“10 years ago, most clients were talking more about products and they weren’t really aware of the fees that they were paying,” said Gingras Roy, senior investment advisor and co-owner of Diligence Wealth Management. “Today, the first thing that they talk about is fees and that they can do it themselves and pay no fees.”
In this changing landscape, Gingras Roy says advisors must justify their fees by providing broader services to clients, whether it be estate planning or life insurance services.
When McClelland was starting out as a young advisor with the Equion firm in the 1990s, the firm’s head Michael Nairne had already implemented a holistic approach with clients, giving McClelland, who is now founder at the McClelland Financial Group, a significant advantage as his career progressed.
“We were holistic right from the get-go, so that’s been the easy part,” McClelland said. “The rest of the industry, which was mostly a product industry, has had to catch up to us.”
One major shift at his firm has been the subdivision of advisors, according to McClelland. He says his firm works in “pods” of two advisors, giving each client extra attention. Using this model allows McClelland to have two advisors speaking with clients, and has yielded positive results in the last two years the firm has used this system.
