In Discussion: Yasmin Zalac, Region Head, TD Wealth

Hi, Asmond. Thank you so much for joining us today. I'm so excited to talk about your career and your position as the region head of financial planning at TD. We're very happy you're thanks for having me. Of course. And so you are the region head of financial planning at TD. What exactly does that job entail? Yeah, absolutely. So my role as region head at TD. Well, financial planning. First of all, it's a super rewarding job. I'll start with my territory. It's the it's all over the greater Toronto area. And on my team, I have 11 dedicated managers and we oversee over 200 financial planners, who service the client is in this area. Really, like this team's mission is to just help clients discover and achieve what matters to them and really helping them build financial confidence and making sure that they can achieve their dreams and goals throughout their lifetimes. Yeah, it sounds like a very rewarding job like helping people get to their financial security. And as like what would a typical day for you look like? Before I get into the, you know, what each day entails or what each week entails, maybe I'll kind of paint the picture first with what makes it so dynamic. Some of the priorities when you're a wealth leader, no matter where you are. So the five things that I anchor myself on every day, one would be vision. And so as a leader of a very large team. And so my team are my clients. When you think about it that way, I have a huge responsibility to set the tone for the team. We always have to keep the future in mind. And it's not just about growing your business and adding new revenues. But there's a lot there about culture and, you know, what actions you take to make the decisions that you're doing. So let's start with that vision piece. The second bucket is around business development. And I think that's where people really think a lot of our time is spent. Yeah, every person on this team is executing on a business plan. They're driving acquisition. They're doing business practices. They're meeting disciplines across their team just to make sure we're able to get the outcomes that we want. The third one is community and Sophia, that's where we met, right? And so, you know, intentionally being able to be out there in the community and meeting centers of influences and getting that further reach. We're not just your brand, but I don't know whenever I go out, I always meet somebody new and we always stay in touch. And so we really encourage that. The fourth one is clients. Hearing the voice of the field and the clients is so important to know where to take the business. And so the leader, you really got to bring that up always and wherever you are. And then risk management. I mean, who work in a bank? Well finance. We're all risk managers. We do this type of work. And so there's a lot of compliance and processes and controls. And so hopefully that helps with kind of the five buckets because that's what I wake up every day. And I think about. So when you asked me about typical day or week, I mean, when you're leading such a large team, I look at it more at a month or a quarter. And what, you know, if you know anything about wealth management, there's different seasons. There's predictability depending on what's happening in that time. And so there's the piece where you can plan proactively where, you know, the teams know what to expect. So coaching sessions booked pipeline calls book that sort of thing. Then there's leadership meetings where we come together and share ideas, whether that be with corporate or with our teams as well, different strategies. Partner meetings. You think about all the partners we need to be able to bring everything to life for our clients. You got to have your pulse on many different people. So that's very intentional. And then, you know, lastly, like being agile and be able to react to whatever happens that day. No day is the same. And so you always have to have that white space for whatever might come up in a given week. So hopefully that kind of helps you see what we do. The calendar is very busy, but it's a very proactive calendar. I would say. Yeah, that definitely helps explain everything. I like how you sort into like the five buckets. I think that was very helpful. And it's kind of nice that every day is a bit different. So it keeps things interesting. I bet. And in terms of like your clients, I know you're talking about clients. How do financial planners at TD get their clients? Do you guys hold events or does it do they come from the bank? So there's many different ways. And what I would say the one benefit we have here at TD wealth is that we're very tied in with our one TD. And so that means it's our retail branches. And so when financial planners start out, they are connected with a retail branch. And they do sit in there and they are a partner. And so they do get referrals from there. The other element though, that's an always on muscle that people are continuing to build is that self sourcing capability. It's that business development. And it's able to get out in the community do certain events that are very intentional choosing a segment maybe a passion project of yours. It could be women. It could be the Chinese segment. It could be really anything out there the community and really going after it and just creating these at risk repeat routines to build relationships and build a pipeline. And that's really how it works here. You got to kind of have both you got to have all kinds of ways to find the new business and make the new introduction. So would you say it's kind of like personable like it depends on the person how they bring in their clients. It's kind of based on like their passion and stuff like that their interests. It could be so when we think about the business plan, I mean what I see the planners do is they know that a lot of it will come from the enterprise that you're with right there's usually a mechanism there that attracts the clients, whether it be the brand of TD that will kind of get their foot in the door. Those are kind of the easy ones are nice warm referrals. But I encourage every planner on my team to look at that niche of what's going to be that thing that gets them up to fight. It's a bit harder. You know we're not necessarily calling a blank phone book a phone book and just you know cold calling. But it's finding ways to your right like build relationships and find your way in and it's got to be something of the passion. But it doesn't come easy to everyone not everyone likes to enter room and. And get to know and make it lead to that hot pipeline you know referral. So it can take time and so we do a training that we do around that to help people grow that muscle over the course of their careers. That's really interesting and in terms of I know I get confused with find like being a financial advisor and a financial planner. Are you able to kind of distinguish the two. Well, I can speak here for TD so financial advisors. They're