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The Advisor Delta™ is your essential guide to mastering the wealth management industry. Hosted by Worldsource Wealth Management, this podcast delivers expert advice, actionable insights, and innovative strategies to grow and elevate your practice.
Join industry leaders for interviews, thought-provoking roundtables, and quick-fire 'Ask Me Anything' Q&A sessions, as we cover everything from emerging trends to leadership development. The Advisor Delta™ is more than just a podcast—it's a partner in your success. We aim to provide high-value industry insights while building a community of like-minded professionals who can learn from each other’s’ experiences.
Start listening today and unlock the tools, strategies, and inspiration you need to elevate your wealth practice with The Advisor Delta™. For more episodes and insights, don’t forget to subscribe and visit us at www.worldsourcewealth.com. And remember, together, we can take your practice to the NextLevel™.
Narrator: Welcome to The Advisor Delta™, the practice management podcast dedicated to helping investment advisors grow their business and reach their goals. Whether you’re looking to scale your practice, streamline operations, adapt to emerging technology, or deliver value to clients - this is the place for actionable insights, thoughtful leadership and innovative strategies. Brought to you by Worldsource Wealth Management. Let’s dive in!
Ariel: Hello everyone. I'm Ariel Magil, Vice President of Practice Management at Worldsource Wealth Management. Now today marks my first time behind the mic as a host of The Advisor Delta™, and I couldn't imagine a better way to debut than by helping kickoff 2026 with a milestone episode featuring our Chairman and President Doce Tomic.
We're diving straight into the big questions with a clear-eyed look at the state of wealth management, what's shifting, what's accelerating, and how future focused leaders are positioning themselves for what comes next. We'll also dig into emerging models influencing the landscape, specifically the registered investment advisor model, or RIA and how it's redefining expectations around independence, service, and value.
But we won't stop at the big picture. We'll anchor everything in practical insights, what advisors can implement in their own businesses to stay ahead in a changing environment, and where the most promising opportunities of 2026 may emerge. So with that dot, say, thank you for being here. Let's set the tone for the year ahead.
Doce: Thank you for the invitation. Before we start, since you are new to the organization, I think it would be good if you took a minute and just give everybody a little bit of a brief history on yourself
Ariel: and what you look to accomplish over at Worldsource. Excellent. I I love to doce and thanks for the question.
So I've been in the wealth management industry for about 25 years now. Actually started out in Vancouver and moved to Toronto 21 years ago. Uh, my journey has been interesting because it's taken me through. Wealth management in a big bank firm, as well as two independent firms like Raymond James, and most recently, I helped launch independent portfolio managers through Purpose Advisor Solutions, which really dovetails nicely with the conversation that we're gonna be having today around the RIA model.
Now, in terms of my passions, I really believe that the client experience and client engagement are extremely important. We need Canadians to understand the value that we present them and embrace us. And so that's gonna be the lens that I'm gonna be looking through as we help create practice management at Worldsource.
Doce: Thank you for sharing that with everyone. We are very excited to have you join us.
Ariel: Now as we begin a new year, it feels like the industry is evolving faster than ever. From your perspective, what's shaping the future of wealth management in Canada?
Doce: So, first of all, you're right, the, the change is evolving and at a rapid pace, much more so. And I think we're gonna see more of that. Uh, in terms of the, the pace of change, for me, there's three factors that I see out here today. You know, one is the regulatory change in Canada where we have former MFDA and IROC coming together, which is a great thing looking at it, creating consistency for the end client experience.
But also aligning a lot of the business components in the industry under one roof, one set of regulations and how we are to manage. The consumer and the advisors together, but that is a significant change that's coming in the, the second really is, to me the, I'll call it evolving consumer needs, but it's really driven by the client and with the access to technology digital.
And all of the information. And now AI, the expectation of how they want to be serviced much more broader based in, um, not just the investments, but ensuring that they're well known for what is important to them and how it is delivered from a value prop. And their expectation for the advisor and their team has really changed a lot and will continue to evolve.
And then the last, uh, to me is as the advisor's business has really changed. It's gone from managing a clientele and building up a book to actually being a business owner, and that adds a lot more complications, complexity in what needs are to run a business, manage a business, but also what services are gonna be provided and how to meet.
The changing needs from a regulatory point of view, and then the consumers as well.
Ariel: Excellent. And, and I definitely find that that business owner versus employee division is, is really important. When I was working trying to launch advisors, I often heard that advisors felt uncomfortable taking on roles that they weren't, they weren't expecting to like human resources when they entered the industry.
Right. And so it's interesting to see how that's going to shape the industry in the coming years. Now you've spoken a bit about your belief in the RIA model, so that's the registered investment advisor model one that's gained a lot of traction in the United States. Now, for those of us who are a little bit less familiar, can you walk us through what that model looks like from a high level?
