JAMIE CURRIE, CFP®, RRC®, Senior Financial Consultant, IG Wealth Management. Currie, Hughes & Assoc.
JAMIE CURRIE
“People With Goals Succeed Because They Know
Where They Are Going… It’s as simple as that.”
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional Jamie Currie and his team at IG Wealth Management believe that wealth management is much more than a simple transaction. With more than 20 years of combined industry experience, his team has adopted a holistic and comprehensive approach to deliver personalized financial plans that span generations. Jamie and his business partner, Andrew Hughes, have built their practice on the foundation of providing custom solutions. Solutions that meet the specific needs, goals and vision of the families and business owners they work with.
“A strong investment plan for the entire family is key to preserving wealth for the future,” says Jamie. “We work with families over generations to ensure that the financial legacy built today, benefits not only the family in the moment but also leaves a legacy to be enjoyed by future generations. We are strong believers in helping our clients today but also providing for a generation up or a generation down to ensure the entire family is served as they should be.”
Jamie and his team understand that a financial plan doesn’t define the individual, rather the individual’s needs define the plan. As a result, the solutions they develop are best suited for “affluent individuals and families who value a disciplined, proven approach to wealth management”. Collaboration is essential to the process as well as the alignment of a client’s goals and dreams. Jamie has always had a passion for finance, however, upon graduating high school, his passion for golf was equally as strong. He initially attended Charlottetown’s Holland College to become a golf professional. He has represented Prince Edward Island at four different national golf tournaments.
“I ended up working as a sales professional for Callaway Golf for about seven years, but realized I wasn’t fulfilling my passion for finance. So, I returned to University and obtained a business degree,” explains Jamie.
After he was head-hunted by the Regional Director of IG Wealth Management, joining the company was his next big career move. Now, seven years later, his financial planning practice is experiencing exponential growth.
Golf has become more of a hobby and his passion for finance has been fulfilled. Jamie maintains his love of the game by acting as a co-chair for the annual Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) Charity Golf Tournament.
“Ultimately, financial service is a great industry,” Jamie adds. “It’s an industry where you’ll never know everything – but what drives our success is working as a team and this has allowed us to flourish over the past few years.”
Jamie’s team meets twice a week to ensure they are on top of all of the things they’ve promised to their clients. The team is continually learning and improving to provide better services for their clients.
“My business partner and Associate Andrew Hughes has travelled the world. He was a teacher and principal before joining the team. He previously ran schools in Dubai and his passion to educate is what he continues to do in our practice,” explains Jamie. “Our assistant Megan Schrader is the face of our business, handling many aspects of our day-to-day operations – she makes everything operate smoothly.
What Sets Jamie Currie & his team Apart?
Knowing and understanding clients is the key to what Jamie’s team does best. He was designated as a CFP® professional in 2019 and a Registered Retired Consultant® (RRC) in 2017. Jamie understands that his advice and tailored solutions must be specific to the person sitting across from him asking for help.
“If we don’t know what a person’s purpose is, we can’t work with them effectively,” says Jamie. “Our client’s purpose drives our ability to customize a plan for them.”
Jamie further explains that the “why” behind a client’s visit