‘We can’t take our foot off the gas,’ says veteran advisor

“We can’t take our foot off the gas,” he said, adding diversity is a key mandate in his practice.

Others may be waiting for the big companies to set an example, but he said: “I’d like to see the change starting at home. We all have the ability to do so ourselves.”

While he can see the direction developing in diversity, Dewdney said today’s turbulent environment, with rising interest rates and inflation, the retreating market, and talk about a possible recession, is leaving advisors “trying to make sense of what’s going on.”

He recommended focusing on the fundamentals, but noted those are shifting. When he started, he primarily sold group benefits and pensions to companies, but now advisors have to deal with more of the behavioural and psychological aspects of people’s financial situations.

“Today, what we’re trying to do is solve a problem. We go through a discovery process. We listen to the client, and if there is a gap, a hole to fill that discrepancy, we offer a solution to mitigate the risk or create a plan to help them navigate to their goal,” he said, noting the options includes cash flow, tax, retirement, and insurance planning, and risk management. “The process is more intensive, but that’s where the industry is going.