Financial advisors are increasingly being distinguished more by the wealth of the clients they serve than by the products and services they provide.

That’s evident in a close reading of Investment Executive’s 2008 Report Cards, which show that advisors from across all channels — securities, mutual funds, banking and insurance — are happiest when they’re receiving support from their dealers and employers so they can provide a broad range of financial planning, tax planning and estate planning services to their clients. And it is clear the firms are stepping up and adding services to meet those needs.

“It’s what advisors are telling us they need to retain their clients and build their businesses,” says David Agnew, national director of Toronto-based RBC Dominion Securities Inc.

The catalyst for all of this is the aging of the baby boomers. As the first of the post-Second World War babies reach retirement, they are increasingly anxious about preserving the capital they have earned and passing it on to the next generation. No longer is advisory service just about wealth accumulation; increasingly, it is about wealth management.

Advisors and their firms, therefore, cite a few reasons for providing full-service offerings to their clients. First, their oldest and, often, best clients are demanding it. Second, it’s good business: the wealthiest clients are generally going to want access to sophisticated estate and tax planning that usually involves insurance products. Third, insurance revenue and professional services can diversify an advisor’s income in tough times.

A firm that illustrates the importance of high-end tax and insurance planning is Toronto-based PPI Financial Group Inc., a specialized managing general agent. Although PPI doesn’t offer mutual funds, the MGA has worked with tax lawyers and accountants to open up options to the wealthy. “For us to provide liquidity around $100 million to $150 million in an estate is something that was never thought of 20 years ago,” says Jim Burton, PPI’s chairman and CEO. “It’s a huge market, and it’s growing.”

Executives at many firms in the traditional channels acknowledge that broad-based financial planning support, including insurance, estate and tax planning, is becoming the norm. About 80% of advisors at the investment dealers surveyed are insurance-licensed, and insurance support has gained in prominence. At the planning firms, insurance has long been part of the mix; more than 80% of those advi-sors are licensed to sell insurance.

“Without insurance, I’m not sure how you can really fulfil a client’s requirements for full financial planning,” says Kevin Regan, executive vice president of financial services with Winnipeg-based Investors Group Inc. “And that is our goal.”

At the six bank-owned brokerages, for example, there are about 150 insurance specialists available to step in to help advisors. On average, one specialist serves about 30 advisors.

At the mutual fund and full-service dealers, another handful of specialists serve advisors’ accounts. Toronto-based Assante Corp., for example, offers advisors national account services for insurance through six service specialists.

To some extent, however, the banks remain in their collective silo. Insurance support within the nationally regulated banks suffers because the federal Bank Act prevents the banks from selling insurance products to clients.

The banks do what they can to offer insurance on the credit products they offer, such as mortgages and credit cards; Mississauga, Ont.-based RBC Life Insurance Co.has gone so far to open several branches adjacent to its parent’s bank branches to give the impression, at least, of seamless service.

Conversely, in just a few short years, virtually every well-capitalized fund dealer with an aim to grow has either added or considered adding an investment-dealer platform to please advisors who want to attract clients who desire access to individual securities and new stock issues.

This move toward full service is also visible in the list of recent major acquisitions. CI Financial Income Fund, itself 30%-owned by Toronto-based life insurer Sun Life Financial Inc. , has acquired Toronto-based brokerage Blackmont Capital Inc. Similarly, Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corp., has acquired Berkshire-TWC Financial Group Inc.’s mutual fund and securities dealership.

And if dealers do not have the wherewithal to provide the support services themselves, they are happy to facilitate clients’ relationships with mutual fund manufacturers that offer trust and estate services to well-heeled clients. The fund companies also extend advisory services to top-end advisors.

@page_break@“It took several fund companies to build this, and they offer it at no charge to the advisor,” says Mark Kent, president of Calgary-based Portfolio Strategies Corp., which added a securities dealer to its fund-dealer platform this year. “It’s really up to the individual advisor to network with someone with whom he or she is comfortable.”

That’s an important point, because providing support services for advisors — most of whom cling to their entrepreneurial instincts — is a tough line to walk, says Charlie Spiring, chairman and CEO of Winnipeg-based Wellington West Capital Inc. He notes that firms want to make the services available, but can’t force advisors to funnel all their business through their firm. “We’ll show brokers the opportunity of how to improve their book,” he says, “and why it’s good.” IE