Wealth & finance International - Wealth & Money Management Awards 2017

Wealth & Money Management Awards 2017 14 Wealth Management Professional of the Year 2017 - Canada Bill McElroy’s Manulife Securities Incorporated branch is a Wealth Management and Financial Planning office located in Burlington, ON. We invited Senior Investment Advisor Bill McElroy to tell us about the firm and the services that it offers. Contact: Bill McElroy, BA,CFP, CIM, FCSI Contact Email: [email protected] Company: Manulife Securities Incorporated As a Manulife Securities Incorporated, Senior Financial Advisor, Bill McElroy has built his business based on trust. Since 1990, he has been working in the financial services business and has never looked back. Most of his clients are either business owners, professionals or retirees with a need for income. He manages clients in several provinces across Canada and has found that many wealthy people in smaller towns and rural areas prefer to keep their finances private, and they can do this by dealing with firms outside of their province or city. Bill outlines the many services that Manulife Securities Incorporated offers, while also identifying how his clients can expect the highest quality service and how the firm works hard for their new clients. “At Manulife Securities Incorporated, we offer many levels of financial planning, including retirement planning, estate planning, insurance need analysis, as well as investment planning services for our clients. If there is a need for something more complex that perhaps is out of our area of expertise, we have a network of strategic partners we can refer to our clients. We work with CAs, Lawyers, Actuaries, etc. in the areas of Wills and estates, business succession to valuation, tax and more.” “To ensure a long lasting mutually beneficial relationship with our clients, we listen, with an aim to understanding what the client wants. This is extremely important as you can learn a lot about a client if you are willing to hear their story. You need to ask a lot of questions to bring the information forward but it’s worth it when you’re building a relationship. Setting client expectations at the beginning is also crucial. If you both walk out of a meeting without setting these expectations, you know somewhere along the line the relationship may unravel.” Fundamentally, what makes the firm appealing to new clients is the way his Manulife Securities Incorporated branch takes a less formal approach to meeting with clients. “I don’t wear a suit and tie, just sports jackets mostly and we meet around a coffee table. Our staff knows all of our clients by name; they are not just an account number. We also try to keep things simple. Clients come to us because they know we are qualified, they don’t want to be overwhelmed with industry jargon, graphs and charts. They want to feel comfortable with what we do for them.” Figures within the previous year indicated an increase in the branch’s assets under administration. Bill attributes this to effective management and his own method of assessing stock picking. “Our assets under administration have increased 17% for the year May 2016-May 2017. We have not only attracted several large accounts to our branch, we have been managing the funds we currently have very effectively, through proper diversification tools and our own method of stock picking using fundamental and technical analysis to assess what stocks we will include in our clients’ portfolios.” Discussing what the future holds for the firm; it can be said that they are open to new clients, and Bill acknowledges he is ready to add to his team, given the person is well suited to join the company and the client base continues to grow. “Looking ahead, we are always open to acquisitions, if they are the right fit. We have been very fortunate in the acquisitions we have made blended well into our organization and our clients seem very happy. If another acquisition was to occur, I would consider adding an associate advisor to the team, but they would have to be the right fit.” “As far as the industry goes, I think Robo-advisors are going to gain market share but I am not too concerned, as my clients don’t fit the demographic that is using them. The majority of time we spend with clients is spent listening to their concerns, addressing them and giving WM170018