more they work in the branches so they work on the retail side and in our world they're under the MFDA umbrella. And so they need to get their. They are able to sell mutual funds but they also do a lot of real estate lending and all the products that a retail fake would have. Our financial planner here at TD we are zero licensed under that umbrella. And it's a more holistic approach. We do very holistic financial plans for clients. Typically it's a career destination job where you do it for a long long time and you follow these clients along through their whole journeys right and so the licensing is part of it. And I probably kind of separate it that way. And that kind of also brings me into my next question what designations do you need in order to become a financial planner at TD. Okay, so from a designation perspective you need to start with your CSE so you're creating security scores your CPH. You need your WME and you also need your CFP eventually. And then from there there's a ton of C E credits you got to do every year to keep things up. And actually recently we've embarked on the journey of getting insurance licensed as well. And so that's something that can come later in your journey as well to be able to do insurance policies for clients. And how long do those designations usually take? Well we give three years to get your CFP. So when you enter you need your CSE in advance and then you do the rest of it with the first kind of 90 days and they do your WME. So that's about two years but you need to have the CFP by year three. And as the head of financial planning are you in charge of hiring and if so what are some like skills that you look for when you're hiring a financial planner at TD. Yeah, I'm really involved in the hiring process. I love meeting candidates at the end of the journey and before they come into here because I think it's really important for candidates to be able to ask any final questions when you're deciding where to start. And plus I do have to hit my targets for hiring plans when it comes to my business plan. But when I think about what a financial planner needs to be in this day and age and it's always changing there's some areas that I anchor into. Number one is really strong people skills, you know customer service. Entrepreneurial mindset would be one. would be one and so yeah. Yes, it's a bank. Yes, you come in, you have a pension and all that. But it's probably the closest thing to being an entrepreneur, working for a big organization that you can find. Because you have to be able to grow and get up every day and do the job over and over. Strong interest in the economy and geopolitical events. And so if you look at what you look at every day on your Instagram or on your socials, if you're drawn to understanding what's happening, that's probably a good thing because it's going to be talking about a lot with clients when they're asking what's happening in the world. And you see our world today, it's constantly evolving. And then a deep knowledge of investment management, tax planning, that sort of thing. And you get a lot of that from your CSI courses and the CFP, of course, and the theory, but it's that ability to kind of apply hard concepts into layman's terms for everyday people and make it interesting so that you can give that holistic advice and people keep coming to you to get more products and get more advice from you. But really, when I read our comments from clients, the way they see us, you're a relationship manager. You are the person where they have the direct phone to you. There's no IVR, there's no buttons to press. It's like, I'm going to call Sophia. And she's going to help me navigate this huge bank. And that's what they do. And there's a higher calling, for sure. I always look at that. And the last question I asked myself when I'm meeting with somebody and deciding if we're going to join our team is would I trust this person with my parents or would I send my best friend to them and know that they would have a really rewarding relationship and they would always do what's right and in Tigris. The work we do is a higher calling. There's a lot of trust involved. And we need to be sure we're kind of looking at that long-term piece when it comes to dealing with people. Yeah, it sounds like a job where you have to be super passionate about what you're doing, especially because if you need to know all that information and you're giving it to clients you trust you. So that kind of leads me to my next question on what you think is more important, like passion and personality or marks and academic executions. Yeah, OK. So you're talking just in wealth management or particular the financial planning role. I say both. OK. OK. Well, maybe we can start with just talking a little bit about the different jobs in wealth. The fact is, is there's a huge wide array of roles. So where I work in distribution is one area, and that's directly with the field, but then there's a lot of corporate roles that are highly analytical. We think about people that are actually making decisions on what these managed solutions are going to entail and what's happening and what are we going to do. You need to have both. But some definitely need CFA and that sort of thing, right? In my mind, as a leader in hiring people, my personal view is that no matter what the job is, you need to have the soft skills to make a team great and to be able to work together with partners. And so that that's almost like a non-negotiable. So that personality soft skill, a willingness to learn how to leverage those skills, right? And then the academic achievements are kind of like the baseline. Like you need to have certain things. But I guess the world is changing so, so fast. And so I like to kind of bucket it into, does this person have a growth mindset? Are they constantly curious in trying to learn what the next thing is, no matter what? They don't rest on your laurels and just they still. And so anyone can look at themselves and just look up growth mindset and say, yeah, I'm not her send or maybe, no, I anchor here too long and I'm not good with change. So you know what, at the end of the day, we're regulated business. We need the credentials, you know. But some people don't look at us because they have a lot of exams to do. They turn away from it. It's intimidating. But you know, and if you just go into CSI website, and FP Canada, you can kind of look at the pathways there and see where could this lead to in a career involved management. So for example, like right now, even for me, like I've done all the courses over my years. I don't really use them anymore. I mean, people, but I'm really curious about the PDO, you know. That's the partners and directors and senior officers course. It's understanding things as a broader perspective. It's always on kind of learning. And I have a couple of leaders on my team who don't even need their CFP, but they did it because they want to be in the trenches with their people and they just want to know. So