Leaders explained why they’ve joined a partnership network
ZLC Wealth has stood through a long series of changes. The boutique wealth management firm in Vancouver was founded in 1946 by current CEO Garry Zlotnik’s father, initially as an insurance business. Zlotnik joined the family business 45 years later in 1981 along with then-partner Peter Lamb, establishing the Zlotnik, Lamb, and Company (ZLC) brand. The business that originally focused on insurance solutions for high-net-worth individuals grew in sophistication along with their clients, branching first into the mutual fund business before becoming a full-service investment and financial management firm. Now, 45 years after Garry Zlotnik joined his family business and 90 years after the firm was first founded, ZLC Wealth has joined Q Wealth Partners.
Zlotnik, firm President John McKninney, and CFO Michelle Richier explained why they made this transition. They explained how the various changes they’ve witnessed in the industry prompted the search for a new partnership network and how they aim to preserve the legacy of their firm in the context of that partnership. All three stressed the value they see in Q Wealth as a partnership platform that can support their operational needs while they retain their independence.
“The bottom line is that clients come first. I think we've always had an attitude coming from a family business that profit isn't necessarily the first criteria in a family business. It's more about surrounding yourself with a group of people that are loyal, trustworthy, professional. And focusing on doing the best possible job for the client,” Zlotnik says. “The legacy is there because we put our clients first.”
In pursuit of that goal ZLC Wealth has had to keep pace with rapid changes in technology and expectations. Immediate access to information and rapid response times for clients have become table stakes for advisors. Sophisticated portfolio management has become essential, too, as high net worth investors seek to outperform index investments. To achieve that goal the ZLC team has brought in a set of licensed discretionary portfolio managers, led by McKinney.
McKinney explains just how sophisticated portfolio management has become at ZLC Wealth and across the industry, from global investing to the rise of alternatives, advisors are expected to navigate more than they ever have. Clients, for their part, have also become more informed and can more easily educate themselves on various choices in the market. What McKinney says hasn’t changed, though, is the value of advice.
“Clients tend to be a little bit more sophisticated. But they're still looking for us, the advisor as someone to stand in the middle and chat with them about the pros and cons of different approaches,” McKinney says.
It was a desire to grow in a sophisticated market that made the ZLC Wealth team want to join Q Wealth Partners. Michelle Richier stressed the need for centralized partners with scale to help boutique firms manage technology. Zlotnik noted the benefits of working with a partnership that represents over $6 billion in combined assets. They all noted some of the challenges for firms in managing ongoing reforms like CRM3 and the compliance requirements that come with it, emphasizing how scale can help them manage the load.
The partnership model at Q Wealth was also a “no brainer” for ZLC given the firm’s roots in the insurance business, where partnership networks are more common. They see in Q Wealth a chance to maintain independence while gaining the benefits that come with scale. They expect improvements to come for their clients in the quality of their reporting, the opening of new investment products, and in Q Wealth’s custodian – National Bank Independent Network. Michelle Richier noted how this model can enable a firm like ZLC to offer full-scope financial services.
“One of the most important parts of our service is that we collaborate with multiple professionals within our organization: financial planners, tax planners, estate planners, alongside portfolio managers in order to deliver the best service to the client,” Richier says. “Their platform provides a very seamless integration across the investment account, the investment services, account administration, financial planning and advice.”
While this new step for ZLC Wealth may bring a host of changes to their back-end, the firm’s leaders emphasized how little will change on the surface. The same people will continue to run the firm in much the same way as they always had. The ZLC team stressed how this serves their goals as both stewards of a 90-year legacy and business owners seeking growth.
“We can continue on with the same family business legacy, because we are a boutique provider financial services and we're independent,” Zlotnik says. “We can join Q Wealth as a partner firm and maintain our independence. We have a history in our organization of longstanding employees that have worked for our organization for a long period of time, which stands the test of time. So I don't see anything really changing.”
