Tom Porteous explains what he and his clients are getting out of the move to Canaccord Genuity
Tom Porteous started his career at an independent firm. The Senior Wealth Advisor & Portfolio Manager at BPS Wealth Management in Vancouver started out with McLeod Young Weir back in 1988, before the banks entered the investment management space. When the banks came in, they did so with an appetite and McLeod Young Weir became Scotia McLeod.
Chafing under the bank’s rigid structures, Porteous and his partners switched over to Midland Walwyn, which was run at the time by Stuart Raftus. Midland Walwyn, in turn, was bought by an American bank and then by CIBC Wood Gundy. For over two decades now Porteous and his partners at BPS have grown their business to $1.4 billion in AUM. This week they announced that they’re going independent again, moving to Canaccord Genuity.
“We’ve been in the business for thirty six years, our team is a high performing team, and we asked ‘where are we best able to offer the service that clients need and want,” says Porteous. “The Bank’s been promising these things, but a bank’s a big bureaucracy, it’s kind of like a government, it’s very slow at putting things into action. We got to a tipping point where we said there are other firms out there where we can better serve our clients.”
BPS works on behalf of around 300 families, and typically ranks among the top money managers using similar models. Their key point of differentiation, Porteous explains, is in the private credit strategies they offer their clients. That private credit allocation, however, became one of BPS’ acute pain points with the bank.
Because of the vehicles used to access these strategies, the bank’s reporting software would classify this fixed income allocation as an equity holding. That meant BPS’ team had to spend valuable time and effort developing reporting documents to accurately explain to clients what they were allocated to. It’s a process that Porteous says should have been automated.
In describing his reasons for leaving the bank Porteous noted a range of small but consequential pieces of frustration. The inability to embed videos in an email, or use Zoom, or use e-signature platforms all added up. While he emphasizes the strength of his relationships with key people at CIBC Wood-Gundy, he laments the fact that legacy systems and patches held the bank firm back.
In Canaccord Genuity, conversely, Porteous says he and his partners found a highly entrepreneurial team that has made serious investments in a tech platform unencumbered by legacy systems. It’s a team that he also has a strong relationship with, Stuart Raftus — who he had worked with at Midland Walwyn — is now the CEO of CG.
“There’s a culture of entrepreneurship, of making things happen,” Porteous says.
“We’ve built a technology stack that exceeds what’s provided to advisors at all the banks,” says Matt Cicci, Head of the Private Client Group at CG, “Combined with that, practices are getting larger to the point where these practices are basically companies in and of themselves. They want to run their practice and serve their clients their way. They can do that now at independents uniquely positioned to support these kinds of business.”
Cicci added that CG was drawn to BPS because they continue to grow, they work as financial planners, and they shared an entrepreneurial mindset. He added that CG has grown from $8 billion to over $40 billion in AUM over the past decade. Their next stage of growth, he says, will be with the addition of more firms like BPS, billion dollar plus practices who are realizing how much more sophisticated the independent space has become.
Porteous adds that there is already an ongoing shift away from the banks. “People talk with their feet,” he says. He argues that many of the more sophisticated strategies and services modern clients require are more easily provided at independent firms whose sole focus is the wealth management business.
The client reception to this move, Porteous says, has been overwhelmingly positive. BPS announced the change to their clients via an email with an embedded video — something they couldn’t do at the bank — and explained to them the things that would change and, perhaps most importantly, the things that would not.
“Clients get the same continuity with us. What changes is the letterhead, which people don't really care about,” Porteous says. “They care about the relationship and what the what their advisors are able to do for them.”
