When it comes to managing your wealth, fragmentation can be costly. Indeed, this article is inspired by a story that has developed over the years and came to a head today.
Many investors hold accounts across multiple institutions, an RRSP here, a TFSA there, and maybe a non-registered account somewhere else, maybe even at a discount brokerage, for fun….
While this seems harmless, and perhaps even beneficial to some, this scattered approach, and treating your investments like a casino game often leads to inefficiencies, missed opportunities, a misunderstanding of risk, and a lack of strategic oversight.
Working with a single advisor or advisory team who oversees all your investment accounts isn’t just convenient, it’s transformative, and we believe the best way to build lasting wealth.
Here’s why:
A Unified Financial Strategy
Wealth planning is most effective when it’s holistic. When your advisor has full visibility of your financial situation, they can:
- Align your investments with your long-term goals, retirement, estate planning, legacy and generational aspirations, or major purchases.
- Coordinate tax strategies across account types to minimize your tax burden while maximizing your after-tax liquid assets.
- Manage cash flow more effectively, ensuring your income needs are met without disrupting your investment strategy or reducing tax efficiency.
Fragmented accounts often lead to conflicting advice and strategy, inaction, confusion, and missed opportunities. A unified strategy eliminates these blind spots and provides a clear and coordinated path forward.
Smarter Investment Management
When accounts are spread across institutions, it’s easy to lose track of your overall asset mix and holdings. One advisor managing all your accounts can:
- Avoid overlap in holdings and ensure proper diversification.
- Maintain consistent risk exposure across your entire portfolio.
- Rebalance efficiently, adjusting your investments as markets shift or your goals evolve.
This level of coordination is nearly impossible when accounts are managed in silos except in the rarest cases of professional coordination, of which we have seen one in our careers.
Streamlined Communication & Service
Having one advisor means:
- One point of contact for your needs: questions, updates, and decisions.
- Faster response times and more personalized service with better visibility.
- Simplified reporting: you can see your entire financial picture in one place.
Key life transitions, like retirement, downsizing, or estate planning, are made easier because your advisor has clarity and can coordinate with you effectively during these critical life moments when good advice and execution is essential.
From the Advisor’s Perspective
As an advisor, managing all a client’s accounts allows for:
- Deeper insight into their financial life.
- More proactive planning, since we can spot opportunities and risks early.
- Greater efficiency, freeing up time to focus on strategy rather than chasing down external account details and waiting on others.
- A deeper level of trust and understanding between the advisor and client; allowing clients to benefit most from their advisory relationship.
Consolidation is not about control, it’s about empowering your advisors to deliver a better outcome for you, our clients. Naturally, we encourage you to perform extensive due diligence on your advisory team to ensure they are worthy of this level of trust.
Final Thoughts
Your financial life is deeply connected to the health and well-being of you and your family.
When we go to our family doctor, we expect a coordinated approach with a specialist if needed and we give our health care team full visibility into our medical history to give them the best information available.
Why would we not expect the same from our advisory team and treat them the same way as those we trust with our health?
We believe when clients do, it leads to smarter decisions, stronger performance, greater peace of mind; and most importantly, better outcomes for you and your loved ones.