Let's turn the service model on its head – again!

I’m ready to turn the advisory service model on its head once again here at MLD Wealth.

Let me explain why. We previously experienced life at a big bank, which featured private banking offerings with the client in the middle and all these bubbles surrounding them. In effect, this meant a slew of different products and services all competing for wallet share. Instead, we moved away and created a family office style structure that sits above these offerings and co-ordinates these different pieces.

In 2025, as many firms in Canada are significantly growing – either by default or design – it’s the perfect time for a rethink on how MLD scales effectively while still serving clients to the highest level and enhancing the opportunities for my team to grow and development.

Firstly, let’s understand the problem as teams like ours grow. In a trend largely driven by the complacency of Canadian retail investors, people are attracted to a brand or an advisor and seem less bothered by the level of care and service they receive. As a result, many businesses have kept adding more and more clients to their roster. Success begets success, if you will. A lot of these clients, especially the smaller ones, are handed over to an associate and they have minimal exposure to the breadth of a firm’s talent and offerings.

Don’t get me wrong, this has worked for some advisors but there is a risk in a firm becoming all about the top dog when the reality is, they don’t have the capacity or desire to provide a top-level service to all clients. At MLD, this approach makes little business sense and doesn’t utilize my team’s strengths to the maximum.

Take my skillset. I drive portfolio management, positioning strategies, and product selection. This is all the really ‘important stuff’ if you will. But ego aside, nine out of 10 things that are done on a day to day, week by week basis, are handled by the team, not me. I’ll be frank, I’m not a great account manager but I have incredible relationships. I view things from 40,000 feet, and that's the value clients look to me for; the ability to make tactical calls and get them involved in great products and solutions to create positive outcomes for their capital. But to provide an optimum service, I need a team, others with different skillsets to deliver the full value proposition of dealing with a multi-family office.

Putting individuals in charge of groups of clients also makes little sense if we want to scale efficiently. As partner, this may free up more time for the golf course, but once firm fees and the salary of this associate are taking into account, the margins are restricted. If I do want to spend my life on the course – I don’t! – I may be paid the same for doing less, but where is the growth opportunity for that team member? They want to grow and earn more but why would I hand off my full-margin clients and diminish those returns? It doesn’t make sense.

This year, therefore, is the time to alter this structure. Instead of having one person look after a group of clients, let’s tear down the structure and segregate people by the skills they have and the value they add.

I want my best clients to be serviced by all members of my team knowing that this team member is excellent at account hygiene, for example, and this person is a whizz at tax planning, trading, financial planning etc. Initially, a team member might be a Relationship Manager Level One or a Level Two, with different tasks falling into each roles. Crucially, they have the opportunity to grow. As they master certain parts of the relationship management ecosystem, they can graduate or get promoted or work toward becoming a level three where, for example, you might be in client meetings and handle the more complex matters and have the confidence and built relationship to deliver to the client as they have been servicing them for years in a growing capacity.

Using this new structure, clients get an increased level of service and results. Instead of segregating a relationship to one person, we lay the service model on its side and provide a full breadth of service to all clients.