Financial advisor Jamie Williams believes his job is as much about psychology as it is about money.

“We’re counselling more about behaviour than anything else,” says Williams, an advisor with Investment Planning Counsel in Kentville, N.S. “I would call us ‘behaviour modifiers’.”

Williams built his career as an advisor on communication and trust, he says. It’s an approach that fits the culture of Kentville, a small town nestled in the picturesque Annapolis Valley that is about an hour’s drive from Halifax.

But as far from Bay Street as Williams’ clients are, they’re still exposed to the information overload that saturates the country. Much of the behaviour that needs to be modified, Williams says, is clients’ reactions to alarmist news stories about the economy and the markets, often delivered without context or substance.

“When you turn on the TV, you’d think the world was coming to an end,” says Williams, a member of IPC’s Atlantic region management team. “Our job is to provide hope.”

It is also to provide balance during economic upswings and downturns — when clients overreact to dramatic market fluctuations. “Before the technology bust, we were pulling clients off the ceiling instead of pulling them off the floor,” he says. “They need to understand not to get overly greedy or overly fearful.”

The nature of the financial advisory business has changed dramatically since Williams entered the profession more than 16 years ago. At that time, Williams says, his primary job was explaining to people what a mutual fund was.

Over the years, his focus has shifted from products to relationships — understanding his clients, gaining their trust and providing advice. It is a role he has had to learn largely on his own.

“Everybody responds differently,” he says. “The key is to understand your client and what makes him or her tick. We try to put the current situation and events into historical perspective.”

He has learned, for example, that money is an emotional issue, so connecting with clients often requires more empathy than information. “Our industry is geared very much toward technical training and knowledge,” Williams says. “Regulators want boxes checked. I doubt any of them have ever sat down across from a client whose husband has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and undergone a change in personality.”

Understanding life’s realities is critical to building and maintaining successful relationships, he says, and anticipating what clients will need in the coming years. For example, Williams notes, with many older couples, the husband has traditionally made the financial decisions and tended to the money matters. Yet women have a longer life expectancy than men, so older married women need to be prepared for the likelihood that they will be left in charge of their own finances.

Williams deals with these and other personal situations on a regular basis. His diverse client base includes individuals, families and businesses — roughly 200 families, each with an average of $400,000 in financial assets. And beyond the numbers, Williams prides himself on shunning the big-city attitudes.

“Most companies in this industry are centred in Toronto,” Williams says. “I can assure you that the way somebody practises in Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary is not the same as it is in Halifax, let alone Kentville.”

One big difference, he says: “There is no expectation among clients that I have a BlackBerry and be available 24/7.”

Born in Ottawa, Williams, 45, is a graduate of the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont. He joined the Air Force in 1982 and spent four years as a navigator, flying on the Aurora maritime patrol aircraft, with 415 Squadron. When his stint with the Air Force ended in 1991, he left the military and began studying for his certified financial planner designation, which he obtained in 1992. More recently, in 2000, Williams was elected to the board of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada, a position he held for three years.

Williams was working as an independent advisor in the early 1990s while his wife, Lisa, was developing her own financial planning career at Hicks Financial Solutions. She co-managed the client base with founder Henry Hicks and became Hicks’s partner until he retired in 2002. The owner sold his shares to a eight people, including Lisa and Jamie.

@page_break@The firm hired a chief operating officer in the late 1990s to assume day-to-day responsibility for running the company while the advisors were occupied with managing their client relationships. The group decided to sell the firm to IPC in 1999.

Today, the Williams’ business consists of advisors Jamie and Lisa Williams, three administrators (two of whom are licensed to sell securities) and advisor Pat Flemming, who has taken over responsibility for 20% of the book. “He’s part of our succession plan,” says Jamie Williams, explaining that there is a legal agreement in place to move more and more of the business to Flemming over time.

The team maintains clients’ trust through tried-and-true measures such as sending birthday and anniversary cards to clients. Williams hosts frequent client appreciation events, including a recent dinner and wine tasting at nearby Grand Pré Wines.

“You can never say, ‘Thank you’ enough in this business,” says Williams. “We have to remember this is a long-term position of trust.”

To ensure the business stays on track, the Williamses formed a client advisory board five years ago, consisting of 10 of their most influential clients. “We brought them together to show us how to improve service,” Williams says. “We use them as a sounding board and try to leverage their expertise and knowledge. It’s been very critical to the direction we’ve taken.”

The team is a united front for clients. “Most of what we do, we try to do together,” he says “You quickly learn you can’t do it all yourself and have a life.” For Williams, the “we” is essential. He considers, and runs, his business as a team. In fact, “The Williams Team” is a registered trademark the company uses as a tag line.

Although the team approach provides clients with easy access, a friendly face and a sympathetic ear, it also enables the Williamses to take the occasional break, if only for a few days. “We’ve never had a phone call when we were away,” he notes, “and we’ve never had anything explode when we’re out of the office.”

To de-stress, Williams makes an annual trek to Newfoundland in search of the all too elusive Atlantic salmon. He also golfs, cycles and gardens. Relaxing also means unwinding at the cottage along Nova Scotia’s famous Bay of Fundy. IE