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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!
Kristen: Welcome to another fantastic conversation on The Advisor Delta. I'm your host, Kristen McElhone, National Vice President, Partnerships and Advisor Experience at Worldsource Wealth Management. Today, we're diving into a topic that many advisors think about at some point in their career, what it takes to transition your practice to a new dealer.
Kristen: Joining me is Mary Warwick, certified financial planner professional with Warwick McLaughlin Private Wealth Management. Mary moved to Worldsource Wealth Management, and in today's discussion, she'll share what motivated the change, how she prepared her team, the support she received, and how she's kept clients' best interests at the center of this decision and this move.
Kristen: Not only does Mary lead a thriving practice, but she's also building it with her daughters and mentoring the next generation of advisors, all while keeping up life on her family farm. Mary, thank you so much for being here today.
Mary: Thank you so much, Kristen. It's my pleasure to actually host you here and answer any questions you have.
Kristen: Wonderful. Let's get started with the big question. Your switch to Worldsource, what made you decide that this was the right step for you and your clients and at the time you did it?
Mary: Right. It's a very fair question because it wasn't a change that we took lightly. So it was going to be a change not just for the staff and our clients, but just a change in the way we did business. Mm-hmm. So for, for anyone who knows me, I don't make a decision lightly. So I always, say, "Well, why do you believe that?"
Mary: Mm-hmm. "Tell me your evidence." So when I thought about who could we possibly go to, it was probably, oh gosh, had to have been at least six months before.
Narrator: Okay.
Mary: Changes had taken place at our previous dealership. There had been a change in the president of the dealership. but there was evidence after six months- Mm-hmm
Mary: that there were a lot of words with not a lot of actual meat behind them. Okay. So this office is very much about being genuine, and you mentioned me living on a farm and owning a farm. Our life is very real. So we, value genuine people, genuine relationships. For sure. So it made us kind of say, "Okay, something's going on here, short story long, I didn't believe costs were gonna stay the same- Mm-hmm... because there, it, it, there was a lot of indicators that it was not going to be a smooth transition.
Mary: Yeah. And then the question became, okay, are we in the right culture still? Yeah. And there had been some blips along the way, and then probably the biggest blips that we encountered was where we had a lack of responsiveness or almost an innate suspicion that compliance actually took the role of a jail keeper rather than actual business en- Yeah
Mary: encouragement. What actually made us go to Worldsource, as I said, I'm a very analytical- Mm-hmm ... person. I took the, uh, report card from Investment Executive- Oh, okay ... and looked at every single ranking, and literally said, "Okay, the ones that I already know I know."
Mary: I know that a bank-based brokerage is not for us. We had no interest in being employees again. We wanted to give our clients a full selection in the marketplace so looking at all the independents, who ranked well?
Mary: Worldsource ranked well along with about four other dealerships. Mm-hmm. It wasn't them reaching out to us, because we do get those- Yeah ... mailings all the time. "Hey, come join us-" "... and we're gonna give you a pile of money." What we did was we reached out, so, and then started the process of interviewing.
For us, again, it was a question of who are the people we are gonna encounter every day? What is the responsiveness of your executive team? And that's where I get to why Worldsource. So it came down to Worldsource and one other dealer. Mm-hmm. And at the end of the day, the difference really was the final sit-down in this boardroom here.
Mary: Mm-hmm. It was the body language and the message that was being sent by the other dealership was very much a top-down parental role. It kind of just rubbed me the wrong way. So when we met with the executive team here, the recruiters and the, the head of, I believe, the sales force, the genuine people that we met- Mm-hmm
Mary: and the support towards the business and the transparency was huge. It really felt like you were... not to sound corny, that you were walking into a family- Mm-hmm ... and people that were there to actually support you. Yeah. Which goes back to the fact that, you know, my husband and I, when we opened this office, my husband is the associate to me, which is a little bit of a, a different, uh, look than a lot of other offices.
Mary: Mm-hmm. But we are a family business. Yeah. So we've enabled... You know, this business has enabled the farm, because any farmer will tell you in Canada it is not a profit endeavor. So it literally comes down to my husband and I and my daughters. This is not just us finding a home for our clients. Mm-hmm. It's finding a home for our family and our clients.
Mary: For sure. And this office is, uh, like- Our clients go from 96 to 18, and I have three generations. Yeah. And there's nobody that's too small because that's their grandchild. Like- Yeah ... that's the most, much more important than money to them. So if I can help their grandchild get good grounding, right? So it's a very family approach here.
