Summary: Whether you need a wealth manager depends less on how much you have than on how complicated your situation is and how much of your time you want it to take. Four questions settle it, and a few direct questions to any firm reveal what its fee actually buys.
The short answer: it depends less on how much money you have than on how complicated your situation is and how much of your time you want it to take. A simple portfolio can be managed well on your own, while the case for professional help grows as tax, corporate structure and family decisions start to depend on one another.
If you built and sold a business, you are used to making the decisions yourself, and you have probably sat through enough polished pitches to be wary of anyone who says you cannot manage without them. That instinct is healthy, and it deserves a straight answer rather than a sales argument.
The straight answer is that capability is rarely the issue. Most founders could learn to build a sensible portfolio, so the more useful questions are what managing the money actually involves once the business is gone, and whether that is where you want your judgment and your hours to go.
How do I decide whether I need a wealth manager?
Work through four questions, in this order:
- How complicated is your situation?
- How much time do you want the money to take?
- How will you behave when markets fall?
- What would you actually be paying for?
Complexity comes first because it decides whether managing the money yourself is realistic at all, and the remaining questions only matter once the answer to that one is yes.
Is my situation too complicated to manage on my own?
Choosing investments is usually the easy part, while the harder part is coordination. A salary, a couple of registered accounts and a diversified portfolio is a situation many people manage well on their own. A holding company, income drawn from several sources, a family trust or an estate plan is different, because each decision changes the tax outcome of the others, and getting one right in isolation can still leave money on the table overall.
The question is not how much you have. It is how many of your decisions depend on each other.
How much time does managing your own money take?
Less than people fear on a quiet day and more than they expect over a year. Beyond choosing investments, there is rebalancing, deciding which account to draw income from, keeping records for your accountant, following rule changes and making sure your lawyer and accountant are working from the same picture.
Some founders want exactly that kind of project after a sale, while others sold precisely so that they could have their time back. Neither is wrong, but managing it yourself is a trade of time for fees rather than a free saving.
Will I make good decisions when markets fall?
This is the question people answer most optimistically, because knowing what to do in a downturn is rarely the problem; doing it while the headlines are loud and the account is shrinking is. Capable, disciplined people often find their own money the hardest thing to be objective about, especially when it represents the life's work they just sold.
Some investors genuinely are steady in a storm, and if that describes you, it is a real point in favour of doing it yourself. A plan written in calm weather is only as good as the person who follows it when the weather turns.
What am I actually paying a wealth manager for?
A fee should buy specific work: day-to-day portfolio management, tax-aware decisions about which accounts hold what, a plan for drawing income, coordination with your accountant and lawyer, and someone accountable for the whole picture. If you cannot name what the fee pays for, that is worth finding out before you sign anything.
The fair comparison is between the fee and the work it replaces, including your own time, not between the fee and zero.
What should I ask a wealth manager before hiring one?
The best questions are plain ones, and a good firm will answer them without hedging:
- How are you paid, and what is my total cost each year?
- What is your registration, and with which securities regulator?
- Who will I actually work with, and how often?
- Will you make investment decisions on my behalf, and within what limits?
- How will you work with my accountant and lawyer?
The answers matter, but so does the manner. A firm that is comfortable with direct questions is usually comfortable being accountable.
When does managing it yourself get harder?
A few situations tend to tip the balance, because each one connects investment decisions to tax and legal decisions.
The money sits in a holding company. Investment income inside a corporation is taxed differently from personal income, so what you hold and where you hold it become one decision rather than two.
Income will come from several sources. Drawing from a corporation, registered accounts and government benefits in the right order is a planning problem as much as an investment one.
There is a family trust or an estate plan. The portfolio has to fit the structure, and the structure has obligations of its own.
There is a cross-border element. US citizenship, US assets or significant time outside Canada can change how the money is invested and reported.
Much of your wealth is in one position. Reducing a concentrated holding without a large tax bill takes planning across several years.
None of these makes doing it yourself impossible. They do make it a job for a team that works from the same picture, whether you lead that team or someone else does.
Where Westmount starts
Westmount Wealth Management is a Canadian portfolio manager with offices in Vancouver, Qualicum Beach and Toronto. It is registered in BC, Alberta, and Ontario and provides discretionary portfolio management to founders during and after a business sale, as well as to incorporated and asset-rich retirees.
The first conversation is a discovery meeting rather than a pitch. Its purpose is not to move your money; it is to understand your situation well enough to say honestly whether, and where, professional management would add something you cannot easily do yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a financial advisor and a portfolio manager in Canada?
"Financial advisor" is a broad title that many people use, while portfolio manager is a specific registration category. A registered portfolio manager can make investment decisions on your behalf within an agreed mandate, whereas many advisors recommend trades that you approve one by one. Checking a firm's registration category tells you more than its job titles do.
Does discretionary management mean I lose control of my money?
No. You agree the mandate, including your objectives, risk limits and any restrictions, and the manager makes day-to-day decisions within it. You can see every holding and transaction, and you can change the mandate if your circumstances change.
Is there a minimum amount needed to use a wealth manager?
It varies from firm to firm, and some set minimums while others do not. The more useful test is whether your situation is complicated enough to benefit from the work, so it is worth asking any firm directly what its minimum is and why.
Can I manage part of my money myself and have a manager handle the rest?
Yes, and some people do. The trade-off is that nobody sees the whole picture unless you share it, so overall diversification, tax efficiency across accounts and income planning become your job to coordinate.
Do I need a wealth manager if I already have an accountant?
They usually do different jobs. An accountant typically handles tax filings and planning, while a portfolio manager makes and monitors investment decisions, and the two tend to produce better results when they work from the same information than when either works alone.
This information has been prepared by Westmount Wealth Management Inc. Westmount Wealth Management Inc. is registered as a Portfolio Manager in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. Westmount Wealth Planning Inc. is a subsidiary of Westmount Wealth Management Inc.
This material is distributed for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide personalized legal, accounting, tax, or specific investment advice. Please speak to a Westmount Wealth Advisor regarding your unique situation.
