How can the industry create more young advisors?

 

David Kitai  00:00:03 

Canada's financial advisory landscape is evolving with a critical need for young talent. As seasoned professionals retire today, we spotlight Christian Battistelli from Assante Financial Management Ltd., a shining example of the new generation of advisors driving our industry forward. Canada needs young advisors between an aging population and an advisory cohort retiring en masse. We are leaving assets unmanaged and clients unserved, but there is hope as more young people choose a career in financial advice. At WP we publish our annual Top 40 Under 40 list to celebrate those young advisors and financial services professionals moving our whole industry forward. Christian Battistelli is one of those young advisors. Christian is a Senior Wealth Advisor at Assante Financial Management Ltd., and he joins us today to discuss his career and the path for young advisors. Christian, welcome and congratulations.  

Christian Battistelli  00:01:00 

Thanks for having me. David.  

David Kitai  00:01:01 

So Christian, what made you want to become an advisor? 

Christian Battistelli  00:01:05 

Well, you know, I was able to get into the industry initially through my mother in law. Sandy page, just had an opportunity to work with her over the summer. But you know, I really fell in love with it after my first one on one client meeting. So after being able to see the impact you can have in people's lives, and being able to sit across the table from someone and give them a peace of mind that they don't have to worry about their finances and they could focus on other things, in this case, it was actually a fairly serious illness in the family, you know, that relief and that impact, that's what really made me fall in love with being an advisor and kind of being that person, and having that role in people's lives. 

David Kitai  00:01:45 

The altruism of it, the ability to help, the ability to, yeah, to give someone, I think, when I talk to advisors about it, you know, taking away that one worry, right, that one aspect of life that's a little bit harder, you know, that makes everything else a bit more bearable, is, I think it's a common story, but it's a beautiful story, and it's one, it's one that I'm glad sort of resonates with you, but you're also, you know, a young person in this industry, and you've come up in some challenging years. You know, I think from one millennial to another, we keep living in unprecedented times. So what are some of the hurdles and challenges that you faced as a as a young person in this industry? 

Christian Battistelli  00:02:21 

You know, it's funny, I get a lot of comments about how young I look, despite, you know, our two kids now, I do have a bit of a younger complexion. And, you know, I find a lot of the business owner clients I work with are looking for gray hairs and an advisor. But what I've really found is they're actually just looking for good ideas. And I know our team has that, and our with the solid process we have and the experience we have in the background. So despite not having as many gray hairs, I do have a few there are sprinkled in there. That was typically one of the bigger hurdles is just how young you look. And when someone's trusting you with their life savings and their financial future, they oftentimes want to know that they have someone with experience, and it takes getting over that initial hurdle and having a few conversations before you can really make someone comfortable in your expertise. And of course, not having gray hairs can make that a little more challenging.  

David Kitai  00:03:14 

I'm sure, and I know that from my own experience in my field, but I'm curious about some of the advantages you think you bring as a younger person, or even just as a younger perceived person, what are some of those advantages you think of giving you a leg up?  

Christian Battistelli  00:03:30 

You know, you mentioned that we've gone through kind of some unprecedented time after unprecedented time the last few years, but at the same time, there's been a lot of excitement. There's lots of new technology and lots of new things coming out and AI and, you know, all of these great tools that can really help our clients. And being a younger person who's more comfortable in that environment, we're really well equipped to be able to help it, make use of it for our clients. And there's so much changing on the technology side, and there's also so much new information, new tax law changes, and being able to stay on top of that, and having that drive and that curiosity as a younger person is a huge advantage, I find. And really the kind of the easiest one is the fact that, you know, we're going to be with clients for life, most of the time, if you're working with an advisor who has gray hairs, you know, generally they're in the same age demographic as you, and if you're talking about retirement planning, chances are they're not too far off from retirement themselves. So, you know, at some point there's going to be a transition, but with someone in my situation being a bit younger, you know, I know that I'm going to meet with my clients for decades to come, and they're not going to worry. You have to worry about finding another advisor, which for clients is a lot of peace of mind.  

David Kitai  00:04:42 

Yeah, I think you've touched on an interesting and kind of common theme that I've heard, not just among financial advisors, but accountants, some lawyers even physicians, where they say, you know, a lot of older clients and patients want their advisor, their accountant, their doctor, to actually outlive them because they want to take care of a family legacy. And, and it's such a notable example of of, you know, especially when you're looking at, will my kids, will my grandkids be cared for? You can stand as the personal example of, I'll be there to help, right? 

