Client focus is paramount but portfolio manager is also training next generation
Craig Baun loves what he does – especially after a great year expanding his business - but he's also got one eye on future. Not only is he focused on growth but he's also ensuring advisors on his newly expanded team are ready for an eventual transition.
“I’m in the twilight of my career, and I absolutely love it,” Calgary-based Baun, a senior investment advisor and senior portfolio manager for the newly renamed Baun & Pate Investment Group with Wellington-Altus, told Wealth Professional. “But Mike (Pate, his new partner) and I each have close to three decades of experience now managing money and our team can learn from us because transitions take five to 10 years and we want to make the journey as smooth as possible. While we’re advising clients on their wealth, we’re proactively managing our business to be successful and continue to provide this depth of service.
“I like bringing on clients and exceeding their expectations. It’s about giving back and training the next generation of high-integrity advisors to make sure that everything they do ensures that the clients’ best interests are paramount. We’re part of a team, and we work together, but we’re only as good as each other. So, ‘every client wins’ is our common theme.”
Baun’s business continued to do well in the pandemic, but he joined forces with Pate last September. They began working at Wood Gundy on the same day 25 years ago, and worked together for 20 years. He said it’s been one of the smoothest partnerships since Pate joined him from Scotiabank. Baun had transitioned to Wellington-Altus three and a half years ago. The union has grown Baun’s team from seven to 11 members – four of whom are other advisors. The business now serves 650 households and will soon have $2 billion in assets under management.
He noted that part of the impetus for forming the partnership was getting a little more work-life balance in his 60 to 70-hour weeks, so he could spend more time with his young family. He likes the fact that the newly expanded team means he or his team members can take a 10-day spring break and know that clients will still be well served.
Baun is an open book and confident in what he does, but he’s proud that he can be strong, but vulnerable and listen to others. He said it’s also important to be humble and keep learning from everyone around him – his children as well as co-workers – and teaching them to also step out of their comfort zone, so they can also grow their confidence as well as experiences.
He did that when he took on the “Money Matters” Global-TV business show in Calgary three years ago. He said he’s never focused on marketing, but continually grown his business by serving the clients who come to him – some from his media exposure. He still has a cross-section of clients, but the firm now is focusing more on serving high-net-worth clients – those with $1 million or more.
“I love this business and have no interest in taking shortcuts,” said Baun, who, like Pate, is a portfolio manager. “We’re about making the journey as smooth as possible and providing superior returns over the long run. We have a very holistic approach. We do financial planning for pretty much all of our clients who need or want it, and we’re very service focused. We always try to staff more people than we need.”
His key for dealing with what’s happened with the pandemic, market volatility, and impending recession is to focus on shorter time-periods and remind his clients that “this will pass, whatever the event is, and to keep in mind that we’ve designed good product strategies".
“We put all of our effort into how we treat clients. A lot of people say that, but very few follow through and make it happen. Every person on my team comes from a different background with different experiences and different expertise, but they all share one trait, and that’s to very consciously focus on doing their best to make sure clients are happy,” said Baun. “We’re very disciplined and we take the emotion out. We also keep communicating with our clients.”
Baun is pleased with what he’s been building, especially since he moved to Wellington-Altus.
“The client money is safe. Yet, we have the freedom to help clients achieve their goals with the best products, no matter what. The company’s owned by advisors, so they want us to be able to build the business longer-term with our clients. It’s refreshing,” he said, noting that Wellington-Altus takes care of all the technology and back-office requirements, so he can focus on clients and build even more rapport and trust with them.
But, he’s also excited about where his newly reconstituted company is headed. “We have some plans for our growth, which I think is going to accelerate,” said Baun. “We’re attracting some amazing people who have been in the business for 10 to 20 years who recognize the industry is changing and you need a team of professionals behind you now. There’s so much compliance and so much need for information technology. There’s so much you need to know to deliver the value the services that your clients need that we’re pleased at where we are now and excited about where we can grow in the future.”
