisors to make sure they have a strong team.”

The challenge in Fort McMurray is finding the human resources to build one. IE