Best Financial Advisors in Quebec | 5-Star Advisors

“Our complete attention and focus is always on the client experience”

Gene KimSummit Private Wealth at Mandeville Private Client

Wealth Professional conducted its third annual search for 5-Star Advisors in Canada’s largest province.

To encapsulate all that’s needed to be a standout performer, our goal was to answer one question: Who are the best advisors in Quebec when it comes to acting in their clients’ interests?

Experts agree this is shown by providing unconflicted advice, along with expert value-added insights around areas such as financial planning, trust/estate, and other complex matters, plus the ability to provide and quarterback smart referrals for specialized accounting/legal/investment advice where needed. Credentials, knowledge, and professionalism all matter.

WPC’s survey data recorded 89 percent of respondents who felt their advisor has gone above and beyond their duty.

Respondents shared their views on how advisors have acted in their best interests. One shared a personal note on how her advisor was there during a time of personal turmoil.

 

“During my husband’s recent illness, [my advisor] checked in regularly to see how he was doing and to offer support and assistance in any form. He is compassionate well beyond what would be expected,” she says.

Other clients also appreciated being guided on other financial matters, which have been invaluable.

A respondent spoke admirably of being sent to a lawyer to have their will drawn up, while another praised being given assistance on tax filings and business questions. Connection was the most commonly cited reason for advisors going above and beyond.

“He works hard to make relationships feel genuine by getting to know clients on a more intimate level,” noted a respondent.

While another added, “He understands my thinking about my finances within my investment portfolio, considers my financial requests thoughtfully, consistently providing good advice based on my situation.”

EY’s Global Wealth Research Report 2023  found that Canadian investors are nearly twice as likely as their American counterparts to switch wealth management providers over the next three years. That number doubles if their existing advisors don’t share the same values.

“This complicated landscape is giving way to new opportunities for wealth managers who are ready and able to position themselves as trusted advisors in the face of ongoing volatility,” the report says.

 

“The advice I give each day gets better and better because of the team I am surrounded by, and the expertise I develop by being exposed to so many types of clients”

David PoliquinBGY Wealth Management – iA Private Wealth

This highlights the need for advisors to instill a client-centred approach.

EY surveyed wealth management clients across 27 geographies, including 500 from Canada. Five key trends emerged:

• Canadians feel managing investment and wealth needs is becoming increasingly complex: Amplified among younger demographics and those who already feel financially unprepared to meet goals. Eighteen percent more Canadians than their global peers say the retirement planning process has increased in complexity since 2021.
  
   

• Feel less financially prepared than other global respondents: Increases among those already experiencing greater levels of complexity managing their investments and wealth. Twenty five percent more Canadian respondents who report higher levels of complexity are also financially unprepared compared to their global peers.
  
   

• Turning to more defensive strategies to meet their financial goals: Clients increasingly see a need to protect wealth and investment returns while facilitating adequate income.
  
   

• Clients are increasingly open to switching wealth management service providers: Less likely to move for technology/digital capabilities relative to their global peers, especially among Gen X investors. Twice as likely to switch if their advisor doesn’t share their values.
  
   

• Most still prefer in-person interactions for a range of services: Although clients show a willingness to engage in more virtual collaborations, more than half of the participants would rather carry out account openings in person or through digital collaborations such as video chat.

Gene Kim celebrates being named a 5-Star Advisor in 2024, following the same recognition 12 months previously. He serves high-net-worth clientele with Summit Private Wealth at Mandeville Private Client and has been managing private wealth and assets in Montreal for over two decades.

“I’m very cognizant of respecting people’s goals and wishes. We tend to underpromise and overdeliver, and that consistency of behaviour modelled over time translates to trust and confidence with clients,” he says.

Having a large asset base doesn’t mean Kim will opt to work with someone.

“Sometimes we run into wealthy families, but it’s not quite the right fit for us, and that relationship won’t evolve into anything more than a preliminary discussion. Alignment is very important, if only to set the right expectations for everybody.”

Also based in Montreal, Georges Achkar works with corporate professionals and business owners with over $1 million AUM at Diligence Wealth Management – Manulife Wealth.

“I’m always meeting with tax lawyers and accountants, things that go beyond my paycheck. I want to make sure that everything is well oiled and working for the client,” he says. 

He credits decentralization, brought about by the pandemic, for allowing him to reach more clients.

“Before we were limited in terms of geography, and we didn’t have a digital system in place, because clients weren’t used to this sort of business. They wanted to meet you in person and shake your hand, but now it’s opened the market, as we serve 200 households across five provinces.”

Proving that working for the client above anything else is integral to building a reputation is also displayed by David Poliquin with BGY Wealth Management – iA Private Wealth

Featuring in the 2024 list of WPC‘s 5-Star Advisors also completes three years of successive recognition for the Quebec City-based advisor.

Poliquin says, “Recently, I recommended to a client that he pay back his debt of $3.6 million. That meant less assets for us, less commissions and fees, but I didn’t care. Honestly, it’s ‘client first’ all the way. The client told me that it was quite different advice to when he was dealing with two other advisors.”

 

“We have a system that works for us”

Georges AchkarDiligence Wealth Management at Manulife Wealth

The CFA Institute’s Franklin praises this ethical approach.

“Trust is a critical element of the client and advisor relationship. This trust can only exist when professionals act with transparency, integrity, and candor,” she comments. “We believe that ethical decision-making is an essential element of financial advice, and we expect CFA charter holders to uphold the highest ethical standards.”