Christian Battistelli  00:05:12 

And with younger people, it just, you can have such a difference. You can make such a big difference in their lives and really change their trajectory. So not only being able to work with parents, but to be able to provide those next generations with good financial advice from the beginning is just again. It puts them on a completely different path and helps them avoid some of those earlier challenges you can run into as a young person you know, developing in your career. So just being able to connect with both generations, I find is a huge advantage.  

David Kitai  00:05:42 

Totally. So you're leading neatly into my next question, which is around, kind of how you've differentiated yourself and how you've set yourself apart within your business. 

Christian Battistelli  00:05:51 

Yeah, well, really simply, as a business owner who works with business owner clients, we built the practice around what I would want as a business owner, if I were going to an advisor, what would I look for? And, you know, one of the first things is, you know, as a business owner, we've got a lot on our plate. You know, we're the CEO or the CFO chief, janitor, you know, head, bottle washer, all of those things. And we, when we look at somebody who we want to guide us on a financial side, we want somebody that we can lean on, who's just going to be able to take care of things for us, is going to take accountability to getting answers to complex questions. You know, someone we can pass that baton to, and they're going to run with it, and they're going to bring it to you know, our accountant, our lawyers and everyone else on our team of professional advisors that's necessary in order to get that answer, and is going to give it to me in a way that's simple, easy to understand and easy for me to make a decision on, and that's really how we've set up our firm. So we've, we've set it up to work very closely with our clients, other professional advisors, as well as having that team aspect on ourselves. You know, having five seasoned advisors, part of the team, you know, a team of 11 total, as well as all the expertise we have through the Asante network and our professional partners there, you know, being able to pull all that together and have our clients be able to lean on us, that's something that our clients have told us countless times. It's just for them. Again, it comes back to the peace of mind they get knowing that, you know, here's something that I need to deal with. Can you get me an answer on it? And we take it from there.  

David Kitai  00:07:22 

That's fascinating. But you know, as you say, you are a business owner, but no man is an island. You you achieve this after years, sort of coming up, starting with that summer job. Do you have any kind of key mentors along that helped you along the way? And if so, what were kind of some of the key lessons they taught you? 

Christian Battistelli  00:07:39 

Well, I was very fortunate. I married into a family of financial advisors. So my mother in law was an advisor, my father in law was an advisor. And, you know, I worked with my mother in law initially, and she taught me what it meant to be a real advisor, and how important that role really is. It's not about just managing the investments you are their go to person when it comes to their financial future, and we know that finances are really the foundation of everything, especially in that retirement phase. And the impact you can have, like I said earlier, is just incredible, and that take that's a lot of responsibility, so I fully credit her with just showing me the rope, showing me how to do the job properly, I would say, and to really cover everything and how important it was to do that, and how important it was to, you know, be that number one person in that first call they make when something happens. So she really set me up on a great path. And then, as part of the Financial Planning Association of Canada, I've been a member there since it started. There's so many knowledgeable advisors there. Jason Pereira, Jason watt, who is an educator with Business Career College and the forum there is just filled with very seasoned, very veteran and very skilled advisors. And being able to lean on them and come to them for mentorship and advice and guidance has been a huge resource for me, not only just coming up in the industry on the technical side, but also just on the business side as well. And those advisors, through through F pack, those financial planners, have been an incredible resource for me. 

David Kitai  00:09:13 

That's fascinating. And you know, we love to hear a positive story about a relationship with a mother in law. So it's a much maligned category, and something that, I think you know, especially as sort of a career instructor, to have that that overlap between family and professional advice, it can be so, so powerful for people, and it's really great to hear that it was, it was so instructive for you. But beyond those individuals, and you mentioned this a little earlier, about about, sort of what Asante has done for you, you have a firm that's backing you up and and backing you up as you've grown as a young person, and maybe you've encountered those conversations with someone who wants an advisor with some gray hair. So how has Assante Financial Management Ltd. supported you in your growth as an advisor? 

Christian Battistelli  00:09:55 

Well, I have to mention Jody guilt, who's Assante Financial Management Ltd. is VP of advisor engagement. She's been incredibly helpful in just helping me get involved with different initiatives at Asante, connecting me with other advisors within our network, because we've got a phenomenal group of advisors at Asante. I may be a little biased in saying that, but I know I've really gotten to know some of Assante Financial Management Ltd. top advisors recently, and be being able to network with them, and it's just incredible the experience they have and the expertise they have. And I fully credit Jody for putting me in touch and connecting me with a lot of these people to be able to support my development. And, you know, giving me opportunities to participate in Assante Financial Management Ltd., National Technology Council and different initiatives like that, and just the exposure. And, you know, they've been an incredible help in terms of getting my, you know, the career going, and getting that experience and expertise. 

