Martine Cunliffe has watched the wealth management industry change drastically since she started working in it more than 25 years ago.
In the past, she said there was more “transactional advising,” as conversations with clients were heavily focused on investment performance. But now, more advisors engage in holistic financial planning that considers taxes, wills, estate planning and more, while also emotionally supporting and coaching their clients.
“Today, I would argue that the most effective advisors recognize that clients want a lot more than portfolio performance,” said Cunliffe, wealth advisor and portfolio manager with Nicola Wealth in Vancouver.
“Clients want to engage with and partner with an advisor who understands their entire financial picture and their personal goals — the story behind their wealth.”
That’s especially true today, in the age of robo-advisors, finfluencers and do-it-yourself investing. Advisors must work hard now to differentiate themselves and demonstrate that their value transcends investment performance.
Client review meetings offer an ideal opportunity to do just that.
“The review meeting used to be more about how your investments are doing, but now it’s gone more from the numbers to the narratives,” said Chris Merrick, an advice-only financial planner and principal with Merrick Financial Inc. in Toronto. He’s been a financial planner for six years.
Merrick said there’s an increasing emphasis on “life returns, where clients are trying to [reach] certain goals.”
How to approach review meetings
Cunliffe recalls a time when she spent an entire review meeting listening to her client who was going through a difficult time.
Though the meeting “had very little to do with the portfolio” she built for her client, Cunliffe said allowing the client to express how they were feeling was much more valuable.
“She said, ‘Wow, Martine, I know we didn’t cover the agenda that you had prepared today, but this was cathartic,” she recalled her client telling her.
Cunliffe recommended advisors similarly treat review meetings as a chance to check in on clients and centre their experiences in the financial planning process.
“You’ve got to read the room,” she said.
“Somebody shared this with me a long time ago, and I’ve never forgotten it: ‘When you’re in a meeting, think about whose comfort you’re managing.’ Most often, advisors will manage their own comfort.”
Lianne Di Rocco, a senior wealth advisor and portfolio manager with BMO Nesbitt Burns in Toronto, agreed. She’s been in the industry for more than three decades and has seen a similar shift from advisors acting as “stockbrokers” to today’s emphasis on offering comprehensive financial advice.
Between tax policy changes, cross-border issues, wills, estate planning and inheritances, Di Rocco said the world of finance is becoming increasingly complicated for Canadians to navigate on their own. Advisors can use review meetings to help them cut through the noise and make sound money decisions.
“It’s not just the investments on paper,” she said.
“Where did these investments come from? What is important to the client? Who is important to the client? How do they want to live their life with the people who are important to them? And how do they use their assets to support [their goals], not only during their lifetime, but from generation to generation?”
Di Rocco added that if an advisor is not embracing this strategy, “then I would challenge them that their relationship could be at risk with their clients.”
Liz Bouthillier, head of retail sales with Franklin Templeton Canada in Toronto, said this was a popular topic at a webinar series her firm hosted over the summer. Many advisors who attended the webinars were wondering how in-person client connections would be affected in a world where virtual communication and AI are gaining traction.
“Regardless of the industry, what we’re seeing is human connection becomes more important, not less important, in a digital world,” Bouthillier said.
“At the end of the day, clients don’t meet with advisors or work with an advisor to beat an index or to deliver a certain level of return in terms of percentages, but it’s really to see where they are in terms of the progress they’re making towards reaching goals.”
Merrick echoed that point: “It’s nice they get a 5%, 8% return, but what they really want is to meet their life goals, that’s really the big picture.”
He said he typically spends about 20–25% of a review meeting discussing a client’s portfolio. The rest of the time is allocated to discussing their cash flow, estate plans, life insurance and any financial concerns they may have. He’ll also update their retirement projections if needed.
“Technology has been a big helper,” Merrick said, in allowing advisors to spend less time on investments and more time on other aspects of a financial plan.
In a similar vein, Cunliffe said she doesn’t think advisors will be replaced by robo-advisors or AI, but that future technological advancements will make human advisors more efficient and save them time.
“And that time, I hope, will allow me to spend more time face to face with my clients,” she added.
Holistic financial planning
Personalization in financial planning brings loyalty and can help advisors stand out in a “crowded” wealth management market, Merrick said.
“I’ve been with some clients through divorce” and other major life changes, he said. “It brings loyalty. And that, frankly, leads to referrals.”
It’s also beneficial for those who want to attract intergenerational clients, said Di Rocco. Some of her clients are members of the fourth generation of households she has supported, which she called “an honour.”
“When we’re doing estate planning for our clients and we’re planning for their grandchildren, they’ll say, ‘I’m not going to be here to watch them spend this money,’” she said.
“I [tell them], ‘But we will. We’re going to be here when your granddaughter buys her first home, or when she starts her first business, and we’re going to be able to help her understand who you were and where this money came from and the purpose of it.’”
Personalized, comprehensive wealth planning can also
help advisors attract women clients who face unique financial challenges. According to two separate studies, women are less likely than men to engage with an advisor but are projected to control $3.8 trillion in assets in Canada by 2028, nearly double the $2.2 trillion they held in 2019.
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recent survey from the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization also found that women are more likely than men to place importance on an advisor speaking to them without jargon, showing them respect and demonstrating an understanding of their life goals.
“I’m not saying all women, but I think many women … get a lot of confidence when they feel heard, and when they feel they have a voice and they’re being well supported,” Cunliffe said.
