Tyler Purves of BMO Nesbitt Burns is part of the Wealth Professional Canada Young Guns 2017.
Wealth advisor and assistant branch manager
BMO NESBITT BURNS
Age: 32
Years in the industry: 11
Tyler Purves realized the advisory business was for him while working at a summer job with BMO Nesbitt Burns. Today, he remains with the firm and has witnessed a great deal of change in his 11 years there – although he points out that the core elements of financial planning remain the same.
“I think it’s important to acknowledge that the foundation of what we do – providing our clients with professional advice, acting with integrity and offering a fair value proposition – has not changed,” he says.
While that’s true, clients’ expectations are also higher now, and advisors need to be able to meet them if they want to succeed in this business. At Nesbitt Burns, Purves directs his clients on investing, will and
estate planning, trust services, and private banking as part of a highly detailed financial plan. “The job
demands a high level of organization and a personal touch that perhaps wasn’t always required in the
past,” he says. “The shift toward dealing with fewer clients, but offering a more comprehensive experience, is a big change.”
As the industry evolves, it’s also struggling to attract new advisors – a trend Purves believes will get worse before it gets better.
“The barriers to entry are high and only becoming higher,” he says. “Unlike the legal or accounting professions, which attract swathes of graduates each year, our profession doesn’t have the same type of progression system in place.”
What that means is that young advisors are often thrown in at the deep end, which can be daunting. There is little margin for error when dealing with people’s finances.
“Even with developing advisor programs, employer expectations are high from the outset,” Purves says. “Many firms have instituted high client minimums and are focused on providing a high level offering to clients. Young advisors may not be viewed as having enough experience by high-net-worth clients.”
It’s a quandary that many firms are working on, and Purves has some ideas about how best to overcome it. “Rather than focusing solely on revenue generation, we should focus on developing the skills and experience required for young advisors to serve the needs of sophisticated clients in the future,” he says. “Our firm has recently introduced an advisor mentorship program that allows for this type of arrangement between an experienced advisor and a developing one.”
BMO NESBITT BURNS
Age: 32
Years in the industry: 11
Tyler Purves realized the advisory business was for him while working at a summer job with BMO Nesbitt Burns. Today, he remains with the firm and has witnessed a great deal of change in his 11 years there – although he points out that the core elements of financial planning remain the same.
“I think it’s important to acknowledge that the foundation of what we do – providing our clients with professional advice, acting with integrity and offering a fair value proposition – has not changed,” he says.
While that’s true, clients’ expectations are also higher now, and advisors need to be able to meet them if they want to succeed in this business. At Nesbitt Burns, Purves directs his clients on investing, will and
estate planning, trust services, and private banking as part of a highly detailed financial plan. “The job
demands a high level of organization and a personal touch that perhaps wasn’t always required in the
past,” he says. “The shift toward dealing with fewer clients, but offering a more comprehensive experience, is a big change.”
As the industry evolves, it’s also struggling to attract new advisors – a trend Purves believes will get worse before it gets better.
“The barriers to entry are high and only becoming higher,” he says. “Unlike the legal or accounting professions, which attract swathes of graduates each year, our profession doesn’t have the same type of progression system in place.”
What that means is that young advisors are often thrown in at the deep end, which can be daunting. There is little margin for error when dealing with people’s finances.
“Even with developing advisor programs, employer expectations are high from the outset,” Purves says. “Many firms have instituted high client minimums and are focused on providing a high level offering to clients. Young advisors may not be viewed as having enough experience by high-net-worth clients.”
It’s a quandary that many firms are working on, and Purves has some ideas about how best to overcome it. “Rather than focusing solely on revenue generation, we should focus on developing the skills and experience required for young advisors to serve the needs of sophisticated clients in the future,” he says. “Our firm has recently introduced an advisor mentorship program that allows for this type of arrangement between an experienced advisor and a developing one.”