Doce: You know, in, in Canada, the majority of the wealth business is under the banks. And the banks provide the advisors all of the infrastructure required to run their business, product, services, technology platforms, coaching, et cetera. But the advisors are agents and or employees with that institution.
Doce: Whereas in the US, because of the scale and the size of the advisory network, the consumer, and then. The size of some of these large dealers or wirehouses, they've been able to create that same infrastructure and with their regulatory change where these advisors can fully incorporate, run a business so they're not an employee of an institution.
Doce: Have that ability to have all of that infrastructure created for them, that assistance, obviously at a, at a fee, but to choose those services that are important for their business through one of the warehouses or, or dealers in the US to really be kind of their COO or a partner in their business.
Ariel: Excellent. And so within Canada, maybe we can talk about how Worldsource Wealth approaches things. How are we different from the, from this model? You know, we're really
Doce: set up strategically for the independent network. So I talk about the RIA model a lot because there are many factors of that that we are mimicking in what we are doing in terms of our strategy.
Doce: So if I take a step back, similar to the dealers in the us, you know, our purpose, uh, is to be a partner. To our business owners and provide them with all of that infrastructure that's required to help and grow their business. So it very much aligns to that. Then you have to take a look at that as a strategy.
Doce: What does that mean for your priorities to enable that to happen and, and that's really where we are
Ariel: in our evolution. From my perspective, you know, I'm happy to hear you say that because when I joined, that was what I observed was we're taking the best of both worlds from the RIA model, but having the backing of an institution, which I think Canadian consumers also appreciate.
Ariel: Now, we've talked about the RIA model and how attractive it is. Yet adoption in Canada hasn't really reached the same scale. Why do you think that is? I think there's many
Doce: factors. You know, one, we talked about the regulatory environment. Regulatory environment in the US for many decades has been under one roof to provide that capability, consistency.
Doce: So now with the SO coming under one umbrella, we are now coming into that stage, um, where I see that happening over the next. You know, a year, I'll say 12 months. The second is, you know, the, the US is traditionally very entrepreneurial. They are more adapt to turning this into a business and running that, and it is more natural for that to do so.
Doce: And the environment between Canada and the US is very different in terms of the banks. In Canada, we have a handful of very large financial institutions that have traditionally spoke to safety in their brand. To the Canadian consumer, whereas in the US it's very different than that. You know, in the market Turndowns that we've had in the late eighties, nineties, you know, in 2008 and 2009 and even more recent, you've seen that these large regional and multinational banks, brokerage firms disappear.
Doce: The safety issue and being with the big brand is not the same in the us. And they can point to the dealers being bigger or larger and a lot more adaptable in that aspect. So for us here, the regulatory changes are coming into play. Now the other change with that in the US is that, uh, when they did that, the introduced fiduciary standards and duties, which really means that the advisors are legally obligated to act into the client's best interest.
Doce: While we haven't said that and come out with it, that's exactly where we're going. You know, with CRM 1, 2, and now 3 in terms of full disclosure, how that works, everything principle based, all of those kind of elements that really created that opportunity in the us we see finally coming up into Canada.
Ariel: Absolutely. And, and certainly the idea of fiduciary duty does seem to resonate with consumers. Yeah. Uh, you know, there's, there's an element of trust that has to come into the equation when we're dealing with our life savings. And so I do see that as, as having a, a benefit to, to us as we adopt that. Now we are independent, but we are also a traditional dealer.
Ariel: What would you say that we can learn or we have been starting to learn and adopt from the model and apply to strengthen how we support the advisors at Worldsource.
Doce: The traditional dealers in Canada we're there to. Be a facilitator of the business, so to support it administratively, to help, you know, do the trade reporting, administer all that, and provide what I'll say, traditional back office services versus now where it's evolved to, if the strategy and the understanding is.
Doce: That they are a business owner, then your infrastructure has to be set up to what does that mean and how are the elements of a business as a wealth business driver and build that support system around that to help them grow their business versus help them do a transaction.
Ariel: No, that makes sense. And it's, uh, it's definitely a challenge that we, we have to take on Now when we talk about being ready for the future or future ready, what does that really mean in practice?
Ariel: What are the steps that we're taking now to ensure that both our advisors and our business are positioned to thrive no matter what comes next?
Doce: I, I had some good answers until you said, no matter what comes next, you know, we, you can't predict the whole piece or puzzle, especially more than a couple years out.
Doce: But the trends we talked about really influence how we look at our strategy to support the business. And, and for us, we really have. Okay. We fully believe in this model and that the timing and those activities are driving change now. Dramatically over the next five and 10 years. And so what are the key priorities to support that?
