Marquis Firm of the Year: Onelife Wealth Management

Knowledge Bureau is pleased to announce that Onelife Wealth Management has been honored as the Marquis Firm of the Year and will receive this special award at the Acuity Conference for Distinguished Advisors, on November 10 at the St. James Club in Montreal. In this interview with Knowledge Bureau President Evelyn Jacks, advisor Christ Valentine, MFA, DMA, MFA-P, RWM, one of the 26 members in the firm, discusses why this award is especially meaningful.

What does this award mean to you? It means a lot:  our company has been following the Knowledge Bureau for a long time, and we have greatly profited from our relationship with the KB to help grow our company and better serve our clients.

Briefly tell us about your organization or career path. Onelife was started by Bill Holmes over 20 years ago.  I was lucky enough to join them in 2008 when we had at that time 6 advisors.  We have grown considerably and now have roughly 25 people with us.  We specialize in retirement income planning and estate planning for individuals and business owners.  Chris Bockstael has succeeded Bill Holmes as our principle and he along with Marc Ouellet are the main drivers of our growth.  We have also added a group department for health insurance and retirement plans run by Adam Skube and Adam and his crew are having incredible success in helping our business owners with their group plans.

How has your association with Knowledge Bureau helped shape its future?  My company was already involved with the KB when I joined, and I quickly learned how valuable that relationship was.  Evelyn is simply the best at helping us help our clients.  For example, whenever there is a tax change with a new budget, she informs us immediately so we can let our clients know how they will or will not be affected by the change.  We often hear from our clients, “wow I was not aware of that’ so again the quicker we can plan any needed changes the better it is for our clients.

Tell us about yourself – what are you passionate about?  I am passionate about helping our clients understand how to best use their assets in retirement and to show them exactly how their assets will transfer to their heirs, “post retirement” This is a great term Evelyn coined which is a much softer term than at their death!  In our experience people do not really understand how different assets are taxed at much different rates, when transferring generations.  We show people that we can transfer our assets to three different areas, our loved ones and heirs, our favorite charities or CRA!

Why did you engage with Knowledge Bureau educational programming and how did this help you achieve your objectives?  My company was already working with Evelyn and the KB, so I naturally followed suit.  One of the most attractive advantages is that I feel the KB teaches advisors how to speak to their clients in laymen’s terms.  Helping clients understand the bottom line and not just being bombarded with spreadsheets and graphs and investment terminologies.

What was your biggest “aha” moment in your professional educational pursuits that influenced your career direction and/or your personal development?  My biggest “aha” moment was really before I got into the business, it was in 2004 when I was still in the sports world.  My father passed away after a long illness and that was when I saw firsthand how assets are taxed differently in Canada and how many people just “assume” that their assets will go where they want them to go, and they are not completely aware of the tax implications.

What would your clients say about the process you have taken them through as a result of your designation and ongoing professional development? The best comment from clients is when they say, “I wish you had of been helping my parents as they did not realize how their plans would all play out”  The NB has given us the knowledge needed, (no pun intended) to have a process in place to show clients how their financial future will look in one year, in five years in retirement and in “post retirement”

What wisdoms do you have for Advisors of the Future?  For me the more we know of our client’s wishes and goals the better we can help them and the only way to understand their desires is through asking pertinent questions and constantly updating their information.  We need to be quickly aware of any significant change in their lives.