OUR
EDGE
TRIED-AND-TRUE
Remaining conservative has boded well in this bear market.
By Clifford Noonoo, Jonathan R. Pinsler and Gail Malone
as told to Deanne N. Gage*
Photography by Manon Boyer
CLIFFORD NOONOO: Our senior partner Earl Agulnik recently passed away
so Jonathan, Gail and I are continuing on with the business. I had been a partner
with Earl since 1987, and Jonathan and Gail joined us 10 years later.
Earl and I started our business like every other advisor—from the bottom.
We did lots and lots of cold calling. We called business owners and executives
at major corporations. We were also involved in a number of community activities. We eventually built up an initial base and from that came referrals. One
person would send us four people and then those four people would send us
another two prospects each and so on.
We all have a conservative strategy and focus on consistently managing risk.
We are also keenly aware of the effects of taxation on income from interest, dividends and capital gains. We’ve always done our own asset allocation and we only
manage three types of portfolios for clients. One is an actively managed portfolio of fixed income securities. The second portfolio is a high-yield portfolio,
which has high-yield bonds, convertible bonds, some derivative products—
basically anything that’s a little hybrid in nature. The third portfolio is equitybased. Here, we maintain lower risk than the overall market by employing option
strategies such as cash covered put writing and covered call writing. This achieves
returns that are lower than the highs of the market but, more important, higher
than the lows.
JONATHAN PINSLER: Clients were anxious during the technology boom
because they weren’t comfortable with the regimented process of how we manage
money. They wanted to speculate with their money but we’re not in that business.
GAIL MALONE:We’re in the business of trying to preserve the wealth. Wealthy
people are not looking for 20% returns, they are looking to minimize volatility.
We don’t try to push the market, we take what the market will give us.
Top-Notch Service
MALONE: We really pride ourselves on our customer service. We are in
contact with clients within a maximum of 90 days.
PINSLER: Clients know all the partners, so they always know that they’re going
to be able to get some help. We don’t have voice mail at our office… a client’s
call is always picked up. Clients want to be able to speak to somebody right away,
especially when it comes to their money.
NOONOO: Clients also expect you to have an educated opinion on things.
It doesn’t mean you’re an expert on everything, but they want to know that
you have a clue about issues. Average brokers don’t educate themselves. They’re
more worried about the sale of the day and that’s where the client loses.
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ADVISOR’S EDGE
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JULY 2003
M I N I - P RO F I L E
CLIFFORD NOONOO, MANAGING
DIRECTOR & SENIOR VICEPRESIDENT
JONATHAN R. PINSLER, CFA,
VICE-PRESIDENT
GAIL MALONE, VICE-PRESIDENT
NOONOO PINSLER AND MALONE
GROUP, TD WATERHOUSE
INVESTMENT ADVICE, MONTREAL
CLIENT FAMILIES: 500
ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT:
$1 BILLION
The biggest compliment a client can
pay you is to become your client. People
work hard for their money so you have to
make sure you look after it. But earning
a client’s trust doesn’t happen overnight.
It’s not something you can force on a
client. You just have to keep doing what
you’re doing and over a period of time,
trust is built. Often it can take three to
four years.
left to right:
Veteran Advice
NOONOO:There’s no denying that these
are tough times. But it was less fun for us
three years ago when people had lost semblance of reality and considered 30%
returns realistic over the long term.
Right now is a fantastic time to grow
a business. In a bull market, everyone’s
happy and busy trading and not looking
to make changes but now people are
willing to listen to a new approach. Just
persevere.
PINSLER:Too many people are generalists. You need to find a niche and stick with
it. You want to have a philosophy that will
carry you through many years ahead. We’ve
found that staying conservative wins for the
long term.
MALONE: Never underestimate the value
of constant communication with clients,
even if the markets are down. We’re constantly letting clients know we’re on top of
things. We’re watching their situations
closely. It’s also important to be passionate
about what you do. We’re not afraid of
hard work. We put in long hours, even on
weekends. We keep up-to-date and are
on the pulse of what’s happening.
Jonathan R. Pinsler,
Clifford Noonoo
and Gail Malone.
*Deanne N. Gage is managing editor of
Advisor’s Edge. [email protected]
ADVISOR’S EDGE
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