To achieve that, Boshart says that her bank has worked to redesign how advisors experience their service. She claims the bank has been applying that advisor focus to every aspect of their operations, from their product roadmap to their servicing. Specializing lending solutions, high net worth solutions, and digital enablement are all being reworked with advisors in mind. In that process they’ve identified around 130 “friction points” and have already eliminated 30 of them.
One of the biggest of those friction points is pricing. Boshart notes that pricing can become a silent barrier between advisors and clients, noting that if an advisor can’t provide a competitive rate it can undermine trust. Manulfe Bank, she says, has now built competitive pricing into their offerings across both savings and lending. In doing so, she says that advisors won’t have to worry that their clients might be torn away by a price play from one of the big six.
Manulife Bank is already well established among financial advisors. Boshart notes that about 75 per cent of their distribution happens through independent advisors. By focusing on amplifying advisors’ business they have established a distribution chain that doesn’t directly compete with the retail banking focus of the big six. She highlights the understanding at Manulife Bank that they are not working to compete with advisors, but to help them support their clients.
While Boshart says her bank works with any and all advisors, she notes that their solutions tend to be focused on advisors serving affluent and high net worth clients. Those clients, she notes, often require sophisticated and tailored solutions. That’s where the wider Manulife infrastructure can help. Boshart notes that because her bank sits within a company that covers both wealth and insurance solutions, they can help provide complex and bespoke solutions to advisors. That could be insurance-based lending, or in facilitating the intergenerational wealth transfer. It could also be in business acquisition loans or lines of credit for advisors who want to scale their businesses. They also offer access to tax and insurance specialists who can help advisors with custom solutions for clients.
Boshart says that this focus on the independent advisory stream is already working. She notes that the firm’s advisor council has been joined by over 25,000 advisors across the country. She sees many advisors who had been underserved by traditional models drawn to the offerings that her bank now provides.