Working with high-net-worth clients, some with over $10 million, brings Poliquin’s ability to combine professional skills with the human touch to the fore.

“My advice is very personalized. I will talk clients through a very wide range of issues, if they want to buy a car, managing their children’s money, succession plans, or even putting their Florida villa into a trust. We can have all these types of conversations in the same three hours.”

Something Kim is an advocate of is running his clients through the hypotheticals, as he is aware that some may overestimate their risk tolerance when making investment decisions.

“Rather than wait for the markets to underperform, we ask psychographic questions such as, ‘What if your portfolio was to drop by 20 percent, down from $5 million to $4 million, would you sleep at night?’”

And he adds, “It’s about dealing with the emotional side of investing to avoid future surprises. Our assessment is quite deep and profound compared to others, and our clients get a very strong sense of the dedication and the commitment we have to them and to their well-being. It’s something we never take for granted, even after 20 years.”

These mindsets are also indicative of what Franklin expects of leading professionals.

“Customer service means understanding the nuance of clients and working to find solutions that meet their needs, whether that be providing recommendations about investment solutions they may not be aware of or understanding their long-term goals and family dynamics,” she says.

 

Carving out a strategy to ensure clients get results is another calling card of the 5-Star Advisors.

Achkar ensures they have a clear picture of the path forward.

“We present them with three important documents – a detailed financial plan, a list of tax and estate planning strategies, and a complete portfolio analysis and proposal. They have a projection of assets for the future, know how to reduce their taxes short-term and long-term, and see every investment to improve their portfolio,” he says.

He takes a conservative approach when investing.

“Typically, we are investing in defensive positions and in blue chip stocks. We’re making sure we’re not following the next best thing, but basing ourselves on solid companies that we believe can weather any storm.”

By surrounding himself with professionals both internally and externally, Achkar delivers growth.

“I’m part of an office that is managing close to $9 billion today. I bring in anywhere between $3 million and 4 million of new assets a month, while our whole office brings in about $200 million.”

Kim has made an effort to be trilingual in English, French, and Korean to be able to appeal cross-sectionally. He has also made risk mitigation a key tenet of his investment strategy.

“Nominal return is one thing because it’s very easy to compare, as you could return 10 percent, but 10 percent with a third of the risk is far better than triple the risk,” he says. “We deliver very pleasing results based on the little risk we take. However, if we decide to use alternative debt strategies, we educate clients on the pros and cons.”

Kim is steadfast about not succumbing to trends or being concerned with geopolitical issues. In 2017, his firm shifted its outlook to adopt alternative strategies largely based on the risk he saw in investing in ‘plain vanilla fixed income’.

“Buying fixed income with the perceived safety at elevated prices was no longer justifiable to us,” he comments. “So, that 60/40 split in a traditional balanced portfolio was questioned, and we came to the conclusion that it was not a tenable situation.”

This alternative strategy continues to be at odds with the Canadian Bond Index. 

“We made that decision to readjust at the right time and it’s proven a pivotal decision.”

Poliquin has also crafted his own winning blueprint and credits his colleagues for enabling him to become a 5-Star Advisor by striving for excellence daily. He describes the firm as being similar to a single portfolio manager with an extensive amount of resources to rely on.

“We’re always investing in research and development, trying to come up with new ideas,” he comments. “We’re highly focused on what value we can provide to our clients and how to differentiate ourselves from other firms. We focus to get better every day and have software developers, so we’re agile.”

This agility has seen them create over 50 in-house software programs, allowing them to effectively target clients with over $1.5 million in AUM. Poliquin and his colleagues at BGY also manage a very successful flow-through shares program, established in August 2022 and aimed at high-salaried individuals.

“We’re now a leader in this space and have done over $100 million as of August 2024. It’s grown very fast,” he explains. “We have professionals using this program working with many large corporations in Canada. In only two years, we now have 132 clients.”

And he adds, “Everyone in the team, including me, is always trying to push things further and to think outside of the box.”

 

There were two clear preferences that respondents shared with WPC. It was to see extra services offered in relation to tax and insurance.

One client commented, “More guidance when it comes to taxation issues. We understand that there are limitations to them providing taxation advice but directing to appropriate resources or information so you can become knowledgeable about it.”

And another added, “Would like for him to be insurance licensed, so he can assist in insurance directly.”

Additional suggestions included pursuing the crypto sector more for investment and developing apps for clients to use.

 

Margaret Franklin of the CFA Institute believes the financial advisory space stands on the precipice of a sea change due to factors such as AI, changing client demographics, expanding and more complicated asset classes, and a broader complex of portfolio preferences such as climate change and sustainability.

She says, “Successful advisors will need to add value by translating client objectives – and tradeoffs – into portfolios that meet competing objectives in a way that clients can understand. In short, they will need strong technical skills combined with soft skills and will need to do this with the clients’ interests first.”

In addition, she is confident the new generation of financial advisors are primed to take the sector on.

“Gen-Z advisors will be able to cater to the desires of the next generation of investors who are increasingly digital natives,” adds Franklin. “I believe there’s huge potential for the next generation within the wealth management space so long as the industry is prepared to embrace their unique desires, skills, and values.”

 

• Francis Sabourin
  
  Francis Sabourin Wealth Management
• Michael Zagari
  
  Mandeville Private Client
• Nicolas Schulman
  
  Gestion de patrimoine familial Groupe Schulman
  
  Financière Banque Nationale