The Greatest Wealth Administration Companies and Groups in Canada | 5-Star Advisory Groups

In response to EY’s 2025 World Wealth Analysis Report, 45 % of purchasers view funding as extra difficult now than earlier than. Three worries stood out for these surveyed: 

• inflation
  
   

• political uncertainty
  
   

• volatility

The most effective wealth administration groups are capable of plug the widespread shortfall between purchasers’ demand for services and what their main advisors provide. 

Inglis says, “Staff-based advisory fashions provide the benefit of permitting advisors to give attention to a selected specialty, fairly than being all issues to all purchasers. They supply better flexibility to fulfill with purchasers in a extra responsive method and collaborate on extra advanced shopper eventualities.” 

Wealth Skilled recognises its 5-Star Advisory Groups of 2025, who’ve responded to what at this time’s purchasers need by offering worth and repair that positions them as trusted companions, going far past the normal position of fundamental funding recommendation. 

1. Holistic wealth administration because the norm 

Most main groups provide complete, end-to-end wealth administration that integrates: 

• funding administration
  
   

• tax and property planning 
  
   

• insurance coverage and threat methods 
  
   

• enterprise succession and retirement planning 
  
   

• money stream and debt administration 

This built-in strategy ensures that each side of a shopper’s monetary life is coordinated and optimized, making these corporations invaluable one-stop retailers. 

2. Consumer-centric philosophy and behavioural focus 

There’s a deep emphasis on: 

• understanding shopper targets, values, and life circumstances 
  
   

• offering personalised recommendation and emotional steering (behavioural teaching) to keep away from widespread investor pitfalls 
  
   

• delivering a white-glove expertise from customized onboarding kits to personalised occasion invites 

Groups stood out for incorporating optimistic psychology, meaning-driven planning, and multigenerational relationship-building, enabling deeper emotional engagement and long-term belief. 

3. Distinctive shopper service and communication 

Profitable groups transcend transactional relationships: 

• common proactive check-ins and structured opinions (biannual or extra frequent) 
  
   

• use of a number of languages, digital consultations, and tailor-made shopper experiences (e.g., digital occasions with home-delivered meals) 
  
   

• instructional initiatives like shopper webinars, knowledge-sharing periods, and customized supplies to enhance shopper monetary literacy 

4. Staff power and tradition 

Elite practices make investments closely in: 

• worker well-being and improvement (coaching, psychological well being, social occasions) 
  
   

• sturdy inner tradition, fostering collaboration and accountability 
  
   

• guaranteeing staff members are usually not solely technically expert but additionally aligned with agency values and shopper wants 

Staff improvement initiatives present how a contented, motivated staff enhances service high quality. 

5. Use of superior instruments and specialization 

Many high groups: 

• provide discretionary portfolio administration supported by instruments like AI-enhanced fashions 
  
   

• construct personalized monetary fashions and studies, typically branded and simple to grasp 
  
   

• embody specialist providers like cross-border wealth migration, philanthropic planning, and enterprise structuring 

This specialization positions them as specialists in advanced, high-value shopper conditions, notably amongst high-net-worth and ultra-HNW households. 

6. Multigenerational and values-based planning 

• present planning that features kids and heirs 
  
   

• emphasize legacy and philanthropic methods 
  
   

• provide providers designed for transferring values, not simply property, throughout generations 
  
   

Technique 

With home elections, international political interference and a variety of different elements, it’s been a unstable time for monetary markets over the past 12 months. Nevertheless, Canada’s main advisory groups have been capable of navigate this with judgment, perception, and ability. 

Considered one of WP’s 5-Star groups – CG Wealth Administration’s Stenner Wealth Companions+ – has managed to stay web optimistic by way of the primary half of 2025. 

Senior portfolio supervisor Thane Stenner describes it as “one of many hardest durations of time” the staff has needed to face. 

 

“On this business, you’re solely going to fly as excessive as the standard of the individuals in your staff. Our staff consists of well-trained and good communicators, which all enhances the shopper expertise”

Thane StennerStenner Wealth Companions+

Analysis is prime to SWP+’s strategy, because the staff collates information from over 50 sources and its methodology led to portfolio de-risking in December 2024. 

“We shifted out of loads of the elements of the markets globally that have been overvalued,” explains Stenner. “We raised money fairly considerably and in addition repositioned extra in commodities. The excellent news was commodities have accomplished very well yr thus far.” 

Even when markets declined between February and March, SWP+ had money, which had purposely been constructed up. 

Stenner says, “We began shopping for very aggressively throughout that interval and markets rallied within the months after. We’ve been very tactical this yr and moved issues round lots so as to shield capital on the draw back and attempt to take part considerably on the upside.” 

