Dealer advisors appreciate proactive branch and regional managers who are supportive and understand their businesses, according to the 2024 Dealers’ Report Card.
In this year’s Report Card, the “branch manager” category maintained an importance average of 8.8, the rating it held in 2023. This category also remained on the list of the 10 best-performing areas out of all 25 (rated 8.5 on average, similar to 8.6 a year ago).
IG Wealth Management and Investia Financial Services Inc. both received ratings in the category that improved significantly (by at least half a point) compared with last year’s ratings. Advisors with IG Wealth rated their branch managers 9.0, up from 8.4, while Investia’s managers were rated 8.4, up from 7.9.
Several advisors with IG Wealth said their branch managers were very responsive, making themselves available to advisors who requested help. One IG Wealth advisor in Ontario described their manager as “very forward-thinking,” adding, “[They] tailor help to [the] person they are working with.”
An IG Wealth advisor in Alberta said, “My branch manager is very honest and [they’ve] got your back.”
Advisors with Investia appreciated that their branch managers keep them informed and in line. “[They] aggravate us some days, but it’s important,” said an Investia advisor in British Columbia.
Generally, advisors were happiest when their managers understood how they worked.
An IG Wealth advisor in Ontario said their branch manager “knows the answer to every question without having to look it up.” An Investia advisor in Ontario said the advisor/manager relationship depends on “a certain level of trust [that] I would expect of my branch manager. [If] we keep getting doubted, it’s a frustrating relationship.”
Some advisors with firms that saw a significant year-over-year drop in the branch manager category said their managers were inaccessible or were not fulfilling their function.
Branch managers with CI Assante Wealth Management received a rating of 7.7, down from 8.7 last year. Managers with Manulife Wealth Inc. (formerly Manulife Securities) received a 7.3, down from 7.8. At Portfolio Strategies Corp., the rating was 8.0, down from 8.6.
Sean Carswell, senior vice-president of client experience with CI Assante, said the dealer has different types of managers. The first are managers in the branch, whose main role is to “support our advisors from a risk perspective; [to] make sure that they’re running clean books,” he said. Then there’s the field support team, which comprises relationship and business development managers, as well as operational leaders at larger branches who focus on areas such as recruiting.
One advisor with CI Assante in Atlantic Canada felt their branch manager was sidelined by operational priorities. Carswell said advisors may feel that way when they’re unsure of their manager’s different roles. For example, Carswell has seen some compliance managers go outside their role and try to solve advisors’ operational or business challenges, perhaps leading to confusion.
Still, other advisors with CI Assante praised their branch managers for being accessible, responsive and supportive.
At Manulife Wealth, one advisor in B.C. said their branch manager wasn’t proactive, adding, “[They] don’t try to help or support you or your business in any way.”
Richard McIntyre, president and CEO of Manulife Wealth, said the dealer has focused on its new back-office technology from Fidelity Clearing Canada over the past year: “[It’s] very hard to think about growth and development when you’re trying to bring in a new platform, and that’s taken the vast majority of people’s time and energy.”
As that challenge dissipates, McIntyre added, the focus will turn to ways managers and leaders can help advisors improve the client experience. The dealer has an advisory council and several advisor working groups, McIntyre added.
Another sore spot for advisors was that branch managers could be replaced too often. For example, some advisors with Portfolio Strategies admitted they didn’t know who their branch manager was.
Mark Kent, president and CEO of Portfolio Strategies, acknowledged that departures and retirements can create difficulties for advisors. Kent said the company’s branch managers and salaried compliance staff have the goal of helping advisors process trades and do their jobs efficiently.
When a well-liked, longtime manager leaves, Kent said, advisors must “get used to a new personality that might do things a little differently. But it’s not confrontational. It’s just the way of the business.”
What’s key is that advisors — and managers — understand the roles they’re meant to play. Branch and regional leaders must “get good direction from corporate [so they’re not] left to make it up as they go,” said a Manulife Wealth advisor in Alberta. They should “help business flow” rather than push advisors to “fit in a box.”
This article appears in the September issue of Investment Executive. Subscribe to the print edition, read the digital edition or read the articles online.