Michael Smith, President of iA Private Wealth USA, joined Keith Black, Managing Director of RIA Channel, to discuss the needs of investors with financial ties in multiple countries.
iA Private Wealth is a Canadian RIA that serves clients in both the US and Canada. Over $1 trillion in investments crosses between Canada and the US each year. Registered in both countries, the firm makes it easier for investors who move assets or residences from one country to the other to maintain a financial advisory relationship. The iA Private Wealth team understands compliance with regulations from both the US SEC and the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), as well as the tax codes in each country.
In the US, 100,000 financial advisors will be retiring in the next ten years. This drives the M&A business, as Smith notes that half of retiring advisors have no succession plan. As the scale of combined firms rises, most firms focus on clients with over $2.5 million in assets, leaving the mass affluent with assets over $500,000 underserved. This leaves an opportunity for US clients to work with Canadian advisors who comply with US laws and custody assets with BNY Pershing in the US.
Smith regularly creates content on LinkedIn focused on issues surrounding cross-border wealth. A recent video from London highlighted that 440 financial companies have relocated from the UK to the Eurozone since Brexit, while 11,000 millionaires left the UK just last year.
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