Younger advisors can help propel their practices into the future – but they must take a delicate approach
In the world of wealth, professional education is a two-way street: just as younger financial advisors can benefit from the wisdom and experience of veterans, the old guard can also learn a thing or two from their juniors.
That dynamic, where young members of the team impart knowledge to their older peers, is called reverse mentoring. For younger professionals, it can be a career supercharger and a way to build strong work relationships. And as two voices told Wealth Professional, there are certain considerations to be made.
Mathieu Ouellette, an investment advisor at BMO Nesbitt Burns (pictured above, left), takes an attitude of gratitude by reciprocating the support he’s received from mentors.
“I’ve been very fortunate to work with so many great superiors and more experienced colleagues,” says Ouellette. “I realize they’re busy, and they have a lot on their plate. … They’ve helped me so much, and I want to give back any way I can.”
Bringing practices into the future
Erik Wachman, a financial planning advisor with the WWH Financial Group at Assante Wealth Management (above, right), says his father is the only senior advisor at their Ontario-based practice.
With the recent hiring of two other younger advisors to help grow their existing client base, Wachman says there’s plenty of opportunity for give-and-take between the experienced veteran and his charges – but the new blood must listen first.
“As a junior advisor, you’re there to make sure that you can support the existing group of clients,” Wachman says. “There’s a lot to learn from a senior advisor in that regard – how they speak to clients, how they go about dealing with issues, and how they go about planning.”
It’s no secret that the wealth industry has changed drastically over the years thanks to the disruptive influence of technology. With more drastic changes happening in the past five years than perhaps in the previous 20, younger advisors can help their older colleagues adjust to the times.
“There’s a lot of power in having an online profile. That might seem basic to a younger advisor, but some old-school advisors might not appreciate the value of being on social media,” Ouellette says. “Whether it’s having an up-to-date website, being on LinkedIn or other social media platforms, or having podcasts, you want to get your name out there as much as possible.”
Wachman shares how during COVID, the WWH Financial Group started to hold Zoom webinars with their team and guest experts, with invitations sent across their client base. They’d make video recordings of those webinars, then use them to create audio-only podcasts. All told, they were able to leverage between 15 and 20 different webinars into content that elevated their newsletters for clients.
“We were basically making a content creation machine, and we found it worked very well with older, more seasoned advisors when we made it extremely easy for them. All they had to do is click a link and show up,” he says. “If you have these ideas and do a lot of the legwork so your senior advisors don’t have to wrack their brains, you’re setting yourself up for success.”
Another win, Wachman says, came from their adoption of Calendly. While many senior advisors may have gotten used to setting meeting appointments by phone, he’s seen significant improvements at their practice after clients were empowered to book meetings online.
“I feel a lot of younger advisors can step in and show more seasoned advisors – who may be used to doing business a certain way – that there are efficiencies to be gained from technology,” Wachman says.
“With the rise of AI, there are a lot of tools to let advisors and their teams streamline how they run their business, so they can focus on more meaningful tasks like getting in front of clients and listening to their concerns,” Ouellette says.
First, be humble
While younger advisors could help raise the bar of client service by making suggestions, they would do well to approach things delicately. For Ouellette, it’s about not overstepping your status, which means not using the term “reverse mentoring” altogether.
“I have colleagues who have 30 or 40 years of experience on me, that I want to give back to. But they’re also aware that nobody knows everything … Two heads are better than one,” he says. “I think it’s not about one person knowing more than the other. It’s just about having a different perspective and thinking about how to do things better.”
Some rookie advisors might be excited to act fast and overhaul their practices right away. But the right approach, according to both Ouelette and Wachman, is to first act as a mentee: seek out a seasoned advisor you respect and take in the wisdom they’ve acquired from building their book of business. Only after building that relationship, they say, can junior advisors start sharing their thoughts on how to innovate the practice.
“I would caution against trying to revolutionize the whole practice as you’re starting,” Wachman says.
“I’d say first, build trust by looking for ways to improve things day-to-day. … Over time, you’ll be in a position to share your grander vision of where things could go in the future.”
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