{"id":421354,"date":"2021-05-17T00:07:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T04:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/?p=421354"},"modified":"2021-06-14T13:21:21","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T17:21:21","slug":"are-brokerage-leaders-listening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/newspaper_\/brokerage-report-card\/are-brokerage-leaders-listening\/","title":{"rendered":"Are brokerage leaders listening?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article appears in the May 2021 issue of\u00a0<\/em>Investment Executive.\u00a0Subscribe to the print edition,<\/a>\u00a0read the digital edition\u00a0<\/a>or\u00a0read the articles online<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Despite a challenging year, firms in Investment Executive\u2019s (IE)<\/em> Brokerage Report Card saw notable improvements in their performance, reflecting their ability to adapt and communicate effectively.<\/p>\n

Advisors said brokerages were transparent and proactive. Bank-owned firms such as National Bank Financial Inc. (NBF) and TD Wealth Private Investment Advice (TD Wealth PIA), as well as national independent firm iA Private Wealth (formerly Industrial Alliance Securities Inc.), saw significant improvements (of 0.5 or more) in at least 15 category ratings, excluding their IE<\/em> rating and Net Promoter Score. (An IE<\/em> rating is the average of all of a firm\u2019s category ratings.)<\/p>\n

Advisors with iA Private Wealth were confident in the brokerage\u2019s ability to provide stability and open communication despite a leadership and name change at the start of 2021. The firm was one of only three brokerages that saw a significant improvement in its IE<\/em> rating, which increased to 7.4 this year from 6.8 in 2020. The firm\u2019s \u201cReceptiveness to advisor feedback\u201d rating rose to 7.7 from 6.6 last year, and its \u201cLeadership stability\u201d rating increased to 8.1 in 2021 from 8.0 in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have the right leadership in place, which is key to moving us forward,\u201d said an iA Private Wealth advisor in Ontario.<\/p>\n

John Skain, chairman and CEO of iA Private Wealth, said the firm\u2019s focus \u201cremains on creating an environment for our entrepreneurial investment advisors.\u201d The firm\u2019s rebrand is part of that strategy, he said. \u201cWe really wanted to create that common brand as a platform to build from.\u201d<\/p>\n

TD Wealth PIA, meanwhile, has \u201cbeen very supportive and transparent throughout the last year,\u201d said an advisor in the Prairies. TD Wealth PIA\u2019s IE<\/em> rating rose to 8.2 from 7.7 a year ago, and the firm improved significantly in 16 categories, including \u201cReceptiveness to advisor feedback,\u201d which increased to 7.5 from 6.3 last year. Performance also increased by more than 1.0 for \u201cMobile technology support\u201d (8.6, up from 7.3), \u201cSocial media support\u201d (7.0, up from 5.9) and \u201cOngoing training\u201d (8.5, up from 7.2).<\/p>\n

\u201cPandemic or no pandemic, you\u2019ve got to make sure you can pivot your engagement model with your advisors,\u201d said Craig Meeds, head of private investment advice with TD Wealth PIA, \u201cand make sure [you] still are listening to feedback and then acting on the feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

NBF advisors also felt their voices were being heard by their firm, which received a rating of 8.9 for the advisor feedback category, up from 8.0 last year. In years past, advisors outside of Quebec expressed dissatisfaction with NBF. While some remained frustrated with their Quebec-based head office, advisors as a whole took notice of NBF\u2019s efforts: ratings for 20 categories increased significantly in 2021.<\/p>\n

An NBF advisor in Ontario said the firm \u201cwelcomes feedback from the field. I also love their flat corporate structure, so management is accessible and responsive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denis Gauthier, senior vice-president and national manager with NBF, said the brokerage recognizes that each province\u2019s advisors have varying needs. \u201cWe\u2019re always communicating one culture coast to coast,\u201d Gauthier said. \u201cI think we\u2019ve come a long way with that over the last few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

BMO Private Wealth Canada and Asia struggled in most categories this year, seeing a significant rating increase only for \u201cReceptiveness to advisor feedback\u201d (5.1, up from 4.4 in 2020). The firm\u2019s IE<\/em> rating was 6.6, down from 6.9 a year ago. For \u201cStrategic focus,\u201d the firm\u2019s rating fell to 4.8 from 5.4. The brokerage has been trying to bring the private bank and brokerage closer together, and advisors expressed concerns with change management. They also perceived top-level action plans as lackluster.<\/p>\n

\u201cBringing BMO together with the private bank was the right thing to do, but they\u2019ve executed it poorly,\u201d said a BMO advisor in Atlantic Canada. \u201cGreat idea, with no real plan.\u201d That advisor acknowledged that Covid-19 has derailed some of BMO\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

Following the 2020 Report Card, Andrew Auerbach, head of BMO Private Wealth, said he made a point of connecting more closely with multiple advisory councils. \u201cThe whole point of it is to make sure we\u2019re engaging early on programs and initiatives that are going to impact [advisors],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For the receptiveness to feedback category, advisors noted that the firm is willing to take feedback, but said it doesn\u2019t necessarily act on advisors\u2019 suggestions. \u201c[Management] can be nice, but they\u2019ve already made up their mind the direction they\u2019re going,\u201d said an advisor in B.C.<\/p>\n

Auerbach acknowledged the need to include advisors in business conversations going forward. \u201cThe power of advice has never been more important. Making sure our advisors are part of this journey is very important to me and their input is so critical to respond to the changing landscape,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paying attention to advisor feedback remains crucial for firms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148356,"featured_media":421695,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3101,3013],"tags":[2676,2657],"yst_prominent_words":[6180,75220,75217,60238,36785,18649,9855,8618,8613,8160,7965,7916,2,6177,6117,6095,6006,5076,4828,2263],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/148356"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421354"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":423656,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421354\/revisions\/423656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421354"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=421354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}