Julie Gallagher explains what Richardson advisors should expect and how she will gauge success in her new role
On her first day at President and CEO of Richardson Wealth, Julie Gallagher has a hefty to-do list. Freshly appointed to lead the advisory firm five months after its acquisition by iA Financial Group, Gallagher has to establish herself within the firm, embed herself in its culture, set metrics for success, and embark on a firmwide rebrand. She’s excited at the prospect.
Gallagher spoke with WP about how she set herself apart to earn the role, as well as how her background on both the compliance and legal sides of the business, as well as recent experience leading product development at iA Financial, can inform her leadership of Richardson. She emphasized the idea of Richardson’s culture and independence, outlining her plans to continue learning that culture.
“It struck me when I got to know this firm better, during the due diligence process, that Richardson has three points that distinguish us. We've got our independence, that is really important. We have people in our culture who are completely committed,” Gallagher says. “We have a very strong family sense that I don't want to lose. And I want to protect that boutique feeling that we have. I want to make sure I prioritize protecting that because our people are everything we have. It's so important. So that's going to be priority number one. The second priority is to be visible.”
In pursuit of that second priority, Gallagher will shortly be setting off on a road trip, going coast to coast, visiting Richardson advisors, listening to them, and finding out how she can be most relevant to their lives. She wants to build strong relationships with those advisors, take on their feedback, and incorporate their voices into a new rebranding initiative. In what Gallagher calls a “once in a lifetime chance,” she says the firm will be able to rearticulate its brand identity through that process.
While learning the firm, protecting its culture, and reshaping its brand, Gallagher emphasizes that she wants to maintain continuity with the strategic plan for Richardson that was built through the acquisition process. Gallagher was heavily involved in that process through her last role at iA Financial and her involvement, she explains, gave her a solid grounding in the firm’s culture and identity that she wants to build on. She emphasized her connection with advisors, too, as a focus of her past roles and something that set her apart in iA’s search for a new CEO.
Gallagher’s qualifications
Gallagher, a lawyer by training, rose up in financial services through counsel and compliance roles. She notes the importance of that background for her current position, given the highly regulated nature of this industry. She notes, too, that compliance touches almost every aspect of the business, from product creation through distribution and marketing. CCOs are vital contributors to strategic planning, she explains, and she plans to use that strategic experience in her leadership of Richardson.
More recently, Gallagher spent a year as Senior VP and Head of Investment Products & Solutions and Capital Markets at iA Financial, an explicitly product-focused role. While she stresses the product and distribution knowledge she gained on the compliance side of the business, she highlights how this experience helped her better understand the open architecture for investment products used at both iA and Richardson, something she expects to continue as she leads the wealth management firm.
Maintaining independence post-acquisition
Independence was another watchword Gallagher used to describe Richardson’s value. She believes that the firm and its advisors can retain their independence despite their recent acquisition by a larger firm, based on how she defines independence.
“For me, independence is freedom of choice, freedom to build your team your own way, freedom to decide what's best for your clients, freedom on the investment piece. If we talk about products it’s also about freedom to use tools that you need, in addition to what's provided, to service your clients,” Gallagher says. “It's about respect, it's about integrity, and those values are really close to my heart and that's what we need to protect, to remain independent.”
Gallagher contrasts that cultural definition of independence with boutique firms that only distribute proprietary product, even when they are completely owner-operated.
What advisors can expect and what success looks like
Richardson advisors, Gallagher says, should see her as a transparent and authentic team-player. She praises the work that they do and says she will solicit their input. When decisions are made, their reasoning will be explained. One of her core early definitions for success as CEO of Richardson will be in ensuring the firm feels stable and its culture feels protected. From there, she hopes to grow the firm through advisor and client acquisition. She hopes the rest of the industry sees her arrival at Richardson as a breath of fresh air.
“I don't have the background of a typical CEO in this industry. And I think that's what will drive the difference. I think that my energy and then my personality will also help, But my knowledge and experience and expertise with retail advisors and clients is probably what will help the both,” Gallagher says. “So I would say for the industry: We're in business, and we're going to continue to grow. And we're going to continue to service our Canadian investors as well as we can.”