For senior funding advisor Dean Bradshaw, there are two methods to handle cash –  from a return or a threat perspective – and he favours the latter. His staff at Cresco Wealth Administration of Wellington-Altus Personal Wealth look 12 to 14 months upfront. 

 

“We’re not reactive, we anticipate”

Dean BradshawCresco Wealth Administration

“We all the time anticipate volatility and all the time anticipate that we’re going to wish revenue. We’re just about proof against any volatility,” he says. 

And he’s fast to state that regardless of how good the agency’s customer support is, no shopper goes to hold round if the staff is dropping cash persistently. 

“It must be a powerful one-two punch. By way of the staff and the providers that we run, I might put us up towards anyone.” 

At all times guaranteeing asset allocation is appropriate is a tenet for Shawna Perron, senior portfolio supervisor at Perron & Companions, Cumberland Personal Wealth.

She says, “You don’t wish to be chasing the market since you’ll find yourself getting it improper.”  

 

“We’re very self-driven, however all of us understand that everyone works higher collectively as a staff”

Shawna PerronPerron & Companions, Cumberland Personal Wealth

Over the last yr’s upheaval, the staff reconfirmed its funding philosophy and technique to make sure it was functioning as meant.  

“Usually talking, I wouldn’t say we’re speculative. I wouldn’t say we attempt to choose the tops or choose the bottoms. That simply will get you into loads of hypothesis, and hypothesis is normally not an ideal philosophy,” says Perron.

Her staff tweaked every shopper’s allocation to match private threat and volatility tolerances. 

Communication 

For the very best wealth administration groups, it’s not sufficient to behave merely as a inventory picker, distant from their purchasers. The highest performers communicate persistently with purchasers, growing sturdy interpersonal connections that foster belief and understanding. 

An extension of this strategy in these unsure instances has required a substantial amount of communication from monetary advisory groups, holding purchasers updated with their response to every consequential coverage change, election, and market shift. 

In response to Inglis, “Companies that present a a lot higher-touch mannequin are going to do a greater job attracting and retaining purchasers. Companies are going to should adapt their incentive fashions to mirror this higher-touch strategy. A ‘twice-a-year’ check-in is not going to be ample to retain their most worthwhile purchasers.” 

Capitalizing on market downturns is usually the place advisory groups can present essentially the most worth by constructing a powerful, dependable portfolio at low cost costs for years to return. The groups stay in shut contact with their purchasers, gauging ranges of consolation and sustaining transparency. 

David Little, senior wealth advisor at 5-Star profitable staff Blue Oceans Personal Wealth, notes that as a result of purchasers can select from a myriad of advisors, there’s a heightened incentive to supply this first-class service. Little holds a city corridor with purchasers each two months to make sure they totally grasp what is going on. 

 

“I truly give our new purchasers a service contract I signal that claims, ‘That is what you’ll be able to count on from us, and in return, that is what we count on from you’”
David LittleBlue Oceans Personal Wealth

“I inform them on the very finish of how grateful we’re that they belief us in serving to them with their affairs. The actual fact of the matter is, in 2025, multimillion-dollar purchasers can go anyplace,” he says.

Going above and past is what’s anticipated at Blue Oceans. 

“I’ve made certain that my employees is consistently conscious that there’s nothing that our purchasers can ask us to try this’s an excessive amount of. That’s what we’re in enterprise for,” provides Little. 

As his personal investments are carefully linked to these of his purchasers, his staff empathizes with the ups and downs of markets. He shares that he would by no means allocate an asset in a shopper’s portfolio that he wouldn’t put money into himself.   

Whereas digital video calls, telephone calls, and in-person conferences are all used, newsletters are a preferred manner for an advisory staff to elucidate its strategic considering. This manner, purchasers can stay totally briefed about macro traits and the way advisory groups are navigating them. 

“As quickly as issues get a bit shaky, we ship a publication to all purchasers. We’re saying, ‘Hear, if this occurs, that is what we want to do. Are you snug with that?,’” explains Georges Achkar, senior funding advisor at 5-Star winner Manulife Wealth. 

 

“We’re a really hardworking group, so we wish to say that we function on a a lot increased stage than our opponents”
Georges AchkarManulife Wealth

Achkar’s staff additionally reached out to all purchasers in April 2025 because the market reacted to political upheaval. 

“Now we have all the time had defensive technique with correct diversification and asset allocation,” he says. “However we contacted our purchasers in April, and we now have both bought or put in fill orders at completely different market ranges for us to have the ability to benefit from the volatility.” 

Cresco Wealth Administration of Wellington-Altus Personal Wealth produces instructional podcasts and newsletters, and emphasizes the worth of talking with purchasers one-on-one, notably throughout instances of utmost volatility and uncertainty.  

