Stockbroker, investment advisor, financial advisor, wealth advisor, portfolio manager… the list goes on. As the financial world has evolved, our jobs as wealth advisors have evolved too. The work we do for our clients has shifted to focus on improving a client’s financial circumstances in all ways, not just picking the investments they own. Of course, our analysis of the markets and investments continues to be a core part of our offer to our clients, but today when they come to us for advice, they get considerably more than just investment picks. Our clients receive a full-fledged strategy for their investments and ongoing advice and analysis on their specific financial circumstances. Whether that is in-depth financial planning, long term tax planning, business succession, estate considerations or advice and protection against fraud. Over the years, the table stakes of being a wealth advisor have become increasingly robust, and we remain committed to staying ahead of that curve and offering our clients more than just the minimum expected advice. So, what are we doing differently today that tunes into this evolution?

Robert Hunter, one of the founding members of the Kozak Financial Group (then the Hunter Kozak Financial Group), would have considered himself a stockbroker when he was in the business. His job was to pick the investments and help them to grow their savings from one year to the next no matter what the markets had in store. Today, some of his clients are still working with us and remember him fondly, decades after he retired and more than forty years since he started in the “wealth business”. Now, thanks to technological advances and a knowledgeable team, we can offer our clients a comprehensive strategy for their investments which includes a bespoke portfolio of individual stocks and bonds attuned to our ultimate investing goal: to provide the maximum ongoing income stream our clients can rely on, regardless of where markets are headed. If you have known the Kozak Financial Group for long or if you have been following along in our other writings, you know we love investment income. Dividends, interest payments, and distributions are significantly more predictable than the market. Is this stock going to go up or down in the next month? We don’t know! What we do know is that their dividend yield is X% and we are going to earn that dividend regardless of whether the stock price is higher or lower a month from now. It is as simple as that.

To an extent, these days having a strategy like this is the new table stakes. An investor comes to a portfolio manager expecting them to be able to offer a strategy or system for investing. I already mentioned we are proud of the fact that we do more for our clients, so here is what you get from the Kozak Financial Group that goes beyond these basic table stakes:

Exceptional customer service

                At the time of writing, we are a 13-person team managing a little more than $1,400,000,000 in client assets. We know what it means to get good service. Our commitment to our clients is when they reach out to us during business hours, we will have someone available to answer their call or email to tackle their question or resolve their issue. When our clients call, they get a hold of a friendly voice on the other end of the phone who at a bare minimum can ensure they get a call back promptly.

In depth planning and expertise

                When it comes to our finances, it isn’t good enough to think 6 months in advance or make simple predictions about the direction of markets or industries. Our clients are planning long term for retirement, charitable giving, leaving an estate to their heirs, funding education, and more. We take it very seriously we are their partners in seeing these plans through to fruition. This includes financial planning for the future which goes beyond simple budgeting or cash flow management. Perhaps more importantly, this also includes tax planning; it is all well and good to plan to leave a large estate for one’s heirs, but if there are significant tax burdens along the way or at death, then much of the estate could evaporate along the way. Planning for all aspects of our finances is critical for ultimate financial success.

Personalized relationships

                Our exceptional customer service standards naturally lead us to know our clients very well. We make it a point of pride our clients feel comfortable sharing with us the goings on in their life just like we share the goings on in our lives with them. This personalizes our advice to our clients when we learn they have goals and priorities that might not be visible on the surface, we can help them achieve those goals and adhere to those priorities more readily. Knowing our clients and their habits also provides us with the ability to act as a security measure for our clients. We talk to them in person or over the phone frequently, so we know who we are dealing with. Fraudsters and scam artists are getting better at hacking emails, duplicating signatures, and more, so having our personalized relationships where we know how our clients behave, how they sound on the phone, etc. makes it easier for us to spot illegitimate requests more easily.

                It can be easy to feel that financial institutions are becoming more impersonal. We at the Kozak Financial Group are doing everything in our power to go in the other direction. Have more personal contact with our clients, be more connected, and provide better service and offerings. There is no one size fits all solution to financial management and investing; we are pleased to offer our clients a no-nonsense strategy, excellent customer service, advanced long-term planning, and personalized care. Going beyond the table stakes is our business, if that interests you, give us a call at 403-260-0568 or visit our website to get in touch: www.kozakfinancialgroup.ca.