David Kitai  00:10:46 

As amazing as your growth and your career has been, and all of the different people have supported you and all of the different places that have brought you here, we're seeing a trend in the industry that a lot of young people don't end up taking up financial advice, at least not at the rate that older generations did. Why do you think that is from your perspective as a younger advisor?  

Christian Battistelli  00:11:08 

So why don't people necessarily come into financial services? 

David Kitai  00:11:12 

Financial advice, specifically, even you might see a lot of people going into financial services, but they go into a sales role, or they go into maybe a portfolio management role or something on the sort of fund manufacturing side, but the client facing financial advice, at least, from what I've read and seen, has not had the same rates of growth of young recruitment. Do you have a sense of why that is?  

Christian Battistelli  00:11:35 

Yeah, you know what? I think, to be honest, the model for how to get started as an advisor in the industry is broken at the end of the day. You know, we are a profession of advice, our professionals, really, and it's the model should be a little more like doctors and lawyers, where you have a residency or an articling phase, that you get experience, you know, working with clients under working with the technical details, situations, understanding, you know, how fast things can change with a client's life, and learning really how to be a good advisor without the kind of business development side of things out the gate. Because I think traditionally, you know, our industry started in kind of more of a sales environment, and so that's how you get started. You the best sales people were the ones who survived. And you know, now I think it shifted a lot more where it's not necessarily about the products anymore, and technology has really helped with that, and it's now about the connection and the advice. And I think we need to be more aligned with those other professionals like doctors and lawyers in terms of how we get advisors started in the industry, and that can be done through internships and clear career paths within companies where you can start as maybe an associate supporting on files like I did, and move your way up into a more direct client facing role, and slowly get used to that client facing responsibility, until you have the confidence and the network to be able to start your own firm, or maybe you take On a group of clients from your existing firm, and that's really where I feel like the gap is, is there's still a lot of younger advisors, or younger people who think, well, if I can't go in and sell, then I'm not gonna be able to survive. And I really think we need to shift that on its head and look at it more like a res having an initial residency program, and a career path that eventually can turn into kind of that firm ownership side. 

David Kitai  00:13:27 

That's such a fascinating take. And you know, it aligns so much with what I've been hearing from other advisors, from firm CEOs, from coos. You know that this industry is in a transition from its origins distribution business to a services and you know, as as they make that transition, firms are going to have to find a way to model themselves after other successful service industry. So, you know, and you've outlined this to some degree, but I just want to know, sort of explicitly, you know, what would you say advisory firms can do now to support more young people to to bring them into that pipeline and then take them on that next stage of, okay, you're interested in the career. How do we really get you started? How do we, you know, get you sort of built up and becoming an advisor.  

Christian Battistelli  00:14:10 

You know, one of the thing that myself and my partners are working on is exactly kind of what I alluded to earlier, creating that clear career path. It's you start your entry level job is here, you know, you're a client service assistant. Maybe you're working doing some of the paperwork learning, kind of the weeds of the business. And then you move up into an associate role, where now you're supporting on more the technical aspect, and you're having to look at the advice a little bit more and kind of get involved with that side. And then you become maybe a lead advisor, where now you're managing relationships and kind of slowly being able to work your way up and understand the different levels and, you know, the different pieces and different skills that are involved with, you know, not only being technically proficient, but also being able to sit across from someone who's got, you know, a very serious challenge that they're faced with that's very stressful, and that's. Finances can be and so being able to slowly develop those different skill sets over time through a very clear career path, it gives them the opportunity to know that, hey, I'm going to come into this, I'm going to have a good salary that I'm going to be able to be comfortable on and learn the position and not worried about, okay, who in my natural network, can become clients. You can learn the ropes first, and again, we're trying to do that with internships that we have different with different financial planning programs in Ontario, and then being able to draw out that career path for them. Say, Hey, you start here as an intern, then you can move up to this role. And this is kind of eventually, how you could be a lead advisor, or even potentially a partner in the business, if, if that's a road they want to go. So I think creating those clear opportunities for people and helping them understand what that path looks like beyond more of a handshake, yeah, you'll help someday. You know, having it clearly laid out is, I think, something that's going to be, you know, very important for those younger people who are coming into the industry. 

David Kitai  00:16:02 

Okay, well, Christian, you've taken us from your start in the industry, and the help you got and the exposure you got through your mother, mother in law, into actionable, concrete steps that this industry can take going forward. So I think you've brought us to a very neat place. And with that, in fact, I will say that is all the time we have, and so we're gonna have to end the conversation there. But Christian, thank you so much for sharing your insights and your story and a little bit of guidance as to how this industry can move forward. So thank you.  

Christian Battistelli  00:16:32 

Thanks for having me, David.  

David Kitai  00:16:33 

And thank you to all of our viewers for WPTV. I have been David Kitai. Have a great rest of your day.