Paul Harris wants his expanding, holistic business to help people 'live the life they want to live'
Paul Harris is a portfolio manager who co-founded his latest business just before the pandemic began. But, he’s found ways to expand through social media and now is looking forward to when things open up again.
Harris, now a partner in Harris Douglas Asset Management Inc., began his career with TD Securities and TD Asset Management, where he spent a decade. He then spent three years at Fiduciary Trust International in New York before returning to co-found Avenue Investment Management in Toronto, which was primarily a money manager and whose assets grew from $5 million to $350 million over 15 years. He said he “left because of different opinions”, but took a number of clients to co-found Harris Douglas with Avenue colleague and advisor Stephanie Douglas in 2019. Even though the timing was tough, he’s optimistic about where they are and can go as they build their future.
“When the pandemic happened, initially the market fell, and it was difficult. But, we were up about 7.5% in 2020 because our cost structure collapsed,” he told Wealth Professional. The business now has $120 million of assets under management, but he hopes to have $130 million before the end of 2021.
“Our revenues went up, but our cost structure collapsed, so my margin of business did well,” said Harris, noting they met clients on Zoom and Teams rather than paying for travel across western Canada, cocktail parties, and dinners. “I made more money through the pandemic. In 2021, the market was up 21% and we were similar.”
While he said it’s been odd carrying on a relationship-based business online, and Zoom can make it harder to attract large accounts, doing KYCs online has proved simpler because both advisors and clients can review them.
What Harris Douglas has done is rely more on digital, and other marketing. He regularly speaks on BNN while Douglas appears in newspapers. But they really used LinkedIn to connect with people and send informative articles. He estimated that he now knows 40, rather than two, people in Winnipeg. That’s true of many other western cities, too, where they’ve grown the firm’s presence, so he’s looking forward to when he can safely travel again to mine those prospects with more social gatherings. The firm is now considering doing short marketing videos, too.
“I want to be in front of you regularly, and touch you mentally,” he said of his client philosophy, noting that begins to build trust and prompt people to contact him when they need financial planning or wealth management.
Harris Douglas’s minimum client threshold is $500,000, but that is soft as they also work with young professionals who have less, but are increasing their savings as they step into their future. He’s also interested in working with multi-generational families.
One of the things that makes his firm unusual, though, he said, is that he and his partner both invest their money in the same way they do their clients.
“This says we believe in what we’re doing,” he said. “I’m not going to blow up your money because all of our money is invested with it. I also charge myself the same fee as my clients. It makes me think about the business and being efficient.”
What he’s most proud of, however, is that they’ve created a more holistic company. It does wealth management, but also financial planning, and clients can get their taxes, wills, and powers of attorney done as part of the company’s fee structure. “Our approach resonated with lots of people as they went through this period of time and I think that’s how the investment world will look down the road,” he said. “When we have more empirical data for you, the better we can plan and understand your risk profile, and get you better income and returns.”
Harris is happy where he is right now.
“I like the private business. I feel like I’m helping people in the end. Too many people make bad decisions when it comes to wealth and we want to help them live the life they want to live,” he said. “So, this is about building relationships with people and helping them with their wealth. I feel I’m doing something worthwhile, helping people with the issues they face. It’s highly complicated, but it’s based on trust, and they trust me with their wealth.”
As for 2022, Harris said he wasn’t sure when the world would be normalized again with employees returning to their downtown Toronto office buildings and him feeling safe to fly across the country again. So, Harris Douglas plans to continue its two-pronged approach – reaching people on social media and building the relationships more once they can meet in person again. As for the longer-term, he wants to use technology to grow their assets and then look for the right person to join the firm and become a partner.
“I think if we do all these things right, then we can grow nicely. If your goal is to help people, then I think you will grow, and it’s really important to me to help people,” he said. “If you want your business to be $1 billion, then it’s not about helping clients, and you lose sight of that. So, the size of the business is not as important as helping people, and I think more people will like that and we’ll get more referrals.”
