Recently, I co-chaired this year’s Top Advisor Summit conference in Toronto with Tracy LeMay, editor of Investment Executive.
Afterward, I chatted with some of the financial advisors in attendance about their takeaways from the 15 speakers who shared their ideas and success stories. Here are some of the messages that especially resonated with summit attendees.
> The Impact Of The Meltdown
The day started with Price Powell, whose firm, Corporate Insights Inc., has collected data from more than 50,000 Canadian investors on behalf of banks, investment dealers, private banking operations and financial planning firms. He talked about the way the market meltdown had affected clients in the following ways:
> investors who say portfolio performance was below expectations rose to 59% from 25%;
> Canadians who are “very satisfied” with service they receive from advisors dropped to 38% from 53%;
> complaints about insufficient contact by advisors have risen to 27% from 21%;
> investors who had stated they were dissatisfied in the past year rose to 23% from 16%.
These changes should not be a surprise. Some advisors were pleasantly surprised that measures such as stated dissatisfaction didn’t increase by more than they did.
> Share-Of-Wallet Drivers
Powell also talked about the proportion of client assets that advisors hold. It ranges from more than 80% among small clients to 40% among those with large portfolios.
For many advisors, the best opportunity to increase assets lies among existing clients. The good news is that Powell’s firm has identified eight share-of-wallet drivers that can increase an advisor’s portion of client assets. If none of these is in place, share of assets is less than 25%; if advisors are delivering on all eight, their share of assets is more than 80%.
No. 1 on this list of share-of-wallet drivers is having a written financial plan in place. Other drivers include having written service agreements and providing a broader range of advice on such wealth-management issues as insurance, estate planning, tax planning, trusts, saving for education expenses and charitable giving.
> Investing Effort
Powell talked about defining traits among the top advisors he has worked with. One was concentrating on top clients (or “going where the money is”). A second trait related to focus; a third, on their general work ethic.
You have to work smart to be successful. But no matter how smart you work, investing effort that goes “above and beyond” is still a prerequisite for success.
With the assistance of a substantial team, Angus Watt of National Bank Financial Ltd. in Edmonton manages $500 million in assets. One of the keys to his success is that he invests a remarkable amount of time in community leadership and presence. I don’t know another advisor who has taken on more high-profile roles in his community. In addition, Watt does 62 weekly investment updates on local TV and radio stations.
Sandra Pierce, with Macquarie Private Wealth Inc. in Toronto, is making good strides in tapping into high net-worth professional women. One key to her success is that she spends eight hours a week researching prospective candidates for her services.
> Focusing On Key Opportunities
Targeting and focus were a common theme among the speakers on the “getting clients” panel.
Bill Moffatt of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. in Halifax concentrates on successful entrepreneurs who will need help in selling their businesses. Working with partners at well-known accounting and law firms, he invites business owners to half-day workshops at a high-end resort.
And Laura Curtis Ferrera, who runs marketing activities for Macquarie Private Wealth, talked about her experience in helping advisors such as Pierce hone their brand identities. The starting point is to focus on a micro-niche that you can dominate and for which you can become the go-to advisor.
All of the panelists who spoke about acquiring clients addressed the critical role of patience when it comes to bringing new clients on board. Both Moffatt and Pierce talked about the substantial up-front time and effort required to get in front of prospective clients. And Jason Stalker of Worldsource Financial Management Inc.in Winnipeg talked about low-key cultivation of prospects for extended periods.
• Top Advisor Summit: Three-coach panel on how to build your business
George Hartman, owner of Market Logics Inc., Julie Littlechild, owner of Advisor Impact Inc., each of Toronto, and Art Schooley, owner of the Personal Coach Inc. in Waterloo, Ont. discuss team and business building ideas. WATCH
@page_break@> Innovations In Client Communication
Effort, discipline and innovation weren’t limited to gaining new clients.
In the “keeping clients” panel, Alan Rae of RBC Dominion Securities Inc. in Vancouver explained how he sends clients short video messages to supplement his other forms of communication. These videos have ranged from birthday greetings to market updates and educational videos on such issues as tax-free savings accounts. These videos stand out because Rae uses a new medium few advisors have embraced.
On the subject of new methods for communication, James Pelmore of DundeeWealth Inc. in Vancouver discussed the upcoming role of social media. His key advice was to start learning about social media now, as an observer, before embarking on a major initiative.
> The Role Of Relationships
Having talked about the changes in how business is done, many of the speakers at the summit also discussed the one thing that hasn’t changed: the critical role of relationships with clients.
Julian Wise of Wise Advisory Group Inc. in Oakville, Ont., shared his personal experiences in a thought-provoking talk on how to respond when a client loses a family member.
A recurring theme among many of the other advisors on the podium related to the things they do to deepen relationships with clients. Powell’s kickoff talk reminded advi-sors of the impact of effective communication. When portfolio performance meets or exceeds expectations, 60% of clients are very satisfied with their advisors. Among clients who feel they receive enough contact from their advisors but say portfolio performance is below expectations, the proportion saying they’re very satisfied drops, but only to 51%.
The killer is: when clients aren’t satisfied with either performance or contact, those saying they’re very satisfied plummets to only 14%.
> Managing Your Team For Success
The final panel for the day related to the importance of team management in executing any plan.
Andy Martin and Ty Cooke of Wellington West Capital Inc. in Oakville discussed the 10 lessons they’ve learned about running a successful team. Key among those are the importance of sharing a common vision and making internal communication a priority.
Robin Kingsmill of BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. in Mississauga, Ont., began by sharing a key insight about successful advisors. She says that in her experience, successful advisors are “hard-driving, goal-oriented and bring a strong work ethic. And they can’t understand why everyone else doesn’t operate the same way.”
She went on to describe a process that had helped her appreciate the contributions from her team. Every Monday, they have a short meeting in which each member talks about three key goals for the coming week, and point to one accomplishment from the past week they feel good about.
> Translating Intention Into Action
Throughout the summit, advisors in the audience were asked to write down key ideas from the advisors they’d just listened to and to identify the highest-priority initiatives that the listeners thought would have the biggest impact on their business. Then, at the conclusion of the day, attendees were challenged to put together their “top five” list of ideas and rank these from one to five.
There are two benefits to events like the Top Advisor Summit.
One is the opportunity to hear successful advisors discuss what’s working for them today and to exchange leading-edge ideas with other advisors.
But getting ideas is only the starting point. To get a return on the investment of time, money and energy needed to attend any conference, you need to focus on a small number of the highest-impact ideas and make the commitment to implement those ideas in your practice.
IE