CHRISTOPHER OUIMET, CFA, CFP®, Portfolio Manager, Montgomery Ouimet Wealth Management of RBC Dominion Securities Inc., Ottawa, ON
- NATALIE NOBLE
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 26 minutes ago
CHRISTOPHER OUIMET
“Clients don’t outgrow our process; we grow with them.”
In an ever-changing financial landscape, keeping track of its many moving parts can be daunting. Christopher (Chris) Ouimet CFA, CFP®, and Portfolio Manager with Montgomery Ouimet Wealth Management of RBC Dominion Securities, removes that burden, delivering clarity, structure, and intergenerational strategy to even the most complex financial lives. “I take satisfaction in helping clients bring order to what might feel overwhelming,” says Chris. “Finances are deeply emotional. I love tying together family, personal, and legacy assets, putting all the moving parts into a practical, actionable plan, and helping people see everything in a clear picture.”
At Montgomery Ouimet, many clients are multi-generations within a family. “Clients don’t outgrow our process; we grow with them, as do our services according to what they need,” says Chris. “I have a number of clients where my principal client is the grandparent, their children came on next, and now I also work with their late-teens and early-20s children. It’s so rewarding to see the work trickle down to all three generations.”
The best people
Building a career in wealth management was always in the back of Chris’s mind. “I didn’t grow up with a lot of wealth in my family and my early years. Seeing the family struggles with money incentivized me to get into this industry,” he says, adding that as someone drawn to athletics, he started out with an eye to combining sport and business by studying sports management.
But Chris’s interest quickly focused into financial health, hence his early move into the financial services industry and evolution into wealth management. He credits early mentor, Geoff Moore, now Regional Director Eastern Canada with Scotia Wealth Management, for setting him on that path. “Geoff was the biggest influence on my career. He opened up a number of significant opportunities for me when I was in Kingston with Scotia,” says Chris. “I’m grateful to him for getting me started in the industry and helping to progress my career into the wealth management space in Ottawa.”
As the ideal place to build his business – originally over 15 years with Scotia Wealth, and now with Montgomery Ouimet since 2019 – Ottawa offers the perfect mix of community, philanthropy, and active living that align with Chris’s values. “Ottawa feels like a collection of small towns within a bigger city. There’s a really strong sense of community here,” he says. “When it comes to charities and fundraising, people genuinely show up and support one another.”
Volunteering on the Leadership Committee for the Ottawa Cancer Foundation, Chris is living proof of that spirit of giving back to the community. “We focus more on the support system and educational side of what people go through and need,” says Chris, adding that he’s especially passionate about their Fight for the Cure annual charity event. “Community leaders raise money and we actually train eight months for the fundraising boxing matches in front of over 1,000 people. At the 2024 event, I raised over $100,000 between my fundraising and table sales. I figured if I’m going to raise money, I might as well go get punched in the face to do it.”
Of course, Chris won his match. A former triathlon competitor, he still plays golf and hockey, making the connection between teamwork in sports and that of his high-quality team today at Montgomery Ouimet. “We work together towards the same goal of exceptional client service. Surrounding yourself with good people is half the battle in this industry,” he says.
With more than 50 years of combined wealth management experience, the team is united in their commitment to clarity and collaborative relationships. From the outset, finding the right fit on both sides of the relationship is essential. “Clients benefit most when there’s strong alignment,” says Chris. “We need to enjoy working together, but there also has to be mutual confidence that the relationship will add real value. These aren’t transactional engagements; they’re long-term, often multi-generational partnerships.”
Once the relationship moves forward, the process is highly detailed. “To start, we work to discover our client’s two most important things they’re looking to achieve – a top concern and a top aspiration,” says Chris. “Our team has a strong ability to address this with a comprehensive approach and process that we’ve developed and implemented internally. We’re working to strategically plan how their money can support them to accomplish their goals and dreams.”
