We are often asked by prospective clients, industry colleagues, and members of the media, “Who are Justwealth’s clients?” It’s a fair question, and we wish that we had a short simple answer…but we don’t. So, we thought it would be helpful to provide some detail about our clients from a number of different perspectives now that we have officially been open to the public for over one year!
The media seems persistent in associating the success of fintech companies with the adoption of millennials (which includes robo-advisors like Justwealth). To the contrary, we have found our appeal to be much more broad-reaching. Not too long ago, we released the age demographics of our clients via press release. While millennials (age 35-ish and under) did represent the majority of our early adopters, other generations (Gen Xers and Boomers) have quickly caught up. Our average client age is currently 45 years old, and clients 55 and older constitute over 50% of our assets under management!
Our clients also represent a variety of professions, including:
- Accountant
- Armed Forces
- Auto Worker
- Banker
- Civil Servant
- Doctor
- Electrician
- Engineer
- Entrepreneur
- Firefighter
- Hospitality Worker
- Insurance Broker
- IT Professional
- Media Production
- Nurse
- Pharmacist
- R.C.M.P.
- Realtor
- Sports Professional
- Teacher
And the most common employment type of our clients: RETIRED!
In addition to individual clients, we also have corporate clients. Corporate clients can benefit from our tax-efficient portfolios, maintain Canadian and U.S. dollar portfolios and enjoy the same benefits and privileges as our individual clients.
Where are Justwealth clients located?
Justwealth was the first independent robo-advisor in Canada to launch to the public in all ten provinces! As a result, we have built a diverse client base across the country. Interestingly, we have also had interest expressed from around the world despite not advertising outside of Canada! We have clients from both urban and rural areas with the most common cities being Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.
What are Justwealth clients investing in?
Well, we offer 63 different portfolios, but the portfolio choices are really driven by the investment objectives of the clients. Among our clients interested in growth-oriented portfolios, the Justwealth Global High Growth Portfolio has been the most popular. For our clients looking for income, the Justwealth Balanced Income Portfolio is most popular in registered accounts while the Justwealth Global Tax-Efficient High Income Portfolio is most popular in non-registered accounts. The most common Target Date for our Education portfolios is 2034.
Another portfolio which is increasingly gaining interest from our clients is our Justwealth Capital Preservation Portfolio. We will be producing a blog post later this quarter on this portfolio as an alternative to basic financial institution investments such as GICs or High-Interest Savings Accounts. In a low-interest rate environment, and after accounting for taxes and inflation, these are actually very uncompelling investments even if they are “safe”. Stay tuned….
What financial institutions do our clients come from?
The typical clients we attract are ex-mutual fund owners from the Big 5 banks: BMO, CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank and TD. We have also seen former mutual fund (or segregated fund) clients come to us from insurance companies or independent firms such as Investors Group or Edward Jones. Clients have joined us from brokerage firms like RBC Dominion Securities and Hollis Wealth. We also have quite a few locked-in retirement accounts that have been transferred from company or government sponsored pension plans. Lastly, we have gained clients from our online competitors: Wealthsimple, Questrade Portfolio IQ and BMO Smartfolio just to name a few.
Why are clients joining Justwealth?
We normally don’t ask clients why they joined Justwealth, but many clients are excited to tell us why. First and foremost, Canadians are fed up with paying ridiculously high fees for inadequate performance and poor service. For those who choose to invest online, we are commonly told that we are selected because we offer the most comprehensive portfolio management capabilities of any online provider:
- The most portfolio options available by a wide margin
- Full service offering including counselling and financial planning at no extra cost
- Sophisticated tax management expertise
- In-kind transfers and portfolio transition planning
- Backed by years of credible high-level portfolio management experience
We have also been told by many clients and independent industry sources that Justwealth delivers best-in-class client service, something we are extremely proud of. We try very hard to personalize our services as much as possible and always treat our clients justly! To validate this, we are happy to report that many of our clients have been referred to us by existing clients, and since our inception, Justwealth has not lost a single client!
Written by Andrew Kirkland, President at Justwealth.
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