Advisors know their firms are working to improve wealth planning support, but as clients’ needs become more complex, advisors are asking for more.
Nine in 10 investment advisors (91.9%) surveyed for the 2025 Brokerage Report Card said they offer detailed wealth and investment plans to clients. Further, most of their clients have such plans — advisors said they’ve mapped out the goals of 67.4% of their clients (from 64.8% a year ago).
Success in wealth management requires “varying layers of support,” said one advisor in Ontario with BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. “We [have] lawyers and insurers to help any level of client.”
At Odlum Brown Ltd., a smaller, non-bank-owned firm, advisors appreciated proactive strategy. The firm has “invested a lot of dollars in people and talent. We have more bench depth in the last year or so,” said one of that firm’s advisors.
Other Odlum Brown respondents pointed to a financial planning team and tax experts, with one of the firm’s advisors suggesting, “It comes down to the quality of people we use. It’s one of the reasons I can retain high-net-worth clients.”
Firms making changes
Those two firms were among the three that saw improvement of at least half a point or more, compared with 2024, in their “financial planning support & technology” ratings by advisors. Nesbitt Burns was rated 9.1 from 8.5 in that area, while Odlum Brown was rated 8.7 from 8.1.
Financial planning “is the linchpin of most of our client relationships at this point; it’s very much at the centre of our client promise,” said Craig Meeds, head of wealth advice, Canada, with BMO Private Wealth.
Helping advisors with that task means investing in technology plus human support. “We’re always going to talk about the platform and about the next generation [or] version of financial planning,” Meeds said, but “every technological investment that we are going to make is in support of creating more efficiency [for the] people.”
One notable ask from Nesbitt Burns advisors in 2025 was for more expert help concerning the bank-owned firm’s “products & support for high-net-worth clients” and its “support for tax planning, wills & estates.”
A Nesbitt Burns advisor in Ontario said, “The quality is good, but it takes a long time to contact them [high-net-worth experts] and get meetings.” As well, an advisor in Atlantic Canada had the impression that there were asset thresholds for getting complex planning assistance.
The firm has used and invested in digital planning tool WealthPath for five years, but Meeds said Nesbitt Burns is “more deliberately” working on financial planning strategies. He called the firm’s setup “flexible and inclusive,” adding, “Every [advisor] has access to a variety of planning resources, including specialized planning support.” If resources feel scarce, Meeds said, the bank wants to ensure advisors know how to connect with specialized wealth consultants.
Warren Beach, chief strategy and business development officer with Odlum Brown, said financial planning-focused support is a growing priority. He cited a wealth planning focus group and an expanded team of experts on offer.
One newer resource for Odlum Brown advisors is what Beach called “embedded financial planners.” He explained, “A significant number of our advisory teams have [these] dedicated financial planners,” experts who provide wealth services and “help identify actions and priorities” the firm can consider to improve its support.
Still, scalability can be an issue. As one Odlum Brown advisor said, “We need more planners [as] we’ve been overwhelmed with how many people [clients] want a plan.” Another advisor with the firm confirmed, “The quality is very good, but the resources are stretched thin.”
Odlum Brown leaders are aware and are adding planning capacity. “I think we’ve got a ways to go, given its importance to our business and clients, but good progress is being made,” Beach said.
Reinforcements on the way
Investments in planning specialists and digital tools, across the 14 firms, have led to steady 2025 performance averages for all five of the wealth management tools categories. (A performance average tallies all the ratings by advisors in a given category.) For example, the financial planning tools category had an 8.7 average this year, unchanged from 2024.
However, for four of the five, there were notable advisor satisfaction gaps (the difference between a category’s 2025 performance and importance averages, the
latter showing how crucial advisors think an area is to their business). (See 10 areas chart.)
Consider the outcome for Edward Jones, the third firm that saw a significant change from 2024 in its financial planning tools rating. The brokerage was rated 7.5 in this area, down from 8.4. Its tax and estates category rating was 6.6, from 7.4.
Yet, most of the firm’s advisors were optimistic about planned improvements by their company. Edward Jones’ current system will be swapped in Q4 2025 with planning software from Conquest Planning Inc.
The firm’s outgoing software was described by its advisors as “rudimentary” and lacking functionality, leading to pressure on the firm’s 2025 results. But, according to an Edward Jones advisor in Ontario, the firm’s leaders “have done a good job of looking at different software. … They’ve got a whole client consultation team that is growing, [and we] have lawyers and accountants we can access for [complex] accounts.”
An advisor with Edward Jones in British Columbia added, “The firm has a program where they are trying to lead the industry in the number of CFP-designated advisors.”
There were advisors who sought improvement, as Edward Jones’ planning consultation team navigates growing pains and builds capacity. But, as one of the firm’s advisors in Alberta said, “I think it’s an area of opportunity,” as the firm centres more on complete wealth management support.
“Our ideal clients have complex needs, and we want to make sure that we have the talent, acumen and infrastructure to meet those needs,” said Scott Sullivan, principal, head of Canadian wealth management advice and solutions with Edward Jones.
He said the firm’s planning consultation group has grown fivefold in the past six years. So, while new technology will “augment” advisors’ efforts, “We have more human resources devoted to helping advisors [plan for clients].” Sullivan also confirmed the company’s focus on “advisors getting more advanced designations, whether it be [the] CFP or other designations that appeal to their ideal clients.”
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This article appears in the June issue of Investment Executive. Subscribe to the print edition, read the digital edition or read the articles online.