SVP and head of business development explains how the firm is planning to grow its base of advisors, starting with two key hires
IG Wealth Management hired two new VPs of business development this week as the firm works to bring on more experienced advisors. Stéphane Dulude has been hired as vice-president, business development for Quebec and the Atlantic provinces and Matt Andrews has joined as vice-president, business development for Ontario. Both will report directly to IG’s SVP of business development, Herp Lamba, and will help the firm in its next growth plan, as stated in a press release: “attracting top-tier, experienced advisors.”
Following the announcement of these hires, Lamba spoke to Wealth Professional explaining exactly what that growth push will look like. He outlined the qualities he believes makes IG attractive for advisors and highlighted what his firm is looking for in the advisors they’re taking on. He laid out that this growth plan for IG follows from years of internal transformation at the firm.
“We’ve gone through a pretty massive transformation over the last six to seven years, as we’ve gone from Investor’s Group to IG Wealth Management. We’ve transformed virtually every part of the organization with a real focus on creating a best in class, holistic, wealth planning platform,” Lamba says. “Now we’re coming out the other end of that and I’m proud to say that it’s really resonated with our network…Since 2020 we’ve onboarded over 400 experienced financial advisors from other firms and what we want this business development team to do is to amplify who we are today.”
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Lamba says that the advisors IG is now looking for are those who are focused on planning. He says the firm is looking to grow through thriving practices that want to address complexity in their clients’ lives. Those could be advisors from independents, or big brokerages. He also takes some pride in the diversity of IG’s hires to date, noting that 40% of the new advisors IG has taken on are women. That, he says, is more a product of who is attracted to IG than any targeted hiring practices on their part.
Lamba’s case for IG extends beyond just culture and personal fit. He notes that their recruitment strategy is informed by past joiners who tend to say that they lack support and adequate compensation at their previous firms. Lamba says IG offers a competitive compensation package, and transition loan program. He notes that the firm has invested heavily in its support systems as well.
IG’s tech stack is full of tools that Lamba believes puts IG among the best equipped firms in the country. That includes Conquest as their financial planning software, as well as CapIntel — a proposal tool — and Nesto for mortgages. Their system is also digitally integrated, meaning their tools can talk to one another which Lamba believes can help advisors save time and eliminate redundant work.
Within that tech stack and automation there has been a focus on compliance work and expediting those administrative tasks. Client meetings are automatically added into contact management software. Transactions come with automatic alerts to ensure all compliance requirements are met, too. Lamba says their approach to compliance is more focused on simplicity and automation, which he hopes will attract more advisors who want a less onerous compliance experience.
For all they claim to offer prospective advisors, Lamba and IG do have expectations for anyone they take on. Namely, they expect their advisors to deliver a comprehensive financial planning experience to clients. They ask prospective advisors why they’re considering IG and outline that the expectation is to do holistic planning work. They also expect advisors to commit to additional education, through what Lamba calls their “IG University” program to bolster education and help advisors gain additional industry designations.
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With new business development VPs and a renewed push to hire experienced advisors, Lamba hopes that IG can grow its presence in the Canadian industry, turning an infrastructure they’ve built for years into meaningful growth.
“As an organization we are very focused on still being the leader and continuing to separate ourselves in the industry, because I think we have the size and scale to do it,” Lamba says. “When you think about our growth strategy, we’re focused on building the infrastructure for this, which we will continue to evolve. We’ve built it to be attractive to many in the industry who want to do their very best work for their clients and for themselves.”