Mary: The family that we encountered at Worldsource, frankly, was unique. I've been in the industry since 1987- Okay ... just to give you an idea. Yes, I look very young for my age. But, uh, it was, you know, it, I hadn't seen it before. I mean, I'd worked with some great teams along the way, but there was always someone in the executive leadership that was caught up in hierarchy and caught up in enforcement. And in our industry, uh, compliance is very frequently, instead of supporting you to protect your license and protect your clients, it's seen as an enforcement.
Mary: Yeah. Um, and I can tell you that's not compliance at Worldsource, and it's still incredibly effective because it is engaging the advisor. For
Kristen: sure.
Mary: As opposed to thinking they know what- Mm-hmm ... the risks are to the client and what trouble we could get into. The advisor knows. Yeah. And so when you have that trust, it's like your child comes to you and says, "You know, Mom, what do you think of this?"
Mary: And you're so thankful they came and asked. Yeah. Right? Because you have the opportunity to give your thoughts. That's the same way with- Build that trust ... when you're dealing... Exactly. So I know when I pick up the phone, because I did actually speak to the chief compliance officer last night at 7:00.
Mary: We talked about something that I didn't understand. Mm-hmm. That I was getting an inquiry on.
Kristen: Yeah.
Mary: And we talked it through. Turns out the inquiry- Mm-hmm ... was fair. It just didn't make sense to me. But there's no harm, no foul, and I was able to address it in, you know, 10 or 15 minutes along with some humor and jokes and laughs while we talked about it.
Mary: Right. So I wasn't afraid to do that. I didn't immediately engage- Mm-hmm ... in a complaint. For sure. I just literally said, "Help me understand this." For sure. "Why am I getting this?"
Kristen: Mm-hmm.
Mary: Hopefully that answers your question, Kristen. For sure. I know that was a lot,
Kristen: so. That w- Yeah ... no, it was fantastic. So it sounds, as you talk about how you work with your clients and the generations of your clients, and you work as your family, you've got a very strong culture internally and the culture you share with your clients.
Kristen: Right. And you were looking for something that mirrored or supported that culture- Spot on. Yeah ... and that was sort of your most important-
Mary: Yeah ... uh, point. 100%. Amazing. Because imagine you're, you're looking to bring your office, not just me as the advisor and whoever my- Mm-hmm ... employees or co-advisors are.
Mary: For sure. But the other advisors that work here are my family and people I have known- Mm-hmm ... for years. They're close to me. For sure, and you can't underestimate how important it is and the trust you put in people- Mm-hmm ... when you say, "Here, we're all coming, and please- Mm-hmm ... take good care of us, and don't jeopardize our business."
Kristen: For sure.
Mary: So I wouldn't undo it. I think it's all gone very well. I mean, is, does everything transition happen perfectly? No. But by the same token, you really, you know, there's too many moving parts that things don't c- there aren't hiccups, right? For sure. It's how quickly they're dealt with that matters.
Mary: For sure
Kristen:. Yeah. And sort of going to that, that transition, how did you make sure you were ready, your staff were ready, and your clients were ready to make this move? It's a big undertaking while you're trying to also continue to help your clients on a daily basis while moving your practice.
Mary: Yeah. And it, well, I've always been one for believing in consensus.
Mary: In other words, everyone should be on the same page- Mm-hmm ... and they agree. Yes, I, quote-unquote, "am the owner of the branch", but at the end of the day, everybody that works here has skin in the game because we're, they're all their own advisors. Mm-hmm. So it's not, um, it's not just Mary as an island. So we did actually interview together.
Mary: Um- Oh, great ... so basically once the first interviews were done so I didn't waste time, uh, waste other people's time, I th- when we got down to the last two or three- Mm-hmm ... it became, you know, "I'd like you to talk to them." And then we went away, and we chatted and said, "What did you see?" Mm-hmm. And it was exactly what I saw in that last, that last two- Mm-hmm
Mary: t- two, uh, possibilities- Yeah ... that the other person agreed with me that was with me in that meeting to say, "Yeah. They, it seems a lot more top-down." Mm-hmm. Uh, so it, that was the first part. So you get the staff ready because I very much believe, you know, getting people to actually be part of the change and part of the decision-making- For sure ... ensures that we're all swimming in the right direction. And if people feel like they're cared about, they care about their clients.
