'COVID really allowed me to go Canada-wide and specialize in the type of client I work with'
Gurtej Varn is an award-winning young achiever who found his niche during the pandemic.
He’s positioned his B.C. business, White Coat Financial, to serve professionals in white coats – from doctors to dentists – and it’s been earning more traction since he left Scotiabank to go independent.
Varn, a wealth advisor and the sole owner of White Coat Financial, shared his story with Wealth Professional after winning The Centurion Asset Management Award for Young Achiever of the Year.
He noted that he began as a TD teller in 2015, after he decided he probably wouldn’t have a career as a professional soccer player. He worked his way up to becoming a financial advisor and then investment specialist while he was still in school, studying full-time. Given that TD provided services daily, he also worked almost full-time afternoons and weekends from the time he was 19 to 22.
He left TD when he graduated and worked briefly as a financial planner at Scotiabank, then decided, “I could do a better job for my clients if I was completely independent, meaning I didn’t want to have sales targets. I didn’t want to have quotas. I didn’t want any boss to tell me what product is right for my client. So, I left the banks and decided to start my own business.”
He went off on his own in 2019, just before the pandemic, and launched White Coat Financial in 2021. But, during COVID he decided to specialize with professionals in white coats – doctors, dentists, optometrists, and chiropractors – since they already comprised three-quarters of his clients. The pandemic also allowed him to work on Zoom, so he wasn’t just limited to B.C. clients.
“COVID really allowed me to go Canada-wide and specialize in the type of client that I work with,” said Varn, who is pleased to be growing his practice from his home in B.C.’s lower mainland.
To that end, he’s not just planning to complete his CRM designation by the end of the year, and more designations over time, he’s also studying his niche market. He’s reading books and listening to podcasts that doctors and dentists have produced to learn more about their world. He also has two coaches – a dentist and physician – so he can better understand their pressures and goals.
“If I want to be the best advisor I can possibly be for my clients, then I need to understand them thoroughly,” he said. “Not just the money side, but what their life stages look like, what sort of troubles they deal with outside of the clinic, what expectation their parents have of them, such as do they have parents who expect them to take care of them? A lot of them come from immigrant families, and they’re the first doctor in their family. So, they’re really the saviour.”
Varn noted that dealing with those cultural expectations means extra pressure for his clients, who may also want to send their children to private school. So, he’s always looking for how to update his technology and service as well as his knowledge to provide them with the best service.
“I’m just trying to get better and better every single day,” he said. “Part of that’s a competitive nature, and the other part is I truly feel our job is a sacred profession.”
Meanwhile, he’s continuing to learn. He hopes to complete his CRM designation by the end of the year, and earn more designations after that. But, he’s also reading books and listening to podcasts that doctors and dentists have produced to learn more about their world. He also has two coaches – a dentist and physician – so he can better understand their pressures and goals.
Varn’s sensitive to clients’ financial stresses and vulnerability because he grew up with a single parent on disability who didn’t have any money. So, he also charges a flat fee since many of his clients are just completing school and don’t have any assets yet. Some just come to him for mortgages or insurance and aren’t ready for financial plans yet. But, he serves about 120 households, many of whom want financial planning as well as investment management. So, he manages about $20 million in assets under management.
He now heads a team of four – with him being the only advisor – but he hopes to grow his team as he grows his business. In the meantime, he also spends Sundays doing pro bono financial planning for one or two families a day who may be single parents, people with disabilities, or new immigrants.
“Those conversations are even tougher because they may be on minimum wage with a child. The best thing I can do is offer guidance to try to take some of the stress off, so they know what to do with their hard-earned money and what is best for their situation,” he said. “I think caring and serving are the best way to excel in this field.”
When he’s approached by younger people who want to become advisors, he tells them that the secret is “just take it seriously. To care. As cheesy as that sounds, I really think we’re a very important person in our clients’ lives and you’re there to help them guide their decisions.
“If there’s anyone new to the industry, I tell them we should aspire to make sure our clients can sit back with peace of mind knowing everything’s covered. They don’t have to worry because someone’s got their back.”
