Building a successful team practice is easier said than done. But a well-structured team can be a powerful force, and Louis Paquet has built his National Bank Financial Ltd. team in Quebec City into a force to be reckoned with.

Paquet is the founder of NBF’s first team practice. He leads an interdisciplinary team of advi-sors, including a portfolio manager, who provide his clients with a wide breadth of investment opportunities and advice.

The team includes Paquet as rainmaker or senior advisor; François Provencher, vice president and financial planner; André D’Amours, portfolio manager, who holds both the chartered financial analyst and the Canadian investment manager designations; Sophie Paquet, the newest advisor and the third generation of Paquets in the firm; and five assistants.

The team serves 2,000 clients in 600 households and has $600 million in assets under management. All team members are bilingual, although most, if not all, of their business is conducted in French.

The practice targets dentists, physicians and pharmacists, in particular, and professionals in general. Over the years, the firm has built its clientele by holding seminars aimed at the health-care professional market.

“We really believe in targeted marketing,” says Provencher. “We really try to work in niches.”

Most clients are between 50 and 55 years old, and the average account is around $500,000. “We usually manage 100% of our clients assets,” Provencher adds.

Although seminars have worked as a marketing tool in the past, the practice has relied entirely on referrals to grow in recent years.

“In the past five years, we have not done anything to build the client base,” Provencher says, “because we were so busy — just servicing the people that we had.”

The team is planning on reviving its seminar strategy to attract new business, but, in the meantime, referrals keep the team busy.

New clients are welcomed to the firm by meeting with the whole team. “When we first meet someone, we start with a retirement planning projection,” Provencher says, “and then we make recommendations for the portfolio based on that, such as liquidity needs and so on.”

Most clients have a portion of their portfolios in fixed-income, he says: “We have the philosophy that we will buy the bonds and there will be no fees. We don’t believe clients should pay fees on fixed-income portfolios, not with interest rates where they are right now.”

The second portion is in equities mutual funds — index funds with an international focus and National Bank Securities Corp. funds. Then there is the team’s own $100-million equity portfolio, which is managed by D’Amour exclusively for the team’s clients.

The portfolio comprises 20 to 22 dividend-paying stocks. Its focus is on Quebec and Canadian value and growth companies. So, in addition to dealing with clients, the team frequently meets with management teams from companies that are prospective investments.

All clients have the opportunity to invest in the portfolio. The minimum investment is $50,000 but some clients have as much as $2 million invested. “It is not a mutual fund,” Provencher says, “because the client owns the stocks outright and sees each of the transactions.”

The NBF branch dates back to 1950, when Louis Paquet’s father, Roger, started the practice. Paquet got involved in 1969 at age 19. “This was my university,” he says.

Paquet eventually took over his father’s book and, as manager of the NBF Quebec City branch, saw the branch grow to 65 advisors from 10. In 1987, he started a team with a shared book, which evolved into the team we see today. Collectively, the team has more than a century of experience.

Every member of the team has his or her strengths. In his 40-year career, Paquet has done special situations and private placements. Planner Provencher, 46, has been in the industry 20 years and has been with part of the team since 1997. Portfolio manager D’Amours joined last year upon the retirement of his predecessor, shortly after his own investment-management firm was acquired by NatCan Investment Management Inc., a subsidiary of National Bank of Canada. Both Provencher and D’Amours are graduates of Laval University — Provencher in commerce and D’Amours in commerce and economics.

Paquet’s daughter, Sophie, 31, joined the practice in March, when another advisor left to pursue a solo career.

@page_break@Sophie — by far, the youngest partner — completed a bachelor of commerce at McGill University, followed by the Canadian securities course. With two sisters working in other industries, she looked forward to joining the family business, but her father suggested she get outside experience first.

She moved to Montreal, where she spent two years in corporate sales with Bell Canada and five years in pharmaceutical sales, before returning to Quebec City with her new family.

The team members all share a personal commitment to Quebec City. “In the winter, we have skiing half an hour from here,” says Provencher. “In the summertime, we have the St. Lawrence river and we have lakes, again a half-hour from here.”

Paquet adds that he left his cottage at 8:30 on the morning of this interview and arrived at the office by 9 a.m.

Indeed, the team enjoys life outside the office. Provencher is an avid golfer and cyclist. D’Amour plays golf and racquet sports. And, evidently, everyone in Quebec City is an avid skier.

Sophie was a competitive tennis player in university, but now spends most of her spare time with her 20-month-old son, Justin. She will play again, she presumes.

“In 20 years’ time,” adds Pro-vencher, who, as the father of two teenagers, can relate to the demands of work and family.

“On the seniors’ tour,” Sophie quips.

Now, Sophie’s role includes organizing seminars as the practice revives that business-development strategy. Says Provencher: “Sophie has brought more enthusiasm and dynamism to the practice.”

But Louis Paquet’s 40-year career has not gone unnoticed. Finance et Investissement, Investment Executive’s Montreal-based French-language sister publication, has named Paquet a Conseiller emérite — advisor emeritus — for his achievements in his long career in Quebec City. IE