BRENDAN MIKKELSON, MBA, CFP®, Investment Advisor & Certified Financial Planner, WooFong Investment Group, Acumen Capital Partners, Calgary, Alberta

BRENDAN MIKKELSON

“To uncover solutions and see clients light up about something they never thought they could do is pretty cool.”

What do a 15-year professional hockey career and Investment Advice have in common? For Brendan Mikkelson, MBA, CFP®, Investment Advisor at Woo Fong Investment Group, Acumen Capital Partners, it’s understanding and strategically adapting to continuous change. “A big success for me in my life is that I was able to pivot from being an athlete to doing something completely different,” he says. “I understand what it’s like to stick your neck out there and face change, including all the different anxieties and fears that come along with that, meet them head on, show resilience, and excel again. In sports, in finance, and in life, it’s never a job done.”

A former professional athlete, Brendan’s life experience is unique, and it pushed him to learn excellent money management skills at a young age as he left home to play hockey at 16. He came by it honestly, as his father had a similar pathway playing professional hockey while working simultaneously to earn his business degree. Brendan’s parents prepared him for his early independence, teaching him the value of a dollar and how to track his spending. “From a young age, we’d earn a monthly allowance doing chores, and we would record it in a notebook in the kitchen. The 20 bucks would go in at the start of the month. If I spent $5, it was on the ledger, ‘minus five,’” he says, sharing an example: “When I got a little older, one-piece carbon fiber hockey sticks came out. My dad would cover the cost of a wooden stick, but I’d have to cover the difference if I wanted the fancy one. Now, it was a zero-interest loan, but I wasn’t getting handouts.”

Whenever he upgraded equipment, Brendan would do extra chores around the house to cover the loans. “It was amazing what happened, because I took care of these sticks like no other,” he says. “I wasn’t banging it on the ice. I treated it like a fine piece of glass. Those experiences I remember – teaching the value of money, budgeting, and saving; that value in working hard for and taking care of things; and simply, understanding what a loan meant – were foundational for me. I’ve since noticed a tie in that our wealthiest clients have the best, and similar, habits.”

Brendan’s career journey is not all hockey. While hustling as an athlete, he was working to build his finance career. “I started taking business courses online and found my way to financial planning. Early on in my pro hockey career I was fortunate to make some good income and my family encouraged me to learn about markets and investments. This gave me 15 years’ experience in managing everything,” says Brendan. “I knew if I decided to work with an Advisor, I’d want to be more informed, ask the right questions, and understand what was going on. Then, I realized how much I genuinely enjoyed it. At various points professionals helped to advise and guide me, but I treated it as further learning as well.”

In his last year playing in Cardiff, Wales, Brendan completed his MBA with distinction on campus at Cardiff Metropolitan University. “That was a big year. I was a hockey player in the mornings and on weekends, I pivoted to a full-time MBA student in the afternoons and evenings during the week,” he says, adding that he worked at his CFP® prior to that as well. “I’m also a Certified Financial Planner. I went through that program before the MBA, took the core curriculum, and brought my books on the buses and planes.”

From there, Brendan began putting the pieces together, building portfolios, studying the markets, sectors, and trends. “You learn that markets are very much like you and I,” he says. “There’s a real human aspect. Markets can be prone to emotional decisions and the right decision for one person might not make sense on a spreadsheet or vice versa, but that’s why they call it personal finance.”

In his work, Brendan takes a coaching role but also views his client relationships as partnerships where the client is the CEO and he’s the CFO/QB. “Throughout my pro hockey career, I played for a lot of sharp managers and coaches,” he says. “I learned how to approach things, how to speak to people, and to understand that people think and respond differently. A message that resonates for one person might not for another. All of that helps me to communicate effectively with my clients and to understand their personalities.”

Like most things in life, Brendan says most of his client connections happen organically and that they come from a broad range of situations and stages of wealth accumulation. “Working with athletes, there’s an easy connection there. Working with business owners, professionals, individuals, young people, I like to see and learn from a lot of these different situations and circumstances,” he says. “It’s interesting from the planning aspect and the taxation side. With young people, it’s more about setting the foundation. For those closer to retirement, it’s ensuring our bases are covered and we’ve identified any blind spots to protect them from, covering various facets that can include estate planning and potentially, insurance aspects.”

When he first meets a prospect or client, Brendan likes to keep things comfortable for them with a casual sit down and a cup of coffee. “It’s very informal, just get to know each other personally, touch on financial affairs, learn about their families, and what makes them tick. I want to ensure we’re a good fit and I want my clients to feel comfortable with me,” he says. “The next step is a fairly extensive information gathering process that covers both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of their financial circumstances, as well as capturing the relevant personal details.”

