With almost every mutual fund dealer looking for experienced advisors, there seems to be little room for rookies.
FundEx Investments Inc., Investment Planning Counsel and Assante Corp. are all courting seasoned advisors — and their sizable books. FundEx wants to add 50 planners to its existing roster of 460 licensed reps — and the inexperienced need not apply. “This is not a place to be spoon-fed,” says one FundEx advisor in Ontario.
Adds David Vowles, president and CEO of Markham, Ont.-based FundEx: “A planner needs to have a $12-million book of business in order for it to make financial sense to come here.”
Recruitment is also in swing at IPC. “We have four active recruiters and a three-member transition team,” says Chris Reynolds, president of the 550-advisor firm based in Mississauga, Ont. That team helped reel in $400 million in new advisor assets last year. Another $250 million came over this past month. “[IPC is] constantly growing, as promised,” says an IPC planner from the West.
Assante is also throwing its hat into the recruitment ring. “We are starting to grow the company aggressively,” says Joe Canavan, Toronto-based Assante’s chairman and CEO. Although Canavan won’t divulge the number of planners the firm wants to add to its existing 755-rep roster, he is clear about what Assante is looking for: “We will not recruit advisors with less than $20 million in assets.”
Assante’s sister company, IQON Financial Inc., is one of the few firms that aren’t on the prowl. “We’re focusing on our existing advisor base right now,” says Jan Sampson, COO of the 340-rep company, which is based in Winnipeg. IQON was acquired by CI Fund Management Inc. in April 2004.
Recruitment is also a lower-key activity at Manulife Securities International Ltd.
Although the Waterloo, Ont.-based firm “is always looking for quality planners,” says Greg Gray, president and CEO, “we may not go out and aggressively campaign for them.
We have a number of people calling us.”
PFSL Investments Canada Ltd. relies on referrals as a source of new planners.
“Ninety per cent of our new salespeople come from referrals,” says Jeff Dumanski, executive vice president of marketing at the Mississauga, Ont.-based firm.
Worldsource Financial Management Inc. takes a novel approach to recruitment. The Markham, Ont.-based firm targets entire branches. “We’ve been fairly successful in attracting new branches to the network this year,” says chairman Gwyer Moore. “We added $800 million in assets this past year, and we’re looking at adding $1 billion this year.”
With so many firms wooing veteran planners, what should companies offer to stand out? After a year of restructuring, Assante is selling its staying power. “We’re looking for advisors who want to make us their last trade,” says Canavan. “We have a platform that has been built to last.” (At least one West Coast Assante planner agrees that the firm is here to stay: “Our stability has definitely changed for the better now that CI owns the firm.”)
Unionville, Ont.-based W.H. Stuart & Associates, FundEx and Peak Investment Services Inc. tout total independence. “Their book of business is theirs,” says Dino DeRosa, W.H. Stuart’s chief compliance officer. “Everyone says they are
independent,” says FundEx’s Vowles, “but
we really are.” Peak has a similar credo.
“Our planners have full independence,” says president and CEO Robert Frances.
IPC and Regina-based Partners in Planning Financial Services Ltd. talk profit to interested parties. “We’ve done case studies that prove that, on average, our advisors increase their [annual] gross revenue by 28% and reduce operating costs by $6,800 by doing business with us,” says IPC’s Reynolds. “Reps with significant-sized books want to own a piece of it,” says PIP CEO Michael Wolfond. “They’ll receive that here.” (It’s a strategy that seems to be working. “PIP is as good as it gets in the MFDA world,” says an Alberta advisor.)
Several firms continue to sell support. Scott Sinclair, president and CEO of AEGON Dealer Services Canada Inc. and Money Concepts Canada in Toronto, calls Money Concept’s “integrated support” its biggest perk: “It’s the branding, the marketing, the training, the conferences.”
Kevin Regan, executive vice president of financial services at Winnipeg-based Investors Group Inc., says comprehensive training, ranging from prepackaged self-learning to regional conferences, is old hat at the firm. “It isn’t about coming here to get a base payout and then you’re on your own,” he says. “We have training covered.”