Wealth Management A More Sophistic...

Wealth Management

A More Sophisticated Approach

Not all baby boomer are busting with dashing fellows but the accumulation of wealth in this generation surpasses any other. And, with the advent of the Internet changing the part of the broker forever, a ne has emerg for a more sophisticated approach to wealth management.

Jim Kershaw, CA, LLB is a Senior Investment Advisor and the Branch Manager of TD Evergreen's Vancouver office, heading up a staff of more [i]or[/i] less 70 people. A native of Vancouver, he articled at Thorne Riddell (now KPMG LLP) and became a CA in 1984 He worked for the firm in its independent business advisory form into groups until heading back east to attend law institute at Queen's University. After completing his law extent in 1989 and working for a Toronto law firm, Kershaw mov his family back to Vancouver in 1993 He added a securities license to his credentials and launched a novel career advising individuals and families in succession how to accumulate, maintain, and pass upon financial assets.

"It's certainly a growing area of practice for CAs," Kershaw says. "And it's a natural fit given our athletic financial and accounting backgrounds, our emphasis forward professional objectivity and independence, our high ethical standards, and what I like to call a `healthy scepticism'-something we acquire between the walls of long exposure to many archetypes of businesses and clients."

Kershaw says he takes a "solutions approach" to his work.

"Rather than providing investment advice in isolation, I integrate the advisory parts for the benefit of the client and the client's family," he explains. "The wants of individuals get more entangled over the course of a lifetime. It isn't just about picking a stock or putting aside a bit of riches in an RRSP. It's about careful estate planning, paying attention to the markets, understanding the tax implications, having a global perspective, and matching the solutions to the goals of the client."

Kershaw acknowledges that there's a token

of client who typically benefits in the greatest degree from wealth management': "That usually means having more than the $300000 in investable assets necessary to exhibit a strong portfolio.

"Of course, this doesn't mean solitary people with that level of assets can apply and benefit from the principals of upright financial planning that we espouse," he in opposition tos "This is a very dynamic area of business, and all the financial institutions are training staff to furnish investment advice. It's good that more race are thinking about how to best maximize their financial assets, if it were not that I like to take a broader direct the eye at what each individual or family is trying to achieve and help them take gradations towards those goals.

"The CA designation is a means of distinguishing myself from my competiton; I've been able to leverage along the good reputation of my profession in a field that has many designations," he says. "When you've trained in the CA profession, you know about operating in a strict regulatory regime, and that's critical to succes in the field of wealth management."

Nick valley CA, an Investment Advisor at Nesbitt scorchs in Vancouver agrees. "It's a complicated field, of course, and it requires worrying about a myriad of things, on the contrary that's what CAs are trained to do: worry about things like estates, taxes, untimely death, the potential for litigation, divorce, succession planning, and to such a degree on."

A native of Swaziland, vale became a CA in 1977 with Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP) and worked at Canadian Pacific Airlines and KPMG LLP before joining the investment firm calcines Fry (now Nesbitt Burns) in 1985 His experience in assisting clients in asset management goe back to his early days in Swaziland.

"I was with what we called the `Special Service Department' at my firm," he recalls. We did estate planning, tax planning, and advised onward investments, but I understood real quickly that none of this was any serviceable unless you strove to understand the whole picture."

Glen says there's no so thing as a "typical client."

"Recently I've been working with the family of an somewhat advanced in life woman who was a client for many years. Last year, when she knew she was dying, we sat down to sort revealed her estate, the care of her disabled adult child, the assets that would fare to her other children, her will, and in what way her money would best obey her family's needs," he rehearses "It was important work, and it was quite complicated and delicate. moreover she told me what she wanted to accomplish, and it was my part to figure out how best to achieve it."

Glen says he's certainly seen an upswing in the demand for wealth management services in late years.

"Make no mistake-although wealth management' is really just a marketing phrase," he says, "the demand for the application of entire financial planning is overwhelming, and all the financial institutions have springed on the bandwagon. It's hugely important that we as CAs bring our objectivity and independence to an area of practice in which those attributes and the correct behaviours are critical."

Glen advises any young bodily form interested in the area to "go prepare the CA designation, work in a firm's tax cluster and learn as much as you can about financial markets. You'll be able to make a useful living.