How to tell clients you switched firms

If you’ve been offered a new opportunity, then the choice to leave your current firm and make the move is your own, of course. But if you do, breaking the news to clients can be tricky. The actual moment of transition requires detailed planning and rapid execution.

“We arrived late Friday afternoon, and our licences were switched from our previous firm to the new firm by the end of the day,” recalls Toronto advisor Wynn Harvey, a Macquarie vice president.

“Once that happens, you’re allowed to solicit your clients. We had prepared an email to go to all clients about our move, which went out that Friday night. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, my business partner Bruce Moffatt and I contacted all clients by phone.”

Michael Andersen, who joined Richardson GMP, says most clients asked three questions during those calls:

• Why did he move?
• What’s in it for them?
• What’s the upside for you?

To answer, he prepared a script outlining his key reasons and memorized it. He addressed the slightly improved commission structure, and the thorny issue of potential risk to their investments; and pointed out the new firm’s $1-million portfolio insurance coverage as well as the federal protection plan.

“We just pounded that same message over and over,” he says. “It’s difficult to think of something new to say to every single person.”

Maglan Naidoo, an Edmonton advisor, was also looking for something new, and joined Canaccord Wealth Management. In his case, he told people the change to a full-service brokerage meant he could access a wider range of investments, technology solutions and equity research to help build portfolios. Read more: How to switch firms John Lorinc is a Toronto-based financial writer.