Having that essential information, Brendan moves on to creating an initial version of the financial plan. At the same time, he’s mindful of any blind spots or areas to lean into, their tax situation, and documents such as wills. “That initial financial plan dictates a lot of avenues and which direction we’ll go in. Once the core areas are covered, we can start making recommendations, covering everything from investments, to tax planning and insurance, but that all comes once we have the entire big picture first.”

He also works to balance outcomes according to personality and financial aims. “The typical question is, ‘what is your risk tolerance?’ but often the real question to ask is, ‘how much risk do we need to take?’ This is important when we’re looking at their goals and financial vision, and what it will take to make it happen, or if we need to make some adjustments according to their priorities,” says Brendan.

Because Brendan considers financial plans as living documents that must be revised according to life and markets, reviews are annual at a minimum, but he’s often in touch more frequently according to the client’s needs. “It’s not a set it, forget it. My plans adapt to, and evolve with, people’s lives,” he says. “That’s where consistent communication and updates really matter. I have to see where they’re at in life and if anything has come up. These are lasting relationships where needs evolve over time. I have an open-door policy, I’m very accessible, and I think that’s something clients appreciate.”

Brendan is by nature, a problem solver. When he creates the ideal solutions for each client, it’s one of the most rewarding parts of his day-to-day work. “When they feel good about those solutions, we’ve saved or made some money, and we’ve put a stronger plan and process in place, when they’re happy with the value they’re getting, that’s when I feel great too.

Showcasing how Brendan’s experience serves a wide range of circumstances, and how it’s also resulted in his understanding, non-judgemental, and compassionate approach, he shares some real-life stories.

One of his younger clients was recently married, purchased a home, and had his first child all within the last three years. “He was concerned he hadn’t saved enough over the last few years,” says Brendan. “I had to reassure him. He hadn’t dug himself into an uncomfortable debt hole. Working together we’d been strategic with both savings and where funds were taken from,” says Brendan. “The choices he’s made are going to provide a great springboard to the rest of his life. Helping people like him understand that wins happen in a variety of ways, I’ve noticed they take a lot of comfort in that. It’s not always going to be perfect, but we’re moving in the right direction for the long-term. Whether it’s specifically within personal finances, or we’re looking at life in general, things happen.”

At the other end of the spectrum, a new client couple nearing retirement reached out to Brendan for his expertise and some reassurance about their preparedness. “They had no idea they were on the verge of being ready for retirement,” he says. “We combed through everything in a diligent discovery process. I was able to show them all the safeguards we would put in place as well as some modest assumptions modeling, so they could feel comfortable. It’s always so rewarding to see their reactions and relief.”

Meanwhile, a newer client couple Brendan works with were unsure about some of their savings as their son entered third-year university with a substantial amount remaining in the RESP. “The wife asked me, ‘Brendan, what should we do with this?’” he says. “We came up with a plan to draw down the rest of the funds in a highly tax efficient way. This will set their son up with a FHSA and a TFSA that’s funded. To create that solution and see them light up about something they never thought they could do, that was pretty cool.”

That compassionate approach goes beyond the office. Brendan and his wife Kate – a psychotherapist and entrepreneur with her own business, Serenity Solutions Therapy – share a love of their community in Calgary. Giving back is important to both and they find volunteering a great way to meet people. Again, that hockey background is advantageous when it comes to connecting where it matters. “Having played for the Calgary Flames, I’m an active member of the Flames Alumni Association here, which is extremely active in the community,” he says. “There are so many annual events we’re involved with. One in particular I enjoy is Super HEROS and we just had our annual toy drive, to name one.”

Underneath it all, that connection between an athlete’s unique experience, finance, and life carries through. “Everything that made me successful as an athlete – the consistency, the diligence, the resiliency, the discipline – are key components of building and growing a financial plan,” says Brendan. “Markets are going to be volatile, and life is going to hold surprises. To move beyond building out a strategic plan, and to execute it, you have to have the discipline to stay the course and see it through. Again, financial plans are living documents, and as a player, I always thought, ‘I’m never done improving,’ and that’s the case with financial planning as well.”

Natalie Noble’s love of writing stems from her passion for hearing and sharing people’s stories. Over the years, she has written for various business, real estate, and agriculture publications. At the heart of her work is a desire to continuously learn and connect.

Brendan Mikkelson, CFP®, MBA (Distinction)

Investment Advisor & Certified Financial Planner®

Acumen Capital Partners

500 4th AVE S.W, Suite 800,

Calgary, AB, T2P 2V6

P: 8255403765 | C: 2892427152

bmikkelson@acumencapital.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mikkelson-cfp-mba-922178205/ https://acumencapital.com/bio/brendan-mikkelson/