Doce: We have identified four pillars or drivers of that, and one we call evolution, which is putting all of our businesses on a one back office in one technology platform to give them the capability to service their clients. In, uh, any way that they see fit regardless of their licensing and making it easy for them to transition their business how they want.
Doce: And that is a big activity that we're going through. We've started with the IROC side of our business. We'll be doing the same with the Desjardins independent business lines in about four months, and then six months after that with our MFDA business to have it all on one. Platform to take advantage of scale of technology that way.
Doce: Looking at it, you know, behind that, that really enables the advisors to have more automated workflow, digital capabilities to administer the clients service, provide their clients with the ability to go online and see the information they want when they want, and then really focus with their advisors on life events.
Doce: You know, our other key projects line up into. How they're gonna manage the wealth side of their business. So the second one in all particular order is the model portfolios and giving them the ability to institutionalize how they manage their business in a way that when they provide the oversight on their own or through our chief investment officer in, in our division.
Doce: Giving them that ability for discretionary transactions where it's all done at a push of a button rather than having to pick up the phone over a month or six weeks in. Contact 400 clients. The the third area, uh. As we looked at it was we have the MFDA business, the iroc, and then the discretionary part of the IROC business, and then evolving that into the private council business where advisors can fully incorporate their business.
Doce: They run that today, do it off the same platform, but again, take all of that infrastructure and reporting that would be required, do that in-house and allow them to outsource that to their partner. And run a fully discretionary business without having to deal with the regulators and go through their audits and all of that.
Doce: From a business side, I think that is all aligned to help them build and run their business. And then the last one for us has really been, and you've been involved in this since day one, coming over, is the succession planning side of this. We've. Talked, you know, for the past 10, 15 years about the demographics of the client and the baby boomers shifting through, which is true and it's already been happening and we see a lot of that today.
Doce: But the bigger discussion and opportunity for us and our advisors is the succession planning of their business. And you know, you've mentioned you've been in the business 25 years. I'm 30, and you know, when I started, the average age of the advisors were in the early forties. And then, you know, 20 years ago it was about 45 to 47 and then early fifties, and now with us, our average age is 57 to 59.
Doce: So. This is very indicative of the sales force. We believe in five years time there's gonna be minimum 20% less, uh, of the advisors out there through the retirement. So part of this is they provide the advice to their clients when they're selling their business, what they need to do in advance, but having the same program and capability for them and their teams.
Doce: To go through that process over the next five and 10 years, not six months, but how to set up their business with the incorporation. What are the value drivers of that? How to buy, get others incorporated in their succession plan and how to set up their team in the future. And I think those that truly help them see that vision and support that vision with the programs, but also with the financing infrastructure and the tools.
Doce: And you know, for us on our own, before we were acquired by Desjardins. There is no way we could provide that infrastructure and capability and the financing and all of that support. So creating that full end-to-end solution and program for them to have the tools and capability to go out and buy businesses.
Doce: And also set themselves up for their next generation down the road with the proper tax capabilities is essential and I think is a
Ariel: lightning rod. Absolutely, and I'm glad you brought up some of those points. Now you mentioned Desjardins, and I'd like to sprinkle a little bit more of Desjardins in this conversation because I think in many ways.
Ariel: That changes the game for us at Worldsource in terms of the resources, and so I'd like to hear from you, you know, what difference you see that making for our business
Doce: in the coming years. A couple things. You know, it's funny, when we did the announcement, we've always been strong on the MFDA side of the business, but one of the first things that we noticed was on our IROC side of the business that it really gave us that legitimacy in the Canadian marketplace by having a financial institution that is as large as the banks, but with a much very.
Doce: Different history, value proposition, and capability that gave us that credibility where people would come to us with their high net worth clients and feel very comfortable in that transition. I think it was point number one, the second part, and as you know, this year they'll be celebrating the 125 year anniversary.
Doce: And what's really interesting about that is the story about how it started and how well that resonates. If I take a step back and say, look, with our partners, we view them as business owners. When I look at the history of Desjardins, it was created 125 years ago as a cooperative to help small businesses and individuals that couldn't get the financial banking of banks to build the communities that they live in.
Doce: I find that that resonates exceptionally well. Not only with the advisors running their business, but with their clients too. And I'm not sure if this, it's, the stat is still that number, but the last one I I recall is that, you know, 84% of the employees in Canada are from small and medium sized business, which is significantly different from the us.
Doce: So having that brand, that history, that value proposition, I think bodes very well. That principle base, that that's the purpose of Desjardins being the largest financial cooperative, not only in Canada, but in North America. That's their sole purpose, that they're not public. So there isn't this quarterly reporting and everything that comes with that, knowing that.
