Firefighter turned investment advisor wants people to tend to their finances while living their best life
Kris Dureau began his journey to becoming a certified financial planner, investment advisor, and one of Ontario’s best wealth advisors for the last two years by being a firefighter and paramedic.
“It’s definitely a different background because most people come from banks or they come from university or insurance,” Dureau, who now is a co-owner of Green Private Wealth with Harbourfront Wealth Management, told Wealth Professional.
“But, I really do focus on planning, not only for tomorrow, which most advisors do, but also on planning for today because, when I was a firefighter or paramedic, it wasn’t the gruesome calls that bothered me.
“The types of situations that really didn’t sit well with me were the dad who puts on a suit and sees his kids in the morning before they go to school and kisses his wife good-bye. Maybe he thinks he’s going to see them go to university and get married and he’ll grow old with his wife through all these milestone events. He doesn’t even think, when he leaves that morning, that he’ll never return because he’ll be in a car accident. I’d be with him when he said his final words.
“What bothered me is: did he really live to that point? Or was he so scared, like everyone else, because there’s so much pressure on saving for retirement, which is important? But, you’ve still got to live for today. Now, I have so many clients who are retirees, and they have the opposite issue. They’re in their 70s and 80s and have a whole bunch of money that will go to the estate. But, if you ask them if, knowing where they are now, would they have done things differently in retirement? They may have been too nervous earlier, but now they may have health issues and can’t travel.”
It’s a key theme that Dureau shares on his podcast, The Ride: Life, Work and Wealth, as he hopes to educate more people about how to tend to their finances while living life. But, he notes that it’s those life-changing moments that often bring clients in. They may have seen friends or family die young and realize they need to stop procrastinating and see an advisor to do their financial planning.
Dureau was a firefighter for 17 years and a paramedic for six of those before he joined the financial industry in 2008. He made the switch because he’d been interested in finance since his youth.
Most of his clients now are pre-retirees and retirees, but he finds many are still nervous about being able to spend money that they’ve saved for retirement. So, he finds a big part of his job is to assure them so they have peace of mind that they can withdraw money or weather market turns.
“That’s a really enjoyable part of the job,” said Dureau. “I enjoy talking to them and assuring them that they’ll be fine, so they can tune out all the noise around them. We go through their financial plan and conservative projections and I show them they’re going to be fine. Then, they’re all smiles and relief. That part I love and can totally identify with.”
Dureau has done about 70 episodes of his podcast since launching it in March 2020 as the pandemic began. It draws on his experience as a financial strategist, former emergency worker, and father. It’s covered everything from financial planning to estate planning for pets, which he said isn’t as simple as people assume. He also enjoys speaking at university classes, such as a recent master’s program for physical therapists, who soon have to run a business.
This year, Dureau finalized his new partnership at Green Private Wealth with co-owner Paul Green, who was also named a top advisor last year. They now share a 14-person team in Burlington and Woodstock, Ontario, which is Harbourfront’s second largest team. Dureau previously also had offices in St. Catharine’s and Guelph, but found clients wanted more virtual meetings, which works well since all of a client’s information can be at the team’s fingertips then.
Dureau said he and Green were “business dating” for two years before he brought his company in. They now have about 750 clients and $420 million in assets under management, but they’re aiming to grow the business to $1 billion, so they can expand their team and bring in more young advisors. The firm already has its own tax planning department and senior level accountant.
“I’m gratified by helping people and seeing the relief on their faces when I can help them,” said Dureau. “So, I’m still saving, or helping, them in a different way. You’re not pulling someone out of a car accident, which is obviously quite severe. You’re saving them with their finances by helping them plan and enjoy life.”