With 18 advisors, they’ve rigorously chosen an advisor-to-client ratio that permits for every shopper to entry extremely personalised providers. 

“Lots of people will do podcasts or blanket emails, which we do, however extra from an schooling standpoint,” says Bradshaw. “When an even bigger occasion presents itself, we consider that one-on-one contact is absolutely what separates us. I’ve structured our enterprise in order that we will name all of our purchasers in sooner or later if we have to. We’ve needed to do it earlier than, and we’ll should do it once more.” 

SWP+ has a large scope of skills as every staff member is educated to domesticate optimistic interactions with purchasers of their frequent conferences. The staff works completely with ultra-wealthy purchasers who’ve a minimal funding allocation of $10 million, whereas web worths usually vary from $25 million to multibillions.  

To cater to the particular wants of ultra-wealthy purchasers, Stenner emphasizes the significance of all the time remaining engaged with them, having pertinent discussions that display a eager curiosity of their wants.

“On the finish of the day, it’s important to construct belief. And the way you do that’s by exhibiting a excessive engagement stage if you’re speaking to them and asking them actually good questions,” he explains. A part of that is giving purchasers an annual service dedication. 

Stenner says, “We customise it, so we inform them upfront, ‘Let’s have a dialogue round ‘How typically would you want to speak? What sort of studies you wish to have exit? What number of in-person conferences? What number of Zooms?’ It’s all mapped out.” 

Purchasers are then furnished with an end-of-year scorecard generated by way of the staff’s CRM, which lays out intimately all of the types of contact they’ve had. 

“Usually, what occurs is purchasers ask us to scale it again,” explains Stenner. “It’s not us having to listen to from them say, ‘Oh, you haven’t been contacting me that a lot’. It’s extra that we’ve been throughout it and they’re tremendous appreciative, so we will dial it again slightly bit.” 

Usually, the staff reaches out to purchasers anyplace from 25 to 60 instances a yr, and in addition sends out bi-weekly newsletters, together with different evaluation. 

“When issues get actually unstable, we crank up the communication stage extra,” provides Stenner. 

Cumberland Perron & Companions deploys a variety of communication kinds resembling in-person conferences, occasions, e mail, blogs, and social media by way of LinkedIn. 

“On common, we’re most likely chatting with all of our purchasers each couple of months, if not nearly month-to-month, in some kind or style,” says Perron.

And outreach has stepped up throughout the disruption over the previous yr. 

“A variety of it’s data-driven,” she says. “So, as a substitute of taking part in into the emotion that persons are having or the emotion that the media is attempting to painting, it’s extra in regards to the information, so understanding what’s going on and taking purchasers again right down to what issues most. It’s instructional.” 

Sturdy models 

Cumberland Perron & Companions’ staff composition is styled round “breadth and depth,” with every particular person including to the general package deal. Advisors with particular interpersonal abilities are given extra client-facing roles, whereas these with analytical strengths are hands-on with portfolio allocation. 

Perron says, “Our evolution is all the time ensuring we perceive what our bread and butter is, which is portfolio administration, and ensuring that the analysis that we’re doing and the methods that we’re operating are nonetheless working primarily based on what we’re seeing within the surroundings.” 

Spreading the load throughout the entire squad is one thing SWP+ practices. Its staff of 13 manages a shopper base of 51, with every member working straight on every shopper’s file fairly than working in silos. Workers are anticipated to be within the workplace 4 days every week, which Stenner feels is important for downside fixing and group collaboration. 

“We do loads of technical evaluation of the relative power and momentum indicators that we take a look at. There’s additionally a proper weekly Funding Committee the place we assess all of the charts,” he shares. “We’re sort of contrarian, value-oriented buyers. We wish to attempt to purchase issues as low cost as doable, and that’s mirrored in our portfolio.” 

Achkar feels that the exhausting work and dedication of Manulife Wealth’s leaders deeply affect the youthful advisors on his staff. He notes that there are not any necessities or stress for advisors to place within the further hours. Relatively, they work in a tradition that’s wholesome but aggressive, guaranteeing the staff is offering distinctive worth for his or her purchasers.  

“Unfavourable power – as a lot as optimistic power – is contagious. We don’t inform anyone to remain late; we don’t inform anyone to do these hours. We simply present them the way in which,” he says. “My day doesn’t finish earlier than 8 p.m., and that power trickles down to every stage. After which, I might say it circles again and turns into a optimistic circle.” 

This tradition of exhausting work and further hours pays off for youthful advisors on Achkar’s staff. It’s not unusual for advisors to accrue a $100-million e book inside three years of becoming a member of. 

To keep up excessive expectations from his agency, Little leads by instance. He desires Blue Oceans to supply extremely personalised providers to purchasers, who ought to really feel as if their advisors are all the time reachable.  

