In early April, I co-hosted the one-day Top Advisor Summit conference in Toronto with Tessa Wilmott, editor-in-chief of Investment Executive. Over the course of the day, 150 advisors from across Canada heard from 12 speakers, including 10 top-performing advisors.

These advisors came from various firms, backgrounds and tenures in the business; their practices featured a wide range of business models. But even though the speakers approached issues from different viewpoints, five recurring themes rang through their presentations. (For videos of the 10 advisors, go to IE:TV on www.investmentexecutive.com. )



> Dealing With Clients’ Entire Situations

At the first Top Advisor Summit in June 2008, the need to take a “whole wealth” approach to clients’ finances was a common message. At this year’s summit, that theme came through again — even more clearly.

Taking a whole-wealth approach is one of those happy cases in which the interests of advisors and the clients they serve are aligned. For clients, focusing on investment issues often addresses only a portion of their financial priorities — and in some cases, that portion can be very small indeed.

For instance, investments are often quite far down the list for business owners. Shelley Nesbitt, an advisor with RBC Dominion Securities Inc. in Toronto who focuses her practice on successful business owners, described these clients’ priorities as revolving around their businesses — what the business is worth, how to protect its value and how to monetize that value, either through sale or transfer to children or other family members. Other priorities are tax minimization and estate planning. (See page B5.)

Jason Webster, an advisor with TD Water-house Private Investment Advice in London, Ont., talked about positioning himself as a “financial steward” dealing with the entire range of clients’ financial issues. He discussed the impact this approach has on the way he talks to prospective clients. (See page B4.)

Rick Claydon, with Stonehaven Private Counsel LP, has built strong referral relationships with mid-sized accounting firms. When first talking to accountants, he makes a point of talking about “risk management” as a central part of what he does. (See page B4.)

The conclusion is very simple. Many clients benefit from advisors who take a whole-wealth approach. But there are big advantages for advisors, too.

By taking a whole-wealth approach, you add substantial value to your relationships with your clients. You build deeper relationships and increase the chances that you are your clients’ primary or perhaps only advi-sor, thereby insulating yourself from competition and possible pricing pressure.

And when clients are happier, you’ll feel better about the work you do and increase your chances of getting referrals.

You’ll also appeal to many prospects and differentiate yourself in the marketplace.

And last, but certainly not least, when markets misbehave, as they have in the past year, the pain is much less than if your sole role was providing investment advice.

So, the first lesson many summit attendees took away with them was the advantage of taking a whole-wealth approach.



> The Central Role Of A Financial Plan

Several of the speakers talked about the critical importance of a financial plan. One was Wayne Kemick, senior vice president and wealth advisor with BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. in Waterloo, Ont. As Kemick put it: “He who owns the plan owns the client.”

Kemick is so committed to financial planning as part of his process that he won’t take on a client if the client isn’t prepared to go through the planning process. Furthermore, Kemick develops a plan not only for clients but also for prospects, at no cost or obligation. When asked in the question period whether it wasn’t costly to do this if a prospect didn’t sign on, he responded that it so seldom happens that a prospect for whom he’s prepared a plan doesn’t sign on that it’s a non-issue. (See page B9).

A number of the speakers talked about the positive impact of having a written plan in place when trying to maintain peace of mind for clients during periods of market turmoil such as we’ve seen of late. Having a plan means being able to show clients that things are not as dire as they fear and that they’re still OK.

One challenge to all the communication that clients receive is that many find all the paperwork daunting. Joanne Livingston, an advisor with Richardson Partners Financial Ltd. in Ottawa, talked about a one-page template she has developed to summarize where clients stand in terms of year-by-year needs vs projected income, which she can update easily and review with clients on a regular basis. (See page B8.)

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> The Importance Of Listening

Another recurring theme at the summit was how important it is to get anxious clients to open up about how they feel, and to ensure that they feel you have listened to them. A number of the advisors on the dais described how they engaged clients at the outset of meetings.

Herb McFaull, an advisor with Manulife Securities Investment Services Inc. in Saskatoon, talked about a conversation with his brother, a psychologist and sociologist, who counselled McFaull not to tell clients that they shouldn’t worry. When clients are bombarded by negative headlines, it’s natural that they should be concerned. To build a bond of trust, advisors need to hear out those concerns and tell clients that they’re not alone and that their concerns are understandable — and then bring context and perspective to the situation. (See page B8.)

Sometimes listening happens informally in a one-on-one meeting or phone call; other times it is more structured. Two teams — Paul Bourbonniere and Susan Desjardins with DundeeWealth Inc. in Toronto, and Reg Jackson and Paul Manders with National Bank Financial Ltd. in London, Ont. — addressed that subject.

Both teams have implemented formal client advisory boards as a way to get client feedback. Members of both teams described how valuable these CABs were in helping them wrestle with some important issues in their businesses. They spoke about how the participants on those boards had become more engaged and more active as referral sources. (See pages B4 and B10.)



> The Power Of Focus

“Focus” is one of those overused words in our business. Truth be told, many advisors have their productivity watered down by a lack of focus. Too many advisors are without a consistent routine and lack the discipline to make the tough decisions about where to spend their time and energy.

All the speakers at the summit have achieved considerable success — and listening to them reinforced the importance of bringing focus to your business. Bourbonniere talked about the impact of bringing a full-time vice president of operations on board so that he and his partner could concentrate on building their retirement planning practice. Jackson and Manders described the many hours invested in creating a comprehensive “owner’s manual” that every client receives, which is also a powerful tool in talking to prospective clients.

Nesbitt and Claydon described their focus on business owners and some of the positive implications of this decision on their ability to serve those clients extraordinarily well.



> The Little Things That Matter

In markets such as we are experiencing now, when dealing with clients it’s easy to forget the small, personal touches. These can range from remembering birthdays to inquiring about a client’s grandchildren. And yet, remarkably often, it’s not the big things that clients notice and remember; it’s the little things.

Livingston talked about buying $5 Starbucks cards with her name on them — and looking for opportunities to send them out to clients with a thank-you note. She described the positive responses she received to these cards, well beyond what a $5 investment merited.

Claydon talked about assuring clients in January that he would send their accountants an electronic copy of their tax slip — again, a little thing that makes a big difference.



> A Final Lesson

All of the attendees at this year’s Top Advisor Summit emerged with one final lesson: the only way to get a return on the time and money they had invested in the summit was to take a few of the ideas they’d heard and put them into practice. Every attendee walked away with an action plan in which he or she had identified the three highest-impact ideas they’d heard and strategies to implement those ideas.

Everyone at this year’s summit left with different ideas for their businesses. What they shared was a commitment to bring change to their businesses and genuine enthusiasm about turning those ideas into action. IE



Dan Richards is president of Strategic Imperatives Corp. in Toronto. For other columns and to access Dan’s blog, go to www.investmentexecutive.com.