Partnering like a pro: Advisors and mortgage agents

Being a trusted financial advisor means offering unbiased advice.   

“I’m not here to sell or push product. I’m here to do what’s right for each client,” said Natalie Jamison, a senior wealth advisor with Scotia Wealth Management in Oakville, Ont.  

When a client seeks a mortgage, for example, Jamison recommends the client explore their options and will sometimes suggest they speak to her longtime referral partner Colin Ballantyne.   

Ballantyne, a mortgage agent with BRX Mortgage in Oakville, Ont., then steps in to assess the client’s financial details and land them an appropriate mortgage rate.  

“Obviously, I work for Scotia, but sometimes Scotia isn’t the best deal for my client. And I’m a wealth advisor, I’m supposed to look after my client’s wealth,” Jamison said. “If a mortgage broker like Colin can find them a better solution at BMO or TD or a credit union or somewhere else, why wouldn’t I want that for my client?”   

The two have worked together for roughly a decade, offering clients wealth and debt management advice that go hand in hand.   

Here are some of the benefits of an advisor–mortgage agent relationship and why the pair has chosen to work together.     

THE PARTNERS   

• Accepting professional: Natalie Jamison, senior wealth advisor with Scotia Wealth Management in Oakville, Ont.  

• Referring professional: Colin Ballantyne, mortgage agent with BRX Mortgage in Oakville, Ont.  

• Number of households they’ve collaborated on: About a dozen  

• How long they’ve worked together: About a decade  

Why give and receive referrals?   

Debt management is “a really big piece” of wealth management, which is why it’s beneficial for advisors to work alongside mortgage agents to serve clients, Jamison said.   

“We can’t just take care of the assets; we also have to take care of the liabilities,” she said.   

While his part of the equation is finding a suitable mortgage for clients, Ballantyne said having an advisor guide his clients through other important financial decisions allows him to realize his goal of retaining clients beyond the beginning of their homeownership journey.   

“Handing them off to someone who, like Natalie, will take the time to look at their entire portfolio [and] teach them, teach their children financial knowledge, and I’m managing the other side of it — I’ve now got a lifecycle client,” he said.   

Referrals can also help a professional establish credibility with clients, Jamison said.  

“It really matters to me to have an independent mortgage broker who can shop a mortgage from anywhere,” depending on the best offer, she added.  

Moreover, professionals who give referrals to trusted partners will likely receive referrals back, allowing them to expand their client base and business, Ballantyne said.  

For this reason, both Jamison and Ballantyne provide consultations to any clients referred to them — regardless of whether they seem like the right fit.  

“I will still guide them in the right direction even if it’s not with me,” Jamison said. “And that carries a lot of weight, that Colin and I both approach [referrals] that way, because we know that means more referrals down the road.”  

Why they chose each other  

Twelve years ago, Ballantyne said his wife was looking for a financial advisor and was adamant about finding a woman for the job because she wanted someone who could explain finances to her in a relatable way.   

Jamison’s name came up through word of mouth, and after an initial meeting, Ballantyne’s wife started working with Jamison.   

Ballantyne met Jamison through this connection, and a friendship organically formed between them, with the two sharing several common interests such as being involved in the Oakville, Ont., community and charity work.   

“They do go hand in hand — the debt and the assets and the cash flow. It’s all connected.”

—Natalie Jamison

Eventually, Ballantyne referred a client to Jamison, starting their years-long partnership.  

“When you start to know somebody and when you start to know their value set, it becomes a lot easier to partner … and send referrals back and forth,” Jamison said.  

“Especially where you know how they plug into specific clients, because I’ll get a gamut of different clients, from first-time homebuyers to some who have a large portfolio and might be heading towards retirement,” Ballantyne chimed in.   

Mutual trust has kept their working relationship going for the past decade.  

“I have trust in Natalie’s capability to assess and get to know the client and give honest advice and not advice to earn a commission,” Ballantyne said. “It’s not advice to get a client — it’s advice that puts them first.”  

Jamison shared a similar sentiment.   

“He’s not going to put a client in a variable rate mortgage when interest rates are skyrocketing, when that’s not the right thing to do,” she said. “He will also go to the same extent as me in terms of finding out about the clients, like what their … needs might be today and what their needs might be in two years, five years and 10 years.”   

They also complement one another in the way they approach clients.   

“He’s a big educator, just like me,” said Jamison, who often refers clients to Ballantyne’s LinkedIn page, where he shares educational resources. “He likes educating people about their choices and making sure they comprehend them. He speaks in plain, simple language, not mumbo-jumbo lingo that nobody understands.” 

Client examples 

When Ballantyne receives a client’s mortgage application, he goes through it carefully to ensure he understands what assets the client owns, what their income is and what they owe, among other things.   

This “financial snapshot” of the client informs his work, he said.    

If he discovers a client has a large pile of cash sitting in a bank account, for example, Ballantyne said he’ll ask the client if they’ve spoken to an advisor about putting that money to work.    

Enter Jamison, who recently received a client referral from Ballantyne of a couple who had cash to invest. Jamison explained TFSAs to the clients and helped them create a financial plan.    

In another referral Jamison received from Ballantyne, she helped a couple establish priorities as they considered expanding their family.   

There were discussions on the wealth management side, Jamison said, such as choosing between private or public school, as well as affording a larger home.  

“You want to get a larger home, which means a larger mortgage, but can you support the mortgage and private school?” she recalled from those discussions. “They do go hand in hand — the debt and the assets and the cash flow. It’s all connected.”  

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