Mary: 100%. Period. So yeah, that's the first part was, uh, basically just preparing the staff and the selection. Mm-hmm. Now, as far as getting clients ready for it, because we had to make that decision first, and I'm not saying it was all about us first, but we didn't even know where we were going before we were gonna be in the position of notifying clients what was happening.
Mary: But what they were aware of, and it was something we do reach out to clients much more than once a year. Mm-hmm. Um, a lot of our meetings are by phone, so when advisors say to me they're still doing 80 to 90% in person- Mm
Mary: So that means that I talk to them a lot more. Mm-hmm. And I also express to them my concern about the changes. So they knew what was happening- Okay ... at the dealership because they very much understood as an independent, we choose who we actually- Exactly ... work with as our dealer, and they've been educated in the role of the dealer and the role of the advisor and how even the regulatory bodies- Mm-hmm ... work into it and how they're protected by all the same regulatory bodies. Exactly. If anything, we're even more exposed as independents. So they knew this was going on. So without actually basically saying, "Hey, this is where we're going, and I'm gonna be taking you with me," they knew that a change was coming.
Mary: So when you communicate that to your clients and you communicate- Mm-hmm ... why you're looking, so that was the first part, they knew why we were looking. Yeah. And then secondarily, you express why you're making the change you're doing. We didn't leave a client behind. Nobody was left behind.
Kristen: Fantastic. Yeah. And for you and your team, it's an awful lot of work to make one of these transitions. There's a lot that goes on. You talked about all of the paperwork, all of the conversations with compliance. Can you tell us about how you were supported through that? And how you all made that work in here, because it happens in a pretty quick amount of time.
Kristen: I'm imagining it's very stressful to do.
Mary: Oh, for sure, and it's also, it is a load of work, and it's work that has to be shared. Mm-hmm. Because we work a lot in the derivative space with the capital markets, we are on call when we're on call.
Mary: Mm-hmm. So y- you're almost like you have to constantly be prepared that coming week- Mm-hmm ... you're gonna be needed- Mm-hmm ... and you're gonna have to address an issue. And it's not an issue- For sure ... it's just an occurrence that- Mm-hmm ... requires attention. So it required my then assistant to do a lot of legwork- Mm-hmm
Mary: to put together all the, all the salient facts- Mm-hmm ... about clients to make sure we had it, and even to have things like ID on hand, so to make sure that we didn't have expired ID- Mm-hmm ... those sorts of things. And that's very easily communicated to clients to say, "You know what? We've got a driver's license that's expired."
Mary: Yeah. "If you'd kindly provide us with a new one so that we-" For sure. "... have your current license." Mm-hmm. And again, that doesn't mean that I've communicated in there that we're leaving or changing our dealership. I'm merely keeping my records up to date- Exactly ... so it's as timely as possible. For sure.
Mary: But that assistant gained the exposure at that time of actually being able to know all of these clients- Mm-hmm ... know all about them, and now today she is a licensed advisor, right? Amazing. So she's a licensed advisor on the team, basically doing her own work. So-
Kristen: Fantastic ...
Mary: I'm a big believer that I didn't not get myself involved.
Mary: I was involved with the administration of the transition only to the point that I could. Yeah. I do believe that the role of the advisor is also the role of the administrator. Mm-hmm. Um, I don't believe advisors should actually say, "Geez, I don't know. Talk to my assistant." I do it myself. Yeah. So anything my advisor knows how to do, I should know how to do.
Mary: For sure. That's a redundancy to me- Mm-hmm ... that should be obvious, not to mention, small mistakes can have very big consequences.
Kristen: Yeah. So as you look back on the work you put into that decision, making the decision, and all the work to make that transition, what's the biggest lesson you learned through doing all of that?
Mary: Oh, wow. Yeah, that's a good question. The biggest lesson I learned is that information and communication is the primary, purpose of everything you should be doing, and that communication means, as I said, the clients are informed of what's happening, how it's happening. They know that there's a complete free, communication strategy to us.
Mary: It's not, "Oh, book an appointment- Mm-hmm ... and we'll talk about what problem you're incurring." Yeah. No, it's basically an immediate phone call, text, email, and that issue is addressed immediately and it's fixed. Nothing is smooth. If you think a transition is going to all- For sure, go smoothly, it's called being human, right? Mm-hmm. So there's gonna be mistakes along- For sure ... the way, whether it's us or the dealer, et cetera. So I would say communication, the importance of communication is absolutely paramount. Mm-hmm. That would be... Yeah.
Kristen: Yeah. Amazing. And if there's an advisor out there who's contemplating, "Am I in the right spot?
