After spending more than 30 years toiling in the concrete jungle of Bay Street, Robin Randall is enjoying the pastoral tranquility of running a wealth-management business from the small town of Creemore, Ont., about 140 kilometres north of Toronto.

Randall, who has lived in Creemore since 1998, became a senior financial consultant with TriDelta Financial Partners in early 2006, when he opened a branch office for the Toronto-based firm in Creemore. For Randall, 67, his position is an opportunity to work where he lives and plays. And for TriDelta, the rural office represents an opportunity to tap into the growing business community in Creemore, which sits among rolling, farm-studded hills about 20 minutes away from the booming Georgian Bay communities of Wasaga Beach and Collingwood.

While Creemore’s population is just 2,000, it is attracting a growing number of retiring Torontonians. What was once a place for farmers to buy feed and hardware has become a charming vacation destination with restaurants and art galleries fronting the main street alongside the famous Creemore Springs Brewery.

“A small town like Creemore is much more personal than a big city; it’s not as cold a world,” says Randall. “There’s nothing worse than entering a big, 60-storey building every day and wondering how you’re going to make a living out of it. This is much more user-friendly.”

Randall knows of what he speaks. A portfolio manager and technical analyst, he was a partner with Gordon Capital Corp. in Toronto for 15 years, working on the institutional sales side. In 1985, he joined Connor Clark Private Trust, at which his responsibilities included both bringing in assets and managing money. As a technical analyst, Randall was also responsible for developing investment and asset-allocation strategies for the firm’s clients.

In 1994, while working at Connor Clark in downtown Toronto and living in the comfortable suburb of Oakville, Randall bought a 50-acre property in Creemore and built a recreational home there.

He enjoyed the year-round activities in that area — golf in the summer and skiing and indoor tennis in the winter. While living there part-time, Randall developed connections.

In 1999, Randall decided to leave Connor Clark and move to Creemore. He made plans with a partner to open an investment-management firm in nearby Barrie, but that fell through when his partner died of prostate cancer.

Randall kept his home base in Creemore, but returned to work in Toronto for another four years with money-management firm Northwood Private Counsel, which later became Northwood Stephens Private Counsel Inc. It was then that he met Ted Rechtshaffen, president of TriDelta. Northwood, which has a minimum account size of $2 million, refers smaller accounts to TriDelta.

Although Randall’s plans for the Barrie office had been derailed, his dream of living and working in the country was still alive. He and Rechtshaffen eventually decided to create an alliance and bring the full spectrum of wealth-management services to the blossoming community around Creemore.

“We felt there was a great opportunity here to offer holistic financial planning services,” Randall says. “I thought I could bring a lot more to the community than a mutual fund salesperson or broker in Collingwood.”

Randall views his role as being a “quarterback for financial services,” co-ordinating the formation and execution of detailed financial plans for families on a fee-for-service basis. The various elements of a plan include insurance solutions, estate planning, tax minimization, savings, investment management and mortgages. TriDelta also offers access to professionals such as lawyers and accountants.

Randall has built his Creemore client base to about 15 families and $10 million in assets. He sees tremendous growth potential in the area as more retirees from Toronto realize they can sell their city homes and live much more economically in a smaller town, yet still have access to an interesting social network and a wide variety of activities.

“The growth in this area is being pushed by an influx of people who are 55 and over, who may be in semi-retirement and are looking to improve their quality of life,” Randall says. “People have a greater ability to live well on their pension income here than they would in a big, expensive city.”

In addition, many of the local farmers are coming into unaccustomed wealth as they sell off pieces of their land. They are finding they need financial guidance.

@page_break@The arrival of new residents is also creating opportunities for local entrepreneurs, and many are building successful businesses. They, too, are a future client pool for Randall. The firm’s next step, he says, is to pursue the Collingwood market, and he will be looking to expand his office within the next year by hiring an associate.

An active member of the local community, Randall is on the board of the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital. Through his fundraising activities and volunteer work, he has met a variety of interesting people. When approaching some of his contacts for hospital donations, for example, he has an opportunity to assist them with some of the tax advantages of charitable giving, opening the door to further wealth-management discussions.

To promote his business, Randall has conducted letter-writing campaigns, advertised in the local newspaper and held information seminars at a local meeting hall.

Randall sees significant opportunities in providing retirees with tax and estate planning services, as well as creative uses for insurance products to provide income and save taxes.

While many of the new arrivals in town may already have relationships with wealth-management professionals in their previous locations, Randall expects these bonds will fade. These people will want someone nearby to hold their hands.

As for Randall’s own plans, he expects to work another five to seven years, mixing work with recreational activities and travelling. He has a daughter living in Belgium and a son living on the Caribbean island of Antigua. Randall and his wife, Catherine, enjoy the opportunities to visit. IE