Most financial advisors surveyed for this year’s Report Card series believe that having strong support services is vital to building their books of business. This especially holds true for those whose businesses are geared toward serving high net-worth clients.

“[Support services] give you a real advantage in the marketplace,” says an advisor in Ontario with Toronto-based PPI Financial Group Inc., a managing general agency that specializes in the high net-worth segment. PPI received strong marks from its advisors for the strength of its support services.

Although not all advisors surveyed for the 2009 Report Card series rated support services as critical — many preferred consulting with third-party providers or relying on their own expertise — the majority felt that having strong support services in-house helped them not only serve clients more completely but to cement relationships as well.

Advisors were asked to rate their firms’ in-house support services for high net-worth clients, wills and estate planning, tax planning, insurance planning and for developing a financial plan for clients.

Advisors at brokerage firms were also asked what their firms were doing, if anything, in terms of providing them with support for discretionary portfolio management, a growing area of interest for many brokerage advisors.

Of the 46 firms surveyed in the Report Card series, Toron-to-based boutique brokerage Richardson Partners Financial Ltd. shone. The firm, which specializes in serving wealthy clients, received or tied for the top score in support for tax planning, support for wills and estate planning, and support for high net-worth clients. Richardson Partners ranked second among all firms in the other three support categories.

“We have a fully trained team, the family wealth-planning team, who are dedicated to working with our advisors,” says Sue Dabarno, Richardson Partners’ president and CEO. “It’s a very important service to our advisors; it’s a core competency.”

To develop strength in support for discretionary portfolio management, Richardson Partners has also invested in MVest, a software system that helps advisors manage client accounts, Dabarno says — a move the firm’s advisors have noticed.

“Discretionary management and high net-worth support are the major reasons I’m here,” says a Richardson Partners advisor in British Columbia.

Toronto-based boutique brokerage GMP Private Client LP, which announced in July that it was merging with Richardson Partners, received the highest score among all firms for support for discretionary portfolio management and tied with Richardson Partners for first place for support for high net-worth clients. (GMP relies on an agreement with PPI to provide advisors with third-party support for tax, wills and estate, and insurance planning.)

It’s not surprising, then, that PPI also stood out for the strength of its support services. The firm finished in the top three among all firms in support for high net-worth clients and for tax, insurance, and wills and estate planning.

“[Support services] are a priority for PPI,” says Jim Burton, PPI’s chairman and CEO. “We have a significant group of technical folks across the country, including a tax policy group, and we’re continually adding to that group.”

Meanwhile, some firms have seen significant improvement, of half a point or more, in their support services ratings this year. For example, advisors with Toronto-based bank-owned brokerage CIBC Wood Gundy rated their firm significantly higher in support for high net-worth clients, tax, wills and estate, and financial planning.

Advisors with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce also rated their firm significantly higher in support for tax and wills and estate planning. One reason cited for the improved scores at both CIBC’s brokerage and branch networks was the July 2008 hiring of Jamie Golombek as managing director of tax and estate planning.

Toronto-based full-service dealer Assante Corp. saw significant improvement in its ratings for three support service categories: tax planning, wills and estate planning, and support for high net-worth clients. “We have an excellent platform for high net-worth clients,” says an Assante advisor in Atlantic Canada. “It really stands out.”

Mississauga, Ont.-based PFSL Investments Canada Ltd. received the highest scores among all firms in the survey series in support for insurance planning and for developing a financial plan for clients.

Although PFSL advisors do not prepare formal financial plans for clients, they do prepare a very thorough financial needs analysis for each client. A PFSL advisor in Ontario calls the support for preparing the FNA “second to none.”

@page_break@Mississauga, Ont.-based IDC Financial Inc., a managing general agency, posted the second-highest rating among all insurers for support for tax planning and support for high net-worth clients, as well as the third-highest rating among all insurers for insurance planning.

“There is a lot of support and resources [available], either human or technology,” says an IDC advi-sor in Ontario. “They have someone in specialized areas to help with whatever we might need.”

Some firms received mixed reviews from their advisors for that support services. One such firm was Vancouver-based Canaccord Capital Inc., which received significantly lower ratings, half a point or more vs 2008, for tax, insurance, and financial planning. “We need more support,” says a Canaccord advisor in B.C.

The firm says it is taking steps to improve support, including streamlining advisor services, both internally and from third-party providers, to make sure the firm is leveraging all its capabilities and increasing accessibility.

“At the end of the day, we want to make sure support services are a one-stop shop for advisors, so that they don’t have to spend their time tracking down the right people,” says Tanya Bird, the firm’s senior vice president of products and services, who’s based in Toronto.

Among advisors at the banks and credit unions, there was a general sense of disappointment in the support for financial planning. As a group, these advisors gave their firms an average rating of 7.8, down by 0.7 of a point from 2008. This group of advisors complained about the quality of the financial planning programs they had, their complexity and their focus on proprietary products.

“Overall, the firm does support financial planning for customers at high asset levels,” says an advisor in Ontario with CIBC. “But when it filters down to lower asset levels, it’s only about pushing products.”

Adds an advisor in Western Cana-da with Montreal-based National Bank of Canada: “Our financial planning system is terrible. It’s too complicated — there’s a lot in there that isn’t necessary.”

Meanwhile, advisors with Toronto-based bank-owned brokerage ScotiaMcLeod Inc. rated their firm significantly lower vs 2008 for its support for high net-worth clients, tax planning and for developing a financial plan for clients.

“The [financial planning] support is good,” says ScotiaMcLeod advisor in Ontario, “but it takes a long time to get there.”

ScotiaMcLeod’s leadership acknowledges that the NaviPlan financial planning software the firm had been using was cumbersome for advisors, replacing it this past year with a Web-based version of NaviPlan that allows advisors to do everything from a one-page basic financial overview to a full 40-page comprehensive plan.

“It will enable them to more easily do financial plans or integrate them into their businesses,” says Hamish Angus, head of ScotiaMcLeod.

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