GP Wealth is a family-owned firm that was built by advisors and is run by advisors. We’re fully committed to supporting the needs of the independent practitioner and strive every day to earn our advisors’ confidence and trust. Indeed, for more than 25 years, we’ve provided our growing roster of advisors with a dynamic, collaborative environment that respects their experience and ideas, and we’re continually investing in new tools and processes to help them build and enhance their independent practices.

Our vision is to be the Dealer of Choice for independent financial advisors, helping them secure and retain clients and achieve their business goals.

Our mission is to provide the utmost in service and products to both our advisors and their clients. We want our advisors to be the most effective and successful in the business.

We operate the business from a business plan that we update annually, with collaborative input from our advisory committee, management staff and executive team.

GP Wealth Management Corporation is a privately owned firm, with the founders holding 84 percent of the share ownership and our financial advisors holding 16 percent.

We have a private Board of Directors that includes the founders, management and independent directors.

Yes, when the new registration and regulatory requirements were introduced in 2000, we embarked on a long-range plan to invest in our people, advisors and infrastructure. The results of our continuing efforts include:

• Enhancements to our back office to meet the new reporting requirements
• The addition of new revenue streams to help advisors diversify their practices
• Cost reductions through streamlining and automating our operations
• Strengthened compliance
• Implementation of more robust policies and procedures
• A strong culture of continuous improvement in all areas of the firm
• Increased emphasis on advisor training and education
• A focus on positive cash flow to enable us to grow and continually invest in the firm and our advisors

Yes, we offer equity ownership through our Share Incentive Program, and we’re open to discussing other equity ownership opportunities.

The Share Incentive Program is directed at financial advisors who wish to participate in the growth of a leading independent wealth management firm using a tax-effective capital gains strategy. Upon retirement, participating advisors can receive value not only for the book of business they have built, but also for their share of the firm’s value.

GP Wealth Management operates through 23 branches and sub-branches in Ontario.

We have 60 registered advisors and 15 licensed associates and advisor assistants.

The average AUA per financial advisor is approximately $35 million.

The relationship between GP Wealth and its advisors is governed by a principal/agent agreement.

All our financial advisors own their own book of business as stated in our agreements.

A copy is available upon request.

GP Wealth will consider MFDA advisors who have completed their IFIC and/or CSC courses and have a good regulatory history, an established practice and are working towards recognized industry designation(s) such as the CFP, CLU, etc.

All products can be recommended provided that GP Wealth has conducted its due diligence and approved the product.

Our infrastructure and support system are geared toward financial advisors with a minimum of $20,000,000 in assets under administration and/or $50,000 per year in insurance product revenue.

GP Wealth provides a number formal training programs that are updated annually. The focus of our training includes:

• Portfolio construction and asset allocation
• Marketing and branding
• Practice management (includes use of our CRM platform, our GP Wealth Plan financial planning software, our personal advisor websites, etc.
• Insurance and estate planning

In addition, we provide a quarterly training program for all financial advisors and their associates and assistants.

The majority of training and educational programs provided by GP Wealth qualify for C.E. credits. The firm provides certificates to all participants.

• Practice management tools
• Marketing support (custom marketing services are available)
• Comprehensive training and education
• Full compliance support
• Top Performers programs
• GP Wealth Plan (financial planning software)
• Technology support (hardware & software)
• Securities, insurance, banking & portfolio management capabilities
• Client newsletters (The Wealth Guide and the E-Wealth Guide)
• Customized websites (yourname.gpwealth.ca)
• High-end estate planning experts available
• Signature Service Account, our premium fee-for-service platform
• Template client and prospect letters
• Detailed investment policy statement and financial planning applications

It starts with our policy of robust communication through our monthly advisor report and your personal websites. We also solicit feedback from our advisor committee and consult regularly with the members to collaboratively develop new products and services. This strategy of open and frequent communication and consultation plays a key part in the support we provide to our advisors.

GP Wealth Management has an Introducing/Carrying Dealer Agreement with B2B Bank Dealer Services to administer all self-directed accounts and our own Signature Service Accounts.

We provide a competitive grid structure. Details are available upon request.

Compensation is paid bi-weekly for all products using EFT to each advisor’s bank account. You can track your accounts receivables, including historical compensation reports, on your personal website.

• Back-office Systems – Winfund Software
• Contact Management System – Microsoft Dynamics CRM
• Document Management System – Microsoft SharePoint
• Financial Planning Application – Wealth Elements
• Product Analysis Application – FunData
• E-Signature System- SignNow
• Email Systems – Microsoft Exchange and Outlook
• Personal Advisor Websites
• Personal E-Newsletters – E-Wealth Guide
• E-Statement Delivery System
• Quarterly Client Account Statements with personalized newsletter
  

Yes, clients can sign up for online access and receive account statements by e-delivery.

As well, clients can get online access to their accounts, investment fund research, financial calculators and more. For additional information, visit us at www.gpwealth.ca.

Yes, we are CRM2 ready. After investing considerable resources in this area, we are able to reconcile almost all client data, with only minor exceptions. As a result, you can produce an accurate rate-of-return statement that includes net invested, book value and much more.

We make IT services available both internally and externally to support all of our currently endorsed applications. Any applications that are not part of the GP Wealth suite of products can still be supported by our IT department. However, advisors would be charged separately for these services.

All trades are monitored using a real-time compliance supervision system.

Trades are flagged for review based upon a pre-determined criteria required by regulatory rules. A compliance officer may then query a trade if there are any aspects of the trade that require an explanation or back-up information. All trades are placed at the branch level by each advisor and documents are uploaded into digital document management system for review by a branch manager or compliance officer. Original documents are then delivered to head office annually.

Yes, all up-to-date policy and procedures manuals, including all operations and compliance memorandums, are posted on your personal website for reference.

While every firm experiences some deficiencies, none of ours has been of a serious nature. We work with the regulators to ensure we are compliant with all of the rules. It is important for regulators to know that there is a willingness and culture of compliance which we have always demonstrated. This has resulted in a very collaborative and supportive relationship with our regulators.

For MFDA fees, we use our asset size to reduce the fees to the lowest amount possible. We then divide that amount by the number of registered advisors with assets under administration. All other regulatory fees are collected on a cost-recovery basis per registered advisor with Assets Under Administration.

The GP Group of Companies includes GP Capital Insurance Agency Ltd., a licensed insurance entity. GP Capital Insurance Agency has contracts with many of the leading carriers, including:

• BMO Insurance
• Industrial Alliance
• Canada Life
• Manulife
• Empire Life
• RBC Insurance
• Equitable Life
• Transamerica

It is both an MGA and AGA structure, with life insurance placed through our AGA contracts and segregated funds placed through our MGA contracts.

We have qualified staff to help advisors handle processing, the underwriting process, life and disability quotes and insurance and estate planning analysis proposals. We also provide ongoing training and case assistance to help with more complicated cases.

The firm makes available a full range of banking solutions, including:

• GIC deposit services
• High interest savings and chequing accounts
• Lines of credit and mortgages
• Investment loans