Kristen: Maybe there's somewhere else for me"- Yeah ... what's one thing they should make sure they're asking themselves as they start to think about that decision?
Mary: Yeah. The question of why do you make a change in your career at all- Mm-hmm ... which is why I'm going back- Mm-hmm ... to being a manager- For sure ... and everything, my role as a people manager as opposed to an advisor.
Mary: One thing I always told every single person- Mm ... that came to me and wasn't sure whether they either were in a job and they didn't wanna stay in the job, or they were considering changing their job and they were interviewing with us- Mm-hmm ... I would always say, "If you have more than one bad day a month, where you've been brought to the point where your day has been ruined, or it's, you've gotten very angry or upset, or you've reached for that glass of wine as soon as you walk in the door-"
Mary: um, if that happens more than once a month, you're probably in the wrong place."
Kristen: I think that's fantastic.
Mary: And when it's systemic, when it's every week there's a ruined day, every week you come home and you're in a foul mood to your family- Mm-hmm and you feel embarrassed about it afterwards, you're in the wrong place.
Kristen: Yeah.
Mary: So for us, the tension that we were starting to feel at our- Mm-hmm ... last dealership, those mes- that message that I always gave people, it just came back to me. It was absolutely 100% we weren't in the right place.
Mary: Yeah.
Kristen: Oh, I love that. Yeah. That's so insightful. So you're through your transition- Yes ... you've been with Worldsource for a little while now. What are you most excited about, about your practice and with your clients now that you're all through your transition and- Yeah, yeah ... and sort of business as usual, in our industry.
Mary: Yeah, so true, right? Because it k- it's constantly changing. It's like following the bouncing ball. Mm-hmm. Like, what... And you do have to stay on top of it as an advisor because it's a matter of people's financial health. It's like a doctor. For sure. A doctor has to stay on top of- Mm-hmm
Mary: what's going on. But what I'm most excited about is the business has its own energy right now, and it has not just the energy of me, it has the energy of six people here in the office. Amazing. And there's, as I jokingly say, there's three dinosaurs. I'm not sure the other two dinosaurs appreciate that, but there's three dinosaurs-
Mary: and there's three young people, and those young people are literally generationally our children's age. Two of them are our children. So I think that energy, the new energy- Mm-hmm ... and the fact that, you have a lot of experience, but they have a lot of great information- Mm-hmm
Mary: and a new way of looking at things that's wonderful. So there's that. There's also the fact that, this month already I've had two client referrals. Um- Oh, that's wonderful ... and literally I'll get a phone call or a text that says, "Hey, Mari, my friend, she lives in Vancouver- Mm ... and she needs an a- an advisor."
Mary: You know, absolutely would talk to her. I would love to. So when you take care of people and you take care of so many parts of their life, and I'm not saying this to brag, but if they're going to chemo, if they need a painter, if they need a renovator, if they're doing wills and powers of attorney, I go with them to the lawyer- Yeah
Mary: and we sit there together and we talk about the things we've talked about- Mm-hmm ... that are important to them. Because it's not the rate of return at the end of the day. When you genuinely care- People know.
Kristen: It's that relationship and that trust
Mary: - It's the relationship ... 100%. It's exactly. And then last but not least, we're actually going into the group, uh, benefits and group savings space.
Mary: And again, Worldsource has been wonderful in that, in that way. We are reinventing the way group benefits and group savings are done. Um, insurance companies basically own that space, and it is basically a plug and play and throw a dart at a board to choose what your investments- Mm-hmm ... are gonna be.
Mary: Defined benefit pension plans are hen's teeth now, so everything relies upon the investment- Yeah ... performance of these defined contribution group RSPs. So we are doing that on a security side. So people will have- Oh ... full service brokerage accounts for their group business, and they will have group plans that are customized- Mm-hmm
Mary: with everything from virtual doctors to v- virtual pharmacy. Uh, so it brings wellness. So for me, it's always been a passion that people... What, what they experience here improves their life out there. So it's one thing less they have to worry about. Same thing needs to happen in the workplace. Because today more than ever, I think there's a lot of information, but not much knowledge.
Kristen: Yeah.
Mary: You know, when should I take my CPP? Mm-hmm. Well, that really depends, and a YouTube video- Mm-hmm ... is not gonna help you with that. No. Right? That's a conversation.
Kristen: 100%.
Mary: So yeah, that's... So that expansion and the young folks that are coming in, the three young advisors building their books, and dealing with their peers.