I would say personality, academic, any both, but there's that sweet sauce. There's that special something of someone that's willing to grow and be curious all the time. Yeah, that's really interesting that you bring out like curiosity. And like I feel like always wanting to learn more and like be better, I guess, which definitely stands out and probably puts you at like a better or puts you like above a lot of other people. And in terms of like the wealth management sector, it has changed a lot in recent years. What trends have you, you've seen within the wealth management sector? Yeah, so this one, it's constantly evolving, like I said. The industry is massive and it's really important for our economy, for our clients and just to, you know, in so many different ways. There's a few things that come to mind. And so I'll start with technology and how humans kind of work together. You know, we think of AI, machine learning and bots and voice technology. There's so much of this that we use, but there's so little of it that we use. So for example, our back offices, they use processes on how we gather data. There's a lot of bots that work there to kind of help speed up efficiency. But I think we do have a lot of work to do here to keep up the pace and learn how to incorporate it to make us more efficient. There's a lot of talk about how doing corporate this in a safe manner within, you know, the wealth spaces so that, you know, say a financial planner today, they have say 250 clients, for example, if we made their lives easier with, you know, more AI and fast text writing and writing the drinks that are charting notes, could they then handle more clients because they wouldn't be tagging away, right? That would be one example. The second one is generational wealth transfer. I heard a stat recently that, you know, what the next eight years are going to be very exciting for the wealth industry. There is a massive amount of assets kind of passing hands, as you know, when younger clients are kind of looking for those easier digital interactions, right? But there's also, you know, this point where they're looking to their parents to say, "Hey, what did you do with your money, you know?" And how am I going to be responsible? And so there was definitely an element of tailored advice. So it's really important for our financial planners, for anybody in this industry to make sure that you're looking at that intergenerational understanding of who. And I see some of my planners, like, we'll have events and they'll have four generations at one table. And it's amazing just to see how that planner has been doing this for so long. There's a baby there and they're all connected. And you just think about the peace of mind that happens with that. And that's a very interesting kind of thing for the next eight years. And anyone starting out in this career now, I think it's a very exciting time. And then lastly, I would say shifts in investment strategies. So investors are looking for different solutions. Like, you see the commercials. You see what they're, you know, seeking out. And ways to diversify their hard earned money. And so I'll give you an example. Real assets is something that clients are seeking in the mass affluent space. So they want a piece of the pie when it comes to wind farms or hotels or like. And so we do have a product that actually gives you a piece of the pie in real assets. And it's a great way that it diversify. So those kind of products are becoming more common. And our TD asset management team are phenomenal. They're always the forefront creating solutions for the industry. But bottom line, like, you know what, when I think about embracing innovation, we just got to stay ahead of the competitive landscape. But one thing that I was talking about, because you can think of this and be like, oh my gosh, are the robots going to take over? Like, what's going to happen? I'm choosing this career for the long run. And now I would say I would, I see that financial planner role very similar to like a doctor where that person, that trusted person, that human will be a really, really important piece. As people go through the ups and downs of life, life is hard. The world is ever changing. And to have that name is something that you can call and trust and navigate it all, will go away and make look a little different. Maybe a little bit more efficient. But I don't see that going away as having a lot of being a wealth professional and choosing that career. Yeah. Well, it's definitely interesting to see how AI is like changing the way that we like see everything as it is. But yeah, no, I definitely agree. I feel like there's like a personable side that AI just can't take over. And In terms of misconceptions within the finance industry, what do you think the biggest misconception people have about working in finance or wealth management? - One that comes to mind is that you need to be a FMF genius or that you're gonna be constantly looking at spreadsheets since your charts all day long. You know, sure there's jobs like that or there's a lot of that. But I haven't experienced that. I spend a lot of years in direct investing. I spend a lot of years in financial planning and a lot of other jobs across the bank. And it really is a people business. Those things matter, but the IQ and the EQ, it's your presence, it's how you show up, it's how you build trust. So I just want everyone to know that there's all kinds of walks of life here in finance. People from a whole different types of backgrounds, but don't discount a lot of the jobs that you've done in your early years customer service. I guess all about the client and working in teams. There's a lot of transferable skills. - Yeah, and I feel like in that sense, a lot of people think that you were saying it's just numbers, which is really interesting. So it's nice to hear that people who aren't so get at math, their numbers still have a possibility to go into the finance route as well. And then, yeah, as we wrap up, what advice would you give to young women who want to explore a career in financial planning? - Well, I think you should be giving them that advice, okay? (laughs) Because you know what, I really admire you and how you put yourself out there and seek out mentors and are always so curious. But I would say to narrow it down is the concept of just ask. And I use this mantra in my everyday, 'cause we every have that feeling of maybe being, you know, nervous to approach somebody or to send that email or to ask for that sale. I could apply it to everything. And so it's just don't be afraid to ask. And it'd be surprised where it leads you. My advice. - Well, it's really good advice. So thank you for that. And thank you so much for talking with, taking the time to talk with me today. I know I learned a lot from our conversation. I'm sure all the viewers have as well. So thank you so much. - No, you're welcome. And thank you and I really appreciate you having me today and have an awesome day. Thank you. - Thank you.