Practice

Car purchases are the worst kind of debt

One of the things I often recommend my clients work into their financial plan are major purchases. When it comes to my clients, as well as my own finances, the one purchase I hate the most is buying a car. You would think I would hate credit cards the most. Don’t get me wrong, they […]

By Stephanie Holmes-Winton |October 19, 2009

6 min read

Planning and Advice

Put on your game face: Demonstrating your value to clients

a financial plan to give me clarity on how much I need to save to meet my current spending needs and for retirement a financial plan to give me clarity on how much I need to save to meet my current spending needs and for retirement the piece of mind that my family will be […]

By Keith Pangretitsch |October 13, 2009

5 min read

Planning and Advice

Multi-boutique firms encourage shared ownership

When the Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group was formed, toward the tail end of 2002, the driving force was to take a novel approach to asset management in Canada by creating a structure that allowed for unique cultures within each functional area. Co-CEO Warren Stoddart sums it up as an approach that allows people […]

October 1, 2009

8 min read

Planning and Advice

Virtually all referrals come from engaged clients

A majority of Canadian clients appear to be satisfied with their advisors, a new study sponsored by Univeris has found. But it takes a very high level of engagement for clients to refer their advisor to family and friends. The study, conducted by Advisor Impact on behalf of Univeris, compiled feedback from more than 14,000 […]

By Mark Noble |October 1, 2009

5 min read

Planning software can clarify client spending habits

Financial plans are the basis of the best client/advisor relationships. Or at least that’s the theory. But we review a lot of client portfolios and seldom find the advisor using an active and consistently updated financial plan. I regularly teach a course called Retirement 101 and at the end of a recent session, people sat […]

4 min read

Celebrating Advice: How to deconstruct client debt

Dessa Kaspardlov Chief operating officer Kaspardlov Laverty & Associates/ Manulife Securities Windsor, Ont. Years in the business: 12 Other: author of new book, The Fireman and the Waitress About me I educate my clients about the difference between good and bad debt, and how to capitalize on the good while getting rid of the bad. […]

4 min read

Cover Your Assets in three easy steps

I recently read an article about a Canadian Web site to help investors pursue their financial advisors for their investment losses. So I visited the site and, incredibly, its author had listed 156 separate grounds for a complaint. 156! Despite the site’s amateurish design, advisors need to pay attention to the key message: Clients are […]

By Harper Fraze |October 1, 2009

4 min read

Rule change makes it easier to control debt

There hasn’t been a lot of positive financial news lately; so advisors with clients who have lost a business or a job, or are dealing with other serious money challenges should know that a valuable debt solution became more widely available last month. People struggling to resolve debt have a number of options, including consolidation […]

3 min read

Providing holistic advice requires coupling of skill sets

Every successful company has a CEO who provides leadership, direction and coordination to the overall business. And that CEO is usually supported by a strong team of executives with distinctive skills, who work closely to build the business. Imagine the mess if there were no direction or coordination, and if each member of the team […]

3 min read

New ways to help divorcing couples

Doreen Gardner Brown, BHEc, CFP, AFC Fee-only financial planner Gardner Brown Consulting Inc. Vancouver Years in the business: 20 About me I’ve been doing collaborative practice since 2002. It’s an alternative to how couples divorce. I’m attracted to collaborative practice because I can see it is a better process for divorcing couples to continue to […]

4 min read