Mary: Mm-hmm. Like how exciting, right? So true. They're in their 20s and the, the- their, their clients are in their 20s. Like how neat is that, right? That they're growing up with them. Yeah. And while we're growing old with the other generation. But, you know, it's, uh... There's no plans for me to retire. There's, uh... All there is, is me, my role changing a bit, and I see that being more going back to being a mentor and a manager.
Mary: Um, that, that role of manager as mentor- Mm-hmm ... that will be a lot more of what I do this year with those three young advisors.
Kristen: That's amazing. So tell me a bit about your passion for that. I mean, you've brought your daughters in, you've brought other young- Yep ... advisors in. Yep. It's obviously something you care very deeply about, is bringing young people into our industry.
Mary: Yeah. It, uh... I find the, the industry in general has made, uh, entry extremely hard. Very challenging. It's gotten so much worse than when I entered the industry. When I entered the industry, you did the investment funds in Canada course. Yeah. As I was saying to an advisor recently, I said, "Do you remember when you did the investment funds in Canada course?"
Mary: She goes, "Do you realize you just dated yourself over 30 years?" I'm like, "Yeah." I said, "I realize I did." But when you actually have worked with three different names of a regulatory body- Mm ... because they've changed their name three times in your career- Mm-hmm ... uh, you start to actually, you know, say, you know, "How far back does it go, all the experience I have?"
Mary: Blah, blah, blah. But then when you look at the hurdles that our industry is, is making for young people- Mm ...the big players- are really running the system and fixing the system against young people coming in and actually cutting their teeth under a mentor.
Mary: Yeah. I have no interest in, in employees here. I've made that very clear to young people. They do have to have their own bit of runway to actually, uh, support themselves while they're building their book. I do help them as much as I can- Mm-hmm ... even to the point where we're thinking about doing tax preparation here so that- Oh, okay
Mary: they can have a separate revenue line. Mm-hmm. Because many people really need, you know, cost-effective, accurate- For sure ... tax preparation. So yeah, so from that standpoint, I think you really need to mentor the young people. You can't go out there and say, "Hey, kid, at Sun Life, come on over here."
Mary: It's not that you're not hiring a skill. Mm-hmm. You're hiring an attitude and training a skill.
Kristen: Yeah.
Mary: Really critical. I started my career at Canada Trust, and we were the friendly bank and trust company. Mm-hmm. And that is where my... I think my culture came from, where we always said, "You hire attitude, you train skills."
Mary: Yeah. This industry goes out looking for skills. Did you pass the test- Mm-hmm ... already? Here, come and work with me. Is that person a fit for your office? Does that person carry the values that you actually- Mm-hmm ... find important? Will they actually be a good addition? One of the, uh, young people that's doing her courses right now, she's not licensed, so she's another young advisor.
Mary: She actually did her master's in animal nutrition, and she was working as a waitress at a restaurant that my husband and I went out to, and we were sitting there at 2:00 in the afternoon, great little restaurant, and we had been going off- Mm-hmm ... to buy farm equip, which is funny. And so this is- ... how, how it kind of all looped together.
Mary: But she started talking to us because it was 2:00, and there was something about her personality that I found so warm- Mm-hmm ... so inviting, such a smart person, and so warm. Yeah. And it turned into a conversation where I said, "This is what we do. You know, you don't know it now from the look of us going to a farm store."
Mary: "But this is what we do. This is my phone number. It's my cell phone number. Text me if you wanna have a chat." We sat down together and she's starting off by doing her insurance license. So she's doing her insurance course now. Wow. Because it's an easier way in- Mm-hmm ... than going directly to securities.
Mary: Yeah. And that's where we have to bring the right people into the industry- Mm-hmm ... not just the people that can pass the test.
Kristen: Mary, thank you so much for coming onto the podcast today to share your personal experience with transitioning your practice to our dealer. I love how you've blended your family, your forward-thinking about the industry and how we need to bring young people in here, and how that all ties into the practice that you have, and how much you care for your clients, and how all of that ties together.
Kristen: For me, you talking about how it was really about the culture speaks to me because to me as well, that's always been why I was at Worldsource and why I came back to Worldsource. Culture is so important, and the people, and truly trusting in that relationship and knowing that we, we have each other's back.
Kristen: So that was so amazing to hear. To our listeners, I hope Mary's story inspires you to think about how you might evolve your own practice, whether it's at your dealer or just in general as we look at our industry and how it's going to progress in the future. Until next time.
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.