How we help our clients

We employ a comprehensive five-step method to understanding and acting on your family's unique priorities. By taking the time to understand your values and aspirations, we can help you design your "life of affluence".

Step 1: Discussion (1 to 3 hours)

We begin each relationship with a meeting to get to know each other better. This is a simple meeting: you talk and we listen. We then briefly explain the client experience at Groupe Blanchard and answer all of your questions. If our value proposition is compatible with your expectations, we will plan the next step.

Step 2: Decision-making (1 to 2 hours)

The signing of a service agreement marks the beginning of our collaboration. We will collect some basic personal and financial information and guide you through the paperwork and the signatures required to open accounts and transfer your assets. At the end of this step, you should feel that you completely understand the details of our offer of service and our fee structure.

Step 3: Dreaming (2 to 5 conversations over 3 to 4 weeks)

This is where the pleasure of designing the "financial house" of your dreams begins. Working together, we will review all of the component in order to discuss your ambitions and share our recommendations. During this process, we will cover the five key aspects of your financial life. 

  • Your future
    We will use a range of innovative tools to understand your financial aspirations, dreams and desires.
  • Your current financial situation
  • We will prepare a concise summary of your assets, liabilities and insurance coverage, along with your tax and estate-planning strategies, taking into account your specific concerns.
  • Your risk tolerance
    We will establish your investor profile by means of a questionnaire. Your answers will allow us to develop a portfolio strategy suited to your behavioural tendencies in order to ensure that market fluctuations do not cause you to stray from the course toward achieving your ambitions.  
  • Your financial independence plan
    During a frank and reassuring conversation, we will present you with our initial financial recommendations. This collaborative and creative exchange will allow us to make adjustments to the proposed plan based on your feedback.
  • Your game plan
    We will prepare your investment policy statement, summarizing your investment strategy and the action plan for achieving your financial independence. These two documents will guide our financial recommendations, and will evolve over time in accordance with the various stages of your life.

 

Step 4: Design (1 to 6 months)

We will gradually transition your portfolio toward the structure defined in your investment policy, and begin by addressing your insurance coverage, estate planning and tax strategy. The time required for these steps will depend on the complexity of your financial architecture and your comfort level with the necessary changes. We will take care to ensure your complete understanding so that you feel fully engaged in the process.

 

Step 5: Execution (continuous)

We will communicate with you on a quarterly basis to verify whether your financial situation and/or goals have changed. We will plan one meeting per year to assess your “financial house” as a whole by reviewing your portfolio and your projections for financial independence. Finally, a compact dashboard will allow you to visualize the results and growth of your assets. We will come to know you well over time, and will stay in close enough touch to build a relationship of trust and mutual respect.

 

Why we believe in responsible investing

Socially responsible investing (SRI) refers to the incorporation of ESG (environmental, social and governance) considerations into the construction of an investment portfolio. Managers use various approaches, including those based on applying ethical criteria to filter out certain securities or sectors. The sectors that are most often excluded under this approach are the tobacco and armaments industries, which is representative of the beginnings of SRI. Methods and data are now more refined, and managers often make use of increasingly sophisticated methodologies for incorporating ESG factors into their analyses.

Why is this important? 


In this era marked by the fight against climate change, efforts to preserve biodiversity and increasing awareness with respect to issues of diversity, equity and equality, companies are confronted with multiple challenges that force them to adapt their business model. Those that do not succeed in this area risk a decrease in profitability, which is why the decision to invest in a security must take into account the potential costs to shareholders of these issues. Here are some other good reasons to pay attention to SRI:
 
- In combination with the analysis of traditional financial or macroeconomic data, incorporating ESG contributes to enhanced risk management by taking non-financial factors into account.
 
- In addition to the potential losses associated with controversial industries or companies that do not engage in sustainable practices, the application of positive filters makes it possible to identify growth opportunities. A company that excels in the management of ESG factors is better positioned to increase its returns and reduce its debt. Companies that lower their GHG emissions, maintain good community relations and exercise sound governance enjoy a better reputation, are subject to fewer lawsuits or penalties and are increasingly favoured by managers, thus increasing their premium.
 
- In addition to incorporating ESG factors into analyses, portfolio managers who use an SRI approach often make use of shareholder engagement to influence the behaviour of the companies they invest in, which can be accomplished by dialoguing with management or exercising voting rights. The more this trend spreads within the financial ecosystem, the more managers will take the expectations of their shareholders into account and improve their practices.
 
- Finally, SRI allows investors to positively impact future generations by contributing to sustainable economic prosperity and the development of more responsible capital markets.

How we assess the ESG performance of managers and investments


Given the growing popularity of SRI, selecting managers and investments based on ESG factors requires increasing amounts of time and effort. At Groupe Blanchard, we favour managers who can demonstrate a true integration of ESG factors into their portfolio management process and research. We assess their deeply-ingrained motivations and the solidity of their convictions in order to avoid greenwashing traps. In particular, we assess managers’ practices with respect to the following:
 
- Participation in recognized initiatives, such as the United Nations PRIS or the Climate Actions+ initiative.
- Ability to provide the carbon footprint and other ESG performance measures for their portfolio.
- Development of a company-specific methodology for incorporating ESG on a scientific basis.
- Efforts to engage with emitters, number of dialogues and exercising of voting rights.
- Inclusion in the compensation plan for managers of incentives that favour the improvement of the portfolio’s ESG profile.
- Adoption of a formal SRI policy and the ability to demonstrate its application within the company.