Waterloo, Ont.-based Sun Life Financial (Canada) Inc. has launched a new consumer web-based tool, Life Stage Planner, that could not only push investors to think of their overall financial situation but also provide them with the necessary information to get in touch with one of the firm’s financial advisors.

Life Stage Planner provides investors with things to consider, from a financial perspective, that are associated with their specific stage in life. This is done through a fun, interactive, user-friendly tool that is approachable for investors of all levels of investment knowledge, says Kevin Strain, senior vice president, individual insurance and investments, for Sun Life.

“We were finding that, more and more, Canadians were going online and looking for research that focused on financial planning,” says Strain. “They were trying to get a better understanding of their own financial condition. What we wanted to do was provide a tool that could help educate them and, in turn, they would be able to have a clearer conversation about their financial goals with an advisor.”

The idea for the online tool came about after the firm received feedback from existing clients indicating that they did not always know where to start when considering their financial options at various stages of their lives.

By clicking onto Life Stage Plan-ner, investors have access to more than 400 combinations of factors that create multiple life stages. Each scenario is customized for the client based on age, marital status, number of dependents and type of employment or business ownership.

The tool provides information through a range of situations, from the single bachelor at the beginner stage to the young family looking to build a portfolio to the boomer stage, as well as for the retiree.

“There are multiple layers that clients are able to tap into by answering questions that are on the website,” says Strain.

Once users have the final report, they will have a better understanding of what they should be focusing on financially. From there, they are able to take the information provided and decide if they want to discuss it with a financial advisor. (Users then can be matched up with an advisor through Sun Life’s online tool, Advisor Match.)

A 2009 consumer survey conducted by Sun Life found that 86% of Canadians who have access to professional advice said they feel they are making better financial decisions. And 67% of working Canadians who had an advisor believed their retirement will be as comfortable as they expected, compared with 57% without an advisor.

“Based on these findings, the concept we are hearing loud and clear is that Canadians feel more prepared with an advisor and that the advisor is helping them achieve lifetime financial security,” says Strain. “What we wanted was a way to grab those clients who are surfing the Internet looking for information on financial planning, educate them and then move them toward building an advisor relationship. Life Stage Planner provides a good starting point for that.”

Toronto-based Dynamic Funds Ltd., a division of DundeeWealth Inc., also sees the importance of financial planning through clients’ life stages. In May 2009, the firm launched Snapshots, an online resource centre that allows investors, along with their financial advisors, to access information on various life events.

Dundee first provides advisors with its PHUEL training workshop, which is designed to offer techniques on how to have better conversations with clients. One tip is that advisors should allow their clients to speak about 70% of the time during a meeting, as the advisor gathers more personal than financial information. This is a key step in helping advisors identify the life stage in which the client is in.

“If you are going to give someone advice, then you have to know their lives and have a full picture of their circumstances,” says Terri Williams, vice president of editorial services and production with DundeeWealth. “We teach advisors how to have great conversations with their clients and how to find out what is going on in their lives. Snapshots is the tool that will actually allow the advisor to respond to their clients’ needs.”

Marriage, divorce, death of a loved one, an ailing parent, home ownership, retirement, leaving a job, parenthood and selling a small business are some of the main life events that an advisor will have to discuss with clients, says Williams. This month, Dynamic will be launching its tenth life stage, which focuses on the disability of clients as well as of a child.

@page_break@Unlike Sun Life’s tool, Snapshots is available only to investors who already have financial advisors, or to prospects who may be meeting with a financial advisor for the first time. The program is not directly accessible to consumers browsing the World Wide Web. The online tool also provides advisors with the option of completing 20 hours of continuing education credits, with sections that cover each life event.

Training advisors for discussions on life events is a key point for Winnipeg-based Investors Group Inc. The firm not only provides training on life transitions in its initial training program but also conducts ongoing “link and learn” sessions, in which advisors can plug in via either email or telephone to participate on various session that look at different life events.

“Life transitions are important to focus on because it is the lifestyle changes that a client goes through that has the biggest impact on their financial plans,” says Jane Olshewski, manager of financial life planning with Investors Group.

The initial training provides advisors with solid knowledge in client discovery, which not only includes focusing on clients’ financial goals but also at which stage they are at in their life plan.

“We train our advisors always to ask clients what they are presently going through and to build that relationship with them,” says Olshewski. “We want [advisors] to make that conversation as frequently as possible because they want to make sure that the financial plan they put in place still applies to where the client is at today.”

In addition, Investors Group produces its own consumer reports that focus on various life events. Advisors are able to provide these printed reports to clients to help them understand what the financial implications can be.

“This consumer report really allows an advisor to open up and show a client the possibilities of where the discussion needs to go,” says Olshewski. “Then, the advi-sor can identify what issues of the life event need to be addressed in a client’s particular situation. In the end, the advisor has all the necessary tools to customize a financial plan that will meet his or her client’s expectations.” IE