Investments & Planning

Providing insight into investor and advisor needs and expectations.

Canadian investors face plenty of important decisions as they seek to grow their savings and build wealth

In addition to choosing from the wide range of available investment products, individual investors need to determine how to adapt their savings strategies across different life stages; how much personal control to take (versus how much to delegate to advisors); and which advice channels to rely on. Advisors also need to navigate an array of important decisions and trade-offs as they help clients meet their goals. We help investment firms learn how investors and advisors see their options, and reveal the deep motivations that shape their choices.

Our Financial Services Team

We work with a wide range of clients in the financial industry. We’re very well known for our advisor work as well as our consumer work. And clients come to us and keep coming back to us because of the depth of knowledge and expertise that we bring on the financial services team.

Brand Strength Analysis

We work with investment providers to understand what matters most to advisors, and how advisors perceive specific investment products and brands. Established firms and new entrants alike turn to Environics to gain competitive insights – gauging the perceived strengths and weaknesses of their brands, assessing the reputational effects of recent changes, and identifying opportunities to grow. Drawing on our team’s 25 years of work in the financial services industry, as well as custom and proprietary research products like our annual Advisor Perception Study, we deliver a unique combination of evidence and analysis that helps investment firms act with confidence.

Applying a Social Values Lens to Investment Decisions

Growing numbers of investors are asking for responsible investing solutions that follow Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) mandates in addition to conventional financial screening and evaluation. Some firms and advisors assume ESG investing appeals only to Millennials or Gen X investors, but our research shows that many older investors – Boomers and even their parents – are interested in investing with companies whose mandates match their personal values. Our Social Values framework sheds light on the deep mindsets and motivations of advisors and investors alike, revealing new opportunities for growth and innovation in areas ranging from product development to communications.

Evaluating Sales Team Performance

As the head of sales for your company, how do you know whether your sales professionals are truly doing an effective job in their territories? Are they spending too much time with existing supporters, and failing to connect with new prospects, or underserving their current base? We’ve developed effective tools for tracking and comparing the performance of your sales team. Our annual Wholesaler Effectiveness Study evaluates sales representatives across 10 critical dimensions for success, producing individual report cards for each wholesaler or inside sales rep. Our Touchpoint Evaluation Program links to your CRM system to deploy a short, customizable survey within 24-48 hours of a sales interaction to quickly capture clients’ immediate assessments.