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SPECIAL SPONSORED CONTENT
WEATHERING THE PANDEMIC
HOW TWO ADVISORS ARE RIDING OUT THE COVID-19 STORM—AND GAINING CLIENTS.
As COVID-19 spread around the world and new physical distancing requirements took effect across Canada in the spring
of 2020, it seemed as if everything was changing — and fast. At the same time, Ian Stock saw that, despite necessary adjustments, the essential aspects of his role hadn’t changed.
“It’s been a huge impact, but it hasn’t,” says the financial advisor with Edward Jones in Belleville, Ont. “It’s been a game changer for all of us, everywhere, in terms of how we’re interacting,
but the basics in terms of maintaining contact and relationships with our clients are the same.”
Stock, who served in the military, has a healthy respect for routine. He found it helpful to stick to his schedule and keep working from his office (alone), although he’s fully set up to work from home.
“Edward Jones had my office built right around the corner from my house, so I’m able to carry on the exact same routine, other than the doors being locked and
not being able to have face-to-face interactions with people,” he says. “Maintaining routines — and that includes maintaining regular contact with our clients — is very reassuring, not only
to our clients but to us as well.”
To support those conversations, Stock has drawn on the steady stream of information and materials Edward Jones has provided. He’s grateful that the firm’s home office staff and regional leadership teams are offering up much more than market commentary.
“They’re helping us see through the
fog and have confidence that we’re all going to come out of this okay,” he says, explaining that he has received ready-to- use social media content on a wide variety
of topics relevant to clients right now. “I’ve been leveraging a lot of that, and I’ve gotten a fantastic response,” he says.
“Everyone’s different and everyone responds differently, but, generally speaking, because we’re in a moment of history, people are unnerved. Sometimes just a phone call (‘I’m just calling to
see how you’re doing’ or ‘I just want to make sure you’re okay’) — whether it’s an existing client or a potential client — speaks volumes,” he adds.
As a result of his proactive outreach, Stock was signing on new clients soon after the markets fell precipitously in mid-March. Existing clients began to refer their family members and friends, based on his response to the COVID-19 crisis.
“Through technology and a little bit of ingenuity, we’ve been able to bring on these new clients,” he says. “And we expect that to continue.”
“It’s more important than ever to reach out and just talk
to people and hear what’s going on in their lives, because everyone has gone through such drastic changes.”—KIM MACINNIS
TRANSITION SUPPORT AS
A TEST CASE FOR PANDEMIC SUPPORT
Financial advisors face many types of disruption during the course of their careers. There are the inevitable market dips; there are ever-changing regulations. And, for those who move firms, there are transitions to different offices, which encompass different processes.
How a firm handles an advisor’s transition from firm to firm may provide an indication of how it will handle other disruptions.
Kim MacInnis, for example, faced a number of challenges during
her move to Edward Jones in 2017. Perhaps the most significant challenge was a lack of control over the timing, because her previous office had given up its lease and was closing.
Fortunately, an Edward Jones advisor in her community had retired about nine months earlier. That meant there was an office ready for her to move into, and, because of the way Edward Jones structures its branch offices, she also inherited an experienced Branch Office Administrator (BOA) who helped her complete documents and understand
new systems.
“I was able to come in here and just do my job, and people in the region
were wonderful. They were coming over from different provinces, going through different things with me just to make sure I felt welcome and to answer any questions I asked. They really went above
and beyond to help me with my transition,” she says. “It was very seamless for many of the clients, too. They were able to open their accounts, everything transferred over, and just continue to move forward with me.”
Ian Stock, too, was pleasantly surprised by the simplicity of his move to Edward Jones, also in 2017. “The decision to make the transition wasn’t taken lightly, because I knew it would be
very impactful not only for me personally and professionally but also for my clients,” he says.
In his case, there was no existing Edward Jones office in his community, nor enough time to get his permanent new office constructed by the date he wanted to move. As a result, the transition team helped him open his new practice in a temporary office, where he started serving clients with the BOA who transitioned with him. Ten months later, he relocated into his
current space.
Despite the logistical challenges of moving twice in a year,
Stock says the transition went smoothly, and he’s grateful for the technology that makes it easy to retrieve client documents from the cloud whenever he needs them — whether there’s a pandemic or not.
istockphoto.com/Julia Garan