The big picture
Chris’s dual background in planning and investment management drives him to execute confidently between the big picture and the finer details. “Having earned my CFP, I have broad knowledge on things like where the client is currently sitting, where they’re looking to go, and how to get them there. We address issues like tax, estate planning, insurance and risk management. It gives me that broader scope,” he says. “My CFA shows me what I don’t know when it comes to investment management, which is incredibly complex. I know when to delegate decision making to the experts who live and breathe it. My role is to understand the strategy, rely on trusted experts where it makes sense, and ask the right questions. I’m not trying to be in the weeds on this, instead I’m focused on making sure everything fits within the client’s overall plan.”
Most often, Chris’s clients don’t see a lot of the work he does. “Which is the way I want it,” he says. “I am the person they reach out to, and then I can either bring in the specialists or reach out to their existing partners and be their coordinator. Working in that role takes a lot off of the client’s plate but they clearly see the big picture.”
The impact
Working primarily with entrepreneurs, incorporated or young professionals, Chris’s primary clientele tends to include business owners, lawyers, and accountants. “Business owners are especially exciting to work with because they wear two hats,” says Chris. “They have their corporate side and their personal finance management. Integrating the two is complex and I enjoy working through all of it.”
A strong understanding in tax supports Chris’s financial planning and advising work. “That helps me to integrate the corporate and personal sides so I see everything from a holistic view,” he says. “On both sides, we can integrate compensation strategies on the retained earning side, looking at their holding company and investments, and keeping tax awareness in mind. Full disclaimer, I’m not a tax expert, but I’m good enough to know if and when I do or don’t need to bring in the experts in that area or work with their existing partners. I’m not going to swerve out of my lane, but I know enough that I can recognize where something needs attention.”
To showcase a typical client experience, Chris provided an example of the team’s panoramic wealth process for Ottawa business owners – professional management of assets, risk, and tax, so clients’ money is always lined up with the two-to-three things that matter most to them.
That comprehensive approach is demonstrated in the story of a client moving into the business owner role in his 40s. “He didn’t have much for external or personal assets yet. The majority of his net worth was built into the business. I brought him on, and we started off working on the personal side of things, such as educational planning for his kids, reviewing his mortgages,” he says, tackling corporate concerns next. “We did a big restructure on his corporation, its holding shares, and the family trust. Then, we handled risk management and insurance planning to ensure if something happened to him – because he was the breadwinner for the family – the family would be taken care of. Today, he’s earning more in income and dividends while building liquid assets. It’s been a great fit and highly rewarding to watch all that impact before our eyes.”
There are also those intergenerational clients Chris loves to work with. “We can offer everything in-house from the cradle to the grave and beyond for the next generations with RBC DS,” says Chris. “We can start with babies or young children and RESPs and move into financial literacy in the teens or early adulthood, such as the first-time home purchase. We help professionals and business owners save for their retirement and prepare their business for succession. Post-retirement we handle tax, legacy and philanthropic planning.”
With all that insight, Chris has noticed a trend in seasoned individuals having more assets than previously common. “They are not going to spend it all in their lifetime,” says Chris. “I’m often having the conversation with them as to how they can help their younger generations out sooner, as they may be struggling to get into the housing market or starting families. We figure out ho
w to transition some assets so they can actually see their kids or grandkids enjoy it now.”
That means working with different money mindsets. “This is where clear communication is so critical, including asking better questions to dive deeper into how we can help,” says Chris.
That connection builds trust, the foundation to Chris’s long-term relationships. “Clients share deeply personal information with us,” he says. “I take a lot of pride in that faith people put in us. It takes that level of deep understanding to do our best work. At the end of the day, money is a means to an end in how we can optimally structure their assets in a way that achieves what they wish to accomplish.”
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.
Christopher Ouimet CFA, CFP
Portfolio Manager, RBC Wealth Management
Montgomery Ouimet Wealth Management of RBC Dominion Securities Inc
World Exchange Plaza, 45 O'Connor Street, Suite 900
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1A4
613 - 566 - 7653