PRACTICE MANAGEMENT CANADA: Reaching More People On The Radio

8 February 2012   Dow Jones News Service

(c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. 

    By Evelyn Juan 

    A DOW JONES NEWSWIRES COLUMN 

TORONTO (Dow Jones)--Promoting a product is no longer the key tactic for advisers to reach potential clients. For many of them, marketing their knowledge and experience is increasingly more effective, allowing them to cast a wider net and attract people to listen.

"People are fed up with glossy brochures," says Ted Wernham, a certified financial services broker and principal of London, Ontario-based Wernham Wealth Management Inc.

So instead of meeting people just to offer products, Wernham opted to offer a free 2.5-hour seminar four years ago on helping boomers create a retirement blueprint. And these days, he also conducts a radio program every Saturday afternoon entitled "Building Wealth" although his services still include offering segregated funds, annuities, life insurance an critical illness insurance.

At the monthly seminars, Wernham sticks to helping people craft a retirement blueprint. His weekly radio shows that are also archived through online podcasts cover a wider range of topics, such as new tax initiatives, arranging estate plans for a second spouse or the children of first marriage, or government initiatives for old age security. Although he spends roughly C$1,000 per month on both projects, the investment seems to be paying off. Over the past few years, close to 100% of the prospective new clients who call his office have heard him on the radio. Just recently, he heard from a couple who had been listening to his program since it was aired for the first time three years ago. They are now clients. "I wanted to create an environment that would attract people for us to provide knowledge" says Wernham. "It's a process of familiarity."

Jim Brogan, president and founder of Knoxville, Tennessee-based Brogan Financial agrees. He himself hosts a radio talk show every Saturday morning called "More Living with Jim Brogan" geared for citizens over age 50.

Brogan also teaches a two-week non-credit course at the University of Tennessee and Pellissippi State Community College's Hardin Valley and Blount County campuses. The people sitting in his class are often retirees from different walks of life so he tries to cover a broad range of topics that will affect at least 80% of the members of his audience. He discusses retirement taxes, preparing for healthcare catastrophes, legal documents for retirement, how to pass on retirement accounts, and investment and income planning.

He sees heaviest attendance during February and March--when retirees are trying to figure out how to manage finances better for the rest of the year. "It's educating people about what they need to do to be successful" as retirees.

(Evelyn Juan writes about financial advisers and their jobs, with a particular focus on news, trends, business strategies, organizational changes, and regulatory issues relevant to the retail brokerage sector in Canada. She also writes about wealth management practice and personal financial issues. She can be reached at 416-306-2025 orevelyn.juan@dowjones.com and is on Twitter @evelynjuan)

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Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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It is 2012, when those same Boomers either are approaching retirement, or are getting downsized, at the lowest rates in saving history.  The average one year GIC today is less than one percent!

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The Bank of Canada is keeping interest rates at historic lows -- likely for another year.  As expected, the central bank kept its trendsetting policy rate at one per cent Tuesday, January 17, 2012.  But in a gloomy new assessment of economic conditions, the bank implies it has no choice.  In a statement accompanying the announcement, the bank warned that global economy has, if anything, "deteriorated" since its last forecast in October and that risks arising from the European debt crisis have intensified. For Canada, the global weakness will restrain exports and business investment.  We recommend that you “GET SAFE and STAY SAFE” in 2012. Ask us about the guarantees that we can build into your Retirement Blueprint. "While the (Canadian) economy had more momentum than anticipated in the second half of 2011, the pace of growth going forward is expected to be more modest than previously envisioned," the bank's policy council, headed by governor Mark Carney, reported. Economists said the tone of the report likely means the bank won't move to raise interest rates until 2013, and the CIBC said it doesn't expect rates to rise until as late as 2014. The Canadian dollar rose 0.36 of a cent to 98.59 cents US after the announcement as investors assessed the odds of a rate hike in the near future had diminished, while the odds of a rate cut might have increased. Capital Economics economist David Madani said there was nothing in the statement that would make him alter his view the bank will halve its policy rate to 0.5 per cent sometime this spring. Carney also stated that house prices are likely to remain elevated, in part because low mortgages are making even high-priced homes affordable to many Canadians. Last week, the Bank of Montreal led a race to the bottom on interest rates by dropping its promotion fixed five-year mortgage to an ultra-low 2.99 per cent. As well, since the U.S. Federal Reserve has signalled it's on hold with an even lower interest rate setting, Carney would need to see robust economic activity in Canada to risk a rate increase that would have the effect of boosting the dollar. But the bank's mind is clearly focused on external risks, particularly Europe. It said it expects European leaders will be able to prevent credit contagion from spreading, but it warns the risks are increasing. "The recession in Europe is now expected to be deeper and longer than the bank had anticipated," it said. "The bank continues to assume that European authorities will implement sufficient measures to contain the crisis, although this assumption is clearly subject to downside risks." Elsewhere, the bank acknowledges U.S. growth has been stronger, but China is decelerating to more sustainable levels. The bank remains sanguine about inflation risks, although it said consumer price growth for this year will be slightly higher than it thought. Still, it judged: "Inflation expectations remain well-anchored." The World Bank, in a new forecast, also said Tuesday that it believes the global economy is braking, both within the emerging and developed economies. Global growth will average only 2.5 per cent this year, the institution said in a statement from Beijing, with the developed world crawling along at 1.4 per cent.

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