VICTORIA – Lifestyle design is far from most investor’s minds before they put their money to work, but DesignWealth hopes to change that. Birthed from long-time Victoria financial advisory group Fernhill Financial, the company has developed an innovative approach to wealth management.
“Traditional financial planning typically doesn’t fit the needs of the individual,” says Jared Webb, Wealth Mentor at DesignWealth. “Fifty per cent of Canadians are living pay cheque to pay cheque, and our research has shown that in most cases, more money isn’t the solution to their problems. The challenges that people are facing are more related to their mindset and relationship with money.”
The company takes a holistic approach to developing strategies for their clients. Focusing first on where they want to end up, how they want to live their lives, and then building a financial plan to achieve those goals.
“Most people don’t ask the right questions when they start out,” says Josue Dubon, also a Wealth Mentor with DesignWealth. “They’re asking questions about specific investment products and accounts instead of far reaching questions about retiring early or life purpose.
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“Our job is accomplished when people are living their ideal lifestyle. Whether that lifestyle requires an annual income of five figures or six, we’re here to help.”
While their solutions can include a blend of traditional investments or insurance tools, it’s their unique fee structure that strives to create the necessary accountability for clients to achieve success.
“The traditional compensation structure for the industry is broken,” says Webb. “Wealth management is more about people than it ever was about money. Being technically knowledgeable is now just table stakes and most financial questions can be answered by algorithms or robo-advisors.
“The unknown factor is people and for financial planning to have real value, the most important thing to understand is someone’s ‘why?’”
DesignWealth’s core purpose is to help people live their ideal lifestyle. Whether they want to have the ability to travel and invest their time into the communities they live, or become an entrepreneur and develop a successful real estate portfolio. Depending on the goals of their clients, the advice prescribed will vary significantly.
Their team has decades of collective experience beyond investing and insurance, including cash flow planning and real estate.
DesignWealth is an initiative of Fernhill Financial, a family business founded in Victoria in 1994 by David and Deborah Webb. For more information, please visit their website.