“I set the usual from the highest down. There’s no passing the buck and that’s from consistently reinforcing by way of our staff conferences. That is what we do, and we by no means lose sight of that,” he says. 

Earlier than bringing any new staff members onboard, Little ensures candidates are really aligned along with his client-first philosophy, a non-negotiable for the business veteran. By holding this outlook deeply entrenched, the staff’s turnover stays low, with many purchasers remaining for many years.  

Little provides, “Do they perceive shopper care? That’s a very powerful half. It’s not lip service – you’ve received to actually wish to really feel it, dwell it, and breathe it. They usually should have the understanding that it is a service enterprise. Each time we lose a shopper, it takes a lot extra effort to get one again.” 

To enhance staff bonding, Bradshaw and his colleagues are carefully linked, and  they seek advice from their assembly room as “the warfare room”. Their staff mantras emphasizing honesty, openness, and placing purchasers first are posted on the wall. 

“We usher in psychological coaches and even Olympic staff coaches to higher the surroundings,” he says. 

There may be additionally a collective charity exercise the place the staff’s newest mission goals to boost $50,000 for the group in Okotoks, AB. Alongside which are month-to-month lunch and learns, which vary from {golfing} tricks to monetary business coaching. Bradshaw even hosts two barbecues at his home yearly. All of this reinforces the sturdy bonds that allow the staff to work collectively extra successfully. 

He provides, “We don’t do good, so if we do fumble slightly bit, it’s about us all asking, ‘What did we be taught and what can we do otherwise?’ Our largest focus is to be advocates of our purchasers, in order that we drive our business to boost the bar for higher experiences for all purchasers.” 

🧠 1. Deep emphasis on monetary planning 

Widespread themes: 

• Monetary, tax, property, and legacy planning integration 
  
   

• Money stream optimization and retirement readiness 
  
   

• Multigenerational wealth switch 
  
   

• Customized, individualized planning processes 
  
   

• Strong use of planning software program and forecasting instruments 

Why they stand out: 

These corporations go far past easy funding administration. They construct complete wealth blueprints that adapt to purchasers’ lives. This positions them not simply as advisors, however as long-term strategic companions in monetary life administration. 

🤝 2. Distinctive service and relationship administration 

Widespread themes: 

• Frequent, hands-on conferences all year long 
  
   

• Devoted service groups (typically multilingual)  
  
   

• “4 Seasons” service mannequin analogies 
  
   

• Radical transparency and upfront pro-bono planning 
  
   

• Lengthy-term retention and private reference to purchasers’ households 
  
   

Why they stand out:  

Many corporations create a concierge-style expertise. The dedication to communication, schooling, and proactive help – particularly throughout unstable market durations – interprets to loyal purchasers, excessive retention, and powerful word-of-mouth reputations. 

🌐 3. Innovation, expertise, and thought management 

Widespread themes: 

• Use of cutting-edge wealthtech instruments and client-friendly portals 
  
   

• Recognition for modern options 
  
   

• Considerate communication (movies, newsletters, birthday playing cards) 
  
   

Why they stand out:  

These corporations are usually not solely maintaining with technological traits – they’re pioneering them. By leveraging instruments that improve transparency, effectivity, and customization, they serve tech-savvy and next-gen purchasers in a manner conventional corporations typically can not. 

🏆 4. Awards, recognition, and credibility 

Widespread themes: 

• A number of business awards and media visibility 
  
   

• Nationwide and native recognition  
  
   

• Advisor profiles featured in talking circuits and publications 
  
   

Why they stand out:  

Popularity and recognition validate shopper belief. These corporations persistently display business excellence, not simply in efficiency but additionally in follow administration, philanthropy, and innovation, lending third-party credibility to their claims. 

🌍 5. Sturdy moral foundations and philanthropy 

Widespread themes: 

• Dedication to group service, DEI, and charity 
  
   

• Integration of shopper values into monetary methods 
  
   

• Giant-scale charitable facilitation  
  
   

Why they stand out:  

Purchasers more and more search values-aligned investing and advisory relationships. Companies that display a tangible dedication to social accountability and encourage purchasers to present again construct deeper emotional engagement and belief. 

💼 6. Funding strategy with private alignment 

Widespread themes: 

• No cookie-cutter portfolios 
  
   

• Use of alternate options and non-traditional asset courses 
  
   

• Precept of “consuming their very own cooking” – advisors put money into the identical merchandise 
  
   

Why they stand out:  

Purchasers respect genuine alignment of curiosity, transparency, and complicated threat mitigation. The avoidance of mass-market fashions and third-party managers permits these corporations to stand behind their efficiency and preserve agility.