Lorne Harper has been in his role as president and CEO of Toronto-based HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc. for less than six months, but he is already focused on building brand awareness across the country and bringing the global aspect of the firm’s parent, London-based HSBC Holdings PLC, to Canadian clients.

And, of course, Harper would like to see the Canadian investment dealer continue growing at the pace established in the past few years.

Since Harper joined HSBC Securities in October 2004 as executive vice president and national director, the dealer has experienced considerable growth, especially in its retail client area. Both assets under administration and revenue have climbed significantly in those years, with annual increases averaging 20%. “That is a phenomenal result over that period of time,” Harper says. “It will continue to be our focus.”

As for exposing Canadians to the parent firm, that process is already underway. With offices in 83 countries, London-based HSBC Bank PLC is the largest bank in Hong Kong and throughout Europe. With the brand being so widely recognized, Harper knows increased branding in Canada can be beneficial for new business growth. Just recently, Vancouver-based HSBC Bank Canada launched one of its most extensive advertising campaigns; 86 gates and 91 airplane ramps at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport will bear HSBC logos.

“It is a powerful brand initiative that we have undertaken,” Harper says. “Globally, the brand is huge. So, a lot of new immigrants entering the country are going to recognize [the HSBC brand] right away.”

With 255,000 new immigrants landing in Canada each year — and a strong likelihood that they have dealt with HSBC in the past — the airport advertising campaign is going to be one of the bank’s, and the brokerage firm’s, strongest campaigns to capture that new wealth, he says.

Harper, who moved to his new role on Jan. 1, has already seen initiatives that he and former president and CEO Simon Edwards put in place come to fruition. (Edwards has since retired to New Zealand.) The dealer has placed a stronger focus on shifting its advisors toward a more fee-based business.

“We have had a tremendous amount of success in this direction,” Harper says. “It has allowed us to convert a lot of business to solid fee-based, with a better focus on money management. This is the direction in which we have wanted to go for a while and the advisors are more than on board with it.”

When it comes to attracting advisors, Harper has no intention of growing the company’s base of 150 advisors into massive numbers. The small size of the dealer within a large global company is one of the many perks the brokerage firm has to offer, he says: “It is a relatively small firm in the securities platform, in which everybody knows everybody. Anybody can pick up the phone and call me any time to talk. And at the same time, we work in the backdrop of this huge financial organization.”

When it comes to recruiting, HSBC Secu-rities’ goal is to find the best talent in the top quintile in the industry. It hires only 10 to 15 advisors a year. “We don’t recruit huge numbers, that is not our goal,” Harper says. “Our focus is really on obtaining good, quality people.”

Although HSBC Securities has spent the past five years focusing on bringing in more established advisors, the firm introduced a rookie program in 2007. The first program consisted of only eight newcomers, who spent three months in an initial training program that included branch interaction, online work and classroom sessions in Toronto. “So far, we have six out of our eight rookies left. So, I think we have been pretty successful,” Harper says. “It is a small number to begin with, but it is a number that is relative to our overall sales force.”

HSBC Securities wants to increase its sales force by 7%-8% a year. And, Harper says, the relationship that HSBC Securities has with HSBC Bank Canada is one of the strongest assets the dealer has to offer advisors. This relationship helps to differentiate HSBC Securities from other firms in the industry. About 65% of HSBC Securities’ clients are also clients of the sister bank.

“Our relationship with the bank is unparalleled to others,” he says. “I work extremely closely with our bank partners, creating a very strong relationship between the two businesses. It has created a referral flow both to and from the bank that is extremely strong and beneficial for all parties.”

@page_break@When it comes to product offerings, HSBC Securities advisors can gain access to products that clients may not be able to get elsewhere. “In the new-issues business,” Harper says, “we have a very strong global investment banking business that allows us to participate in a lot of new issues that never make their way to Canada. So, no other dealer in Canada would be offering them.”

HSBC Securities has also launched a new discretionary platform that has allowed more advisors to become portfolio managers and run discretionary programs. In addition, the firm is in the process of installing a new desktop portfolio-management system for the advisor discretionary program — HSBC Insignia, which is based on the Charles River Investment Management System developed by Boston-based Charles River Systems Inc. HSBC Securities will be one of the first Canadian dealers to have this program on its retail advisors’ desktops. “It is a tremendous initiative for us,” Harper says. “The program is absolutely world-class.”

Harper has more than 25 years’ experience in the investment industry, so it is surprising to learn he didn’t plan to end up here. He spent seven years with the RCMP, which he joined right after university. “I set a personal goal that within four years, I would be doing commercial crime,” he says. “When there were no openings, I decided to pursue other avenues.”

Being an investor and having a business degree from the University of Prince Edward Island led Harper into the financial services world. He got his first job at Midland Doherty Financial Corp. in Duncan, B.C., and then went on to work at Richardson Greenshields of Canada Ltd. Harper became head of the private-client division at Toronto-based RBC Dominion Securities Inc., which bought Richardson Greenshields. He joined HSBC Securities in 2004.

Outside the office, Harper loves to spend time with his daughter Julianne, 22, who lives in Victoria, collecting wine, playing golf and reading anything by Wilbur Smith.

Harper’s real passion, however, is travelling. He tries to take four personal trips a year. “I love Europe,” he says. “Italy is my favourite country, and Rome is my favourite city in the world.” IE