How Nader Hamid and his team are helping clients make good decisions about their financial futures
With more than 17 years in wealth management, Nader Hamid has done and learned a lot as he has watched the industry transform, stayed on top of trends, incorporated technology and continued his own personal education. Now, thanks to his experiences, he continues to help his clients comfortably make good decisions about their finances by focusing on educating them through meetings, seminars, newsletters and blogs.
Nader is a portfolio manager and director at Total Wealth Management Group (TWM Group), part of HollisWealth®, a division of Industrial Alliance Securities Inc. He has always had a passion for investing and purchased his first stock at the age of 15 with the help of his parents. He began his career as an investment advisor in 2002 but felt limited in the role. He would go on to earn his CIM® certification and become a portfolio manager through the CSI. “To truly help people, you need to be able to guide and direct all aspects of their financial lives; that’s not just managing their investments,” said Nader. “Being a portfolio manager lets me implement advanced investing strategies.”
In 2005, he created Total Wealth Management Group. Since then he has developed a niche clientele of high-net-worth individuals looking for complete service solutions and portfolio management. While he has found success, he hasn’t done it alone. Nader points to the strong team around him that helps him provide a high level of service to his clients. “Everyone uses their unique abilities to maximise their potential and provide excellent service,” he said. “I have a phenomenal partnership with portfolio managers Jean Hénault, who has been a mentor to me, and Pascal Ricard.”
The three are keen followers of well-known investor Ray Dalio’s principles, which help them brainstorm and generate new ideas to improve client service. Nader also recognizes administrative services manager Vanita Batra, the "backbone" of the practice; Orith Samson, Lily Yan and Tessa Wong for their administrative competence; and Kevin Abouzeid and Olivier Jean, who mainly focus on research and analysis.
Over the years, Nader has watched his team grow with their own unique abilities. “It really allows me to focus on my passions and strengths, which are portfolio management, financial planning and client relationships. Being well-surrounded by people that are specialists in other areas, that’s been one of the reasons for our success.”
Nader says that together his practice has remained agile and ahead of the curve, even with the industry transforming since the business was established. “We have implemented and learned new technologies and adapted an evolving management approach as well. The huge amount of investment choices and information available has added a lot of complexity to the space. Our portfolios are now built by three portfolio managers, including myself, and several CFA analysts, that wasn’t the case 10 years ago. There’s been a lot of risk in recent market conditions so building stability into a portfolio, combined with potential for growth, needs a lot more research and competing viewpoints to come up with excellent solutions and strategies.”
For Nader, his greatest business success has been the long-standing relationships he has created with his clients. “It’s amazing how I’ve seen them evolve throughout the years from parents to now grandparents, or small start-ups to major companies.”
Now, Nader’s goals including further developing his team, improve the portfolio management offering and enhance the client experience. “We are now implementing state-of-the-art technologies, which will help us reach this goal. We believe it will translate into better investment behaviours and help increase overall net worths. We want to help our clients to have peace of mind, to have the freedom to do more of the things they love and less of what they don’t.”
