Portfolio manager, equities and commodity futures advisor
PI Financial Corp.
Age: 29
Years in the industry: 9
A finalist for the Young Achievers Award at the 2020 Wealth Professional Awards, Adam Pukalo traces his interest in wealth management back to grade school, when he first learned about his own RESP. “My fascination came with the precious metals mutual fund in my RESP,” he recalls. “I have always wanted to educate investors on how best to position their portfolio.”
After starting out as part of a team of advisors, Pukalo branched off on his own; today, he specializes in helping farmers. He says one of his greatest successes has been “completing, over the last two years, the purchase of a practice with a 98% retention rate of clients.” He was also recently named to his firm’s Gold Club.
Pukalo believes one key to being a successful advisor is knowing you can’t have all the answers. “A successful wealth industry professional is someone who knows their strengths and weaknesses when helping clients,” he says. “No one can be an expert in everything, and advisors need to know when to say, ‘I don’t know the answer to your question; let me find out for you.’”
Looking ahead, Pukalo’s goal is simply to keep helping his target clientele as best he can. “I picture myself, and a future team, being able to help farmers in all financial aspects,” he says. “Many need help with retirement planning, managing their commodity risk, tax strategies and legal advice.”
