It wasn’t how she envisioned getting the job, but Sue Dabarno is excited to be the new president of Richardson Partners Financial Ltd.

The financial services veteran was promoted to the top position at the Winnipeg-based wealth-management company last month after Mike Miller, president and CEO since its inception two years ago, left the firm six months after taking a leave for personal reasons.

“It’s unfortunate that Mike isn’t with the firm anymore. But we are at $4 billion in assets under management in offices across the country,” she says, noting one-quarter of this total has come in since the spring.

After more than two decades at Canada Trust, Dabarno has held executive positions at Midland Walwyn Capital Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.’s operations on both sides of the border — she was president of its Canadian arm for almost two years — so she is not overwhelmed by the recent turn of events.

“I’m pretty comfortable in this role,” she says. “I was instrumental in hiring some of the management team and advisors.”

Sandy Riley, Richardson’s chairman, says the firm’s directors wanted to communicate the change in command prior to its annual convention, which was held in mid-September.
He says it had become apparent the reasons that caused Miller to take his leave wouldn’t allow him to continue with the firm he helped create.

“He’s left the company — that’s all we’re saying. It’s not appropriate to speculate on it because of the personal reasons,” Riley says. “I’m disappointed by the turn of events, and I wish Mike well in the years ahead. We felt it was important to let people know what the leadership structure would be, going forward.”

Riley says the changes are not big news inside the company because they merely reflect how it has been operating since the spring. He says its CEO duties will be shared by him, Dabarno in Toronto and J.P. Janson, who was promoted to executive vice president from director of its Eastern Canadian operations, in Montreal.

Dan Hallett, president of Windsor, Ont.-based Dan Hallett & Associates Inc. , agrees that Miller’s departure should have minimal impact on the company.

“You’re going to expect some turnover with any young company, even at the CEO level,” he says. “The main thing is it has competent leadership to take over and there is a team in place.”

Richardson specializes in serving families with “complicated financial requirements” and targets those with a minimum of $100,000 in investible assets. The bulk of its clients have between $1 million and $5 million to invest.

Riley recruited Miller for the top position at Richardson about two years ago. The pair had worked together at Investors Group Inc. in Winnipeg, of which Riley was president and CEO and Miller was executive vice president.

Dabarno says she will handle the firm’s day-to-day affairs and play a role in formulating
its client service strategy. But she’s adamant that a new person in the president’s chair does not mean the corporate vision will change.

“The Richardson family is building this business. Our vision is we should be able to build a very successful firm serving high net-worth clients across Canada with 150 advisors who manage more than $100 million each,” she says, noting there are about 44 partner-advisors currently on board. “We want seasoned advisors who have depth, knowledge and experience, and who use a money-management process that requires access to great investment managers and alternative products such as private equity and hedge funds.
The vision has not changed.”

She adds the company is reinforcing that vision with each new advisor who is recruited and each solution Richardson provides its clients.

Dabarno expects another $1 billion to come in over in the next six months, and says the firm’s goal of having $15 billion in AUM should be reached in the next three to five years.

“We expect to have a busy fall,” she says. “Sandy, J.P. and I are working at growing the business, developing client solutions and attracting new investment advisors.”

She says each of the firm’s new partners brings “nearly 100%” of the assets he or she managed at previous employers, most of which are the bank-owned brokerages. This is significantly above the industry average of about 80%.

And with an average book size of more than $100 million per advisor, Dabarno says, RIchardson has succeeded in growing its AUM.

@page_break@“The client retention has been incredible. It’s a testament to the relationship these advisors have with their clients. We have an incredible team when it comes to bringing in assets. All of us get involved, if need be, to assist clients with the transition,” she says.

In its 2005 Summer Brokerage Report, Toronto-based research firm Investor Economics Inc. confirms Dabarno’s first-place contention. It says there are nine full-service firms with above-average account sizes in Canada, and Richardson is the category leader. The other eight, in descending order, are: HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc., CIBC Wood Gundy, TD Waterhouse Private Investment Advice, ScotiaMcLeod Inc., BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc.; Wellington West Capital Inc., Odlum Brown Ltd. and ATB Securities Inc.

Investor Economics also found Richardson ranks 16th in Canada in terms of total assets under management but was the second fastest-growing of all firms from the end of March to the end of June 2005.

Dabarno says that, in addition to its strong stable of advisors, Richardson also has top-notch technology, operational and product-management teams.

“Those managers are as experienced in their fields as our advisors are,” she notes. “You cannot possibly build a firm focused on high net-worth clients without having access to specialists.”

Dabarno says that, as advisors use Richardson’s tools and products — a combination she calls “the Richardson Difference” — they see incredible organic growth in their businesses. One driver is the Pioneer Separately Managed Wrap Program, which makes up about one-tenth of the firm’s total AUM at $400 million.

“It’s the best-kept secret. Our wrap program is bigger than TD’s, HSBC’s and Wellington West’s,” she says, adding that the firm will launch its own hedge fund this fall.

Dabarno says her new duties mean she will be spending more time in Richardson’s
Winnipeg head office, but the bulk of her time will still be spent in Toronto.

RIchardson has offices in Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, and a suboffice in Sherbrooke, Que. Other cities on the firm’s radar include Ottawa and Halifax. IE