To many who live in the Edmonton area, Angus Watt is both a familiar face and a familiar voice. The managing director of individual investor services with National Bank Financial Ltd. in Edmonton has a strong presence in the local media, delivering numerous market updates each week on local television and radio stations.
But while Watt is a singular media personality, his financial advisory practice, Angus Watt Advisory Group, is very much a team effort.
The team, which manages $500 million in assets for 800 households, handles both insurance and investment services. Watt works with two other partners on the insurance side, Jane Alm and Jan Frederickson; and with partner Geoff Cook on the investment side. Each partner owns a stake in the business. (Watt owns 88% of the investment book and 50% of the insurance business.) There are eight support staff on the team.
Watt recently changed the name of the firm from Angus Watt Team, in an effort to emphasize that the firm is a group of partners who each have a stake in the business.
Although Watt has achieved remarkable success as a financial advisor, his ambitions did not always lie in financial services.
While growing up in the 1960s, Watt hoped to become a lawyer. But while taking a law class during his fourth year at York University in Toronto, he changed his mind.
“We had to argue that black was white and white was black,” he says. “I thought, ‘I can’t do this for the rest of my life’.”
Shortly after graduating in 1974, Watt joined a training program for investment advisors at McLeod Young Weir (a predecessor of ScotiaMcLeod Inc.) in Toronto. After working as an advisor for one year, Watt was transferred to Edmonton to develop his own practice.
”ANYTHING THAT MOVED”
“Like most rookies, I went after anything that moved,” Watt says. One of the first accounts he landed was that of the late Charles Alexander Allard (1919-1991), a well-known entrepreneur in Edmonton with stakes in oil and gas, broadcasting and real estate companies. That set the trend for Watt to continue going after high net-worth clients.
In November of 1982, Watt moved his practice to Lévesque Beaubien, a brokerage firm headquartered in Montreal that was acquired by National Bank of Canada in 1988.
Watt began building his current team when he added Alm and Fredrickson as investment advi-sors in 1999. Eventually, they both began acquiring ownership stakes in the business.
As Watt’s business grew over the years, he grew to understand the importance of his team. In 2005, after the firm reached $250 million in assets under management, the team redrafted its business plan to declare remaining a team as the No. 1 priority.
“Once we got bigger, we had to remind ourselves that we are a team and that’s what has allowed us to be successful,” Watt says. “It’s like a marriage; you really need to make that commitment to stay together, because there are going to be ups and downs.”
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Angus Watt, an advisor and managing director of Angus Watt Advisory Group at National Bank Financial in Edmonton, describes the motivation, benefits and costs for a full-service branding change that his team undertook recently. WATCH
@page_break@When disagreements do arise within the team, the members resolve them by giving the clients’ interests top priority and keeping the lines of communication open.
“The client’s goodwill comes first,” Watt says. “The team’s goodwill comes second.”
Any conflicts related to the practice are resolved at the team’s all-important monthly meetings, where everyone has an opportunity to speak.
“As you get bigger, there are more people away and out seeing clients,” Watt says. “It becomes easier to postpone that monthly meeting.” But all teams must find a way to schedule their strategy sessions, he says: “Like in a marriage, if you don’t make time for each other, then you lose some of the magic in the commitment.”
GROUP BENEFITS
One of the strategies that set Watt’s practice apart from the competition is the development of its group benefits business. Launched in 2002, this business has $28 million in annual premiums and, Watt says, it continues to grow.
The initial strategy was to offer low-cost coverage, but it turned out that clients were looking for more than price. “Clients wanted more services with their product offering,” Watt says, “such as communication and education.”
Demographics have played a key role in driving the demand for group benefits, according to Watt: “Clients are getting older. Everything is about risk and, as you turn 50, you start to become risk-adverse and risk-aware.”
Indeed, Watt understand’s today’s clients, and he knows how to reach them. Currently, Watt appears on TV and radio stations in Edmonton, particularly on the Global Television network and on radio station CHED, presenting no fewer than 62 on-air market updates every week. “Six out of 10 investors [in Edmonton],” he says, “know Angus Watt.”
ATTRACTING TALENT
That profile also helps Watt’s group to attract talent. University graduates interested in breaking into the financial services industry often approach the group.
Watt acknowledges that hiring new graduates is essential to ensuring the longevity and growth of the team.
The group applies a rigorous process for selecting candidates, which can take up to four weeks. “When you are putting together a team or group,” Watt says, “you need to be sure people are going to fit in, or else you risk becoming a training program.”
New advisors usually participate in a team-mentoring program. For example, the team recently brought in a graduate from the University of Alberta who plans to become a financial advisor. She will be working “hand in hand” with Frederickson, one of the team’s most senior advisors. New advisors are also invited to participate in team-building events, such as bowling outings, to help them feel more integrated into the culture.
In addition to Watt’s business activities, he is well known for his extensive community involvement. Watt chairs the Alberta Order of Excellence Council, a government-run organization that recognizes citizens who have made significant contributions to the province. He is a director of the Edmonton Police Foundation and also serves as an advisor to the Canadian Cancer Society, the Hearing Foundation of Canada and Little Warriors, an organization focused on the prevention of sexual abuse of children. He is also Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a group that honours the Canadian troops who helped liberate the Netherlands at the end of the Second World War.
But he couldn’t do it alone. “I am a very active player in my community,” Watt says, “and I need the support of my partners and team to do this. When you are only focused on producing, there’s no time to help your community.” IE