Top advisor on how she and her team manage 435 client household accounts
One of the things that Sophia Ito likes about working in this business is servicing clients to the best of her ability, which she finds is a lot like another one of her passions: rock-climbing.
“Rock-climbing was a passion of mine – just because no route is the same,” Ito, who has been named one of WP’s top 50 advisors, told Wealth Professional.
“It’s an excellent analogy because you think you’re very good. You’ve got lots of experience, but then you’re going up a route and it has a very different outcome, and it requires a little redirecting, so you can get to the top.”
Ito is a wealth advisor and client relationship manager who has been with Nicola Wealth in Vancouver since 2005. She started in the industry in 1998, but has enjoyed working in collaboration with Nicola’s team, which has contributed to her business’s growth and success.
“The way our firm has worked has helped me to continue to be successful, and better at, my craft,” she said. “We’re very collaborative and very innovative with respect to how we manage capital and integrate it with planning, which has really helped me to continue to be better. I couldn’t have done that by myself.
“The advisor model here allows us to collaborate with other like-minded professionals. We’re a pretty flat organization, so you don’t have to go through a number of channels to speak to someone who’s got more expertise. So, I’ve had a great opportunity to continue to work with other seasoned professionals, which has not only helped my success, but also helped my clients because it allows us to bring the best in terms of advice that we can give them when we see them.”
Ito appreciates that as she began her career working with an independent dealer, doing some group pension and group RRSP work plus financial planning. She feels she’s been able to maintain her independence at Nicola while having a more supportive environment than she had on her own.
“I wouldn’t have been able to continue to do what I’m doing if I wasn’t able to offer innovative investments or access some creative strategic planning,” she said. “We don’t just manage stocks and bonds. So, being creative and thinking outside of the box as an entrepreneur is really important to the growth component.”
If you ask Ito what her client base and assets under management (AUM) numbers are, she doesn’t have them at her fingertips because they aren’t her focus. But, when her staff provide the data - $1.861 billion in AUM and 435 client households – it’s obvious where her attention lies.
She likes building relationships with clients and then synthesizing the analytical information, so she can determine, and present, the right strategies for them. “I think it requires good listening skills and good relationship management skills,” she said, “and I care about my clients very deeply.”
She loves the fact no two days are the same and, like rock climbing, she often has to find different paths to reach her desired goal, particularly when factors, such as public assets, are outside the firm’s control. But, it also applies to the fact that each client needs a different solution, especially if acquiring or exiting a business, or dealing with a death, divorce, or intergenerational wealth transfer.
“Having the ability to customize that and create a solution is probably the most rewarding part of my job,” said Ito. “Having gone through the great recession of 2008 and the pandemic, no two Black Swan events are the same. So, do you have the infrastructure to adapt to those change? Do you have an arsenal of investment opportunities for your investment strategy? What types of opportunities are available in your suite of investment options that you can put in front of your clients? I think having a big toolkit is really important. That’s the same on the planning side. Having a very collaborative team allows us to look at something like the federal budget that was just released and know what impact it will have on our clients.”
While she’s set aside most of her rock-climbing while raising a family, Ito loves to travel – but takes the most enjoyment from what she can create for her clients.
“The elements can change, and you have to adjust,” she said. “You can’t have the same cookie cutter approach – the same solution – to the problem because it may present itself very differently.
“Having a deep team behind me – as we have a very comprehensive team of portfolio managers who focus on public assets, private capital, and real estate – helps me to address the potential upcoming challenges to optimize returns,” she said. That allows her, and her team, to do its best to ensure her clients continue to maintain their surest financial footing “You’re always fine-tuning. You can’t get complacent. The financial plan is not static. It has to adjust to the client situation as well as the landscape and environment: just like when you’re rock-climbing.”