Doce: And that will be there for another a hundred years to support them in their business, I think really is a value proposition that is very unique in this country and really sets us apart.
Ariel: Excellent. I, I completely agree. Uh, you know, it's, it's amazing how that value proposition aligns with, with our own values and, uh, it's exciting to see what will will come of that.
Ariel: Now, advisors today are navigating new regulations. We've touched on that a little bit, evolving client expectations, which we've also touched on, and of course, rapid technological change. What gives you confidence in the role that independent firms, so not just Worldsource, but all of the independent firms play in helping advisors stay resilient?
Doce: For me, I look at this of, of having the conviction, first of all. That this is coming into play and there is going to be a bigger need and more competition in that independent space to support it for all of the reasons we've talked about. And you know, at the start. But that can't be done unless you have that security and infrastructure in, in financial backing.
Doce: And once that's there, then it really allows them to focus on the things that they do best on their business, which is. Um, bringing in their clients, managing their fares from a wealth and life perspective, and being able to service all of their family goals. So I think it's that combination of that, as we talked about, Canada's 15, 20 years behind, but all of those events are now triggering that capability for sure.
Ariel: Absolutely. Now, when we talk about the advisor of the future and the ones who are best positioned to thrive in this new environment, what are the qualities or capabilities that stand out to you as being critical?
Doce: Again, as it evolves? I think, you know, 30 years ago, 20 years ago to today, a lot of it was about investments.
Doce: It was just performance. What something can do as opposed to. Managing a household, tying it into goals, life events, and, and so in order to do all of that, it becomes a lot more complicated. So the advisor of the future really needs to have a team that has different expertise in all of those areas that can help build and support that, to answer the client's questions, but also to build out the framework to service them properly.
Doce: Report on that. And then bring them and their other family members along through the journey. You know, that is the difference with setting up and running a business versus just managing the money in, or one of them in, in my view. But it really needs to evolve to that, and we've seen that been happening quite strongly over the last half dozen years.
Ariel: Now as we step into 2026, what is, uh, a final message that you would share with advisors who want to grow and evolve through this chapter of change?
Doce: You know, so we talked about the necessity of being adaptable and the importance of understanding the trends and the consumer behavior when we do our strategy.
Doce: And you know, in June we did our review. We brought in a. Consulting firm in KPMG that really did the market scan and we asked them to take a look at it from three lenses. What are the consumer expectations today? How do we look at that changing and evolving and why? What does that mean for the advisor and their business?
Doce: And then what does that mean for a dealer? And, and I think for the advisor as a business owner, really need to understand. You know how some of these trends are coming into place, how to use digital as the right tools, AI for instance, but really, um, client expectations for interacting and service. And part of that too is probably they'll need to get their psychology degree and their computer science degree.
Doce: Joking aside, those are really going to dictate. The capability and giving them the scale to service the clients for what's important to them. And so staying on top of that on an annual basis as we update it and, and work with them, I think will be critical. And then the training and the learning that their teams are gonna require today and in the future is very different than it was five years ago.
Doce: So to stay on top of that and make sure their teams get exposure to that is critical for their business.
Ariel: Thank you Dote. I, to me, adaptability is, is what you're driving at, and I think that's gonna serve advisors very well. And having said that, as a practice management team, the next level practice management team, it's up to us to help advisors and their teams grow into that role by giving them the, uh, the insights and, and resources to, to function well.
Ariel: I say thank you again for joining us to kick off the new year and for sharing your perspective on where the industry may be headed. This has been an incredible conversation to set the tone for 2026.
Doce: Thank you for the invite. I think this has been a lot of fun. I've listened to The Advisor Delta™ and, and the feedback that I've received is the conversations are excellent.
Doce: Advisors love the peer-to-peer discussions where they can learn from each other and hopefully this adds to it. And I'm also looking to see, uh, who you bring on next.
Ariel: Me too.
Narrator: Thanks for tuning into The Advisor Delta™! We hope you found today’s episode valuable to supporting your practice. For more episodes and insights, don’t forget to subscribe and visit us at www.worldsourcewealth.com. And remember, together, we can take your practice to the NextLevel™.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the participants only. This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or professional advice. Listeners are encouraged to seek professional guidance for their specific needs. Worldsource Wealth Management does not endorse any products, services, or companies mentioned in this episode.
Worldsource Financial Management Inc. is a mutual fund dealer. Worldsource Wealth Management Inc. is a dual-registered firm, both as a mutual fund dealer and an investment dealer. Both Worldsource Financial Management Inc. and Worldsource Wealth Management Inc. are members of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) and subsidiaries of Worldsource Group of Companies Inc., a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of the Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec (FCDQ), which is part of the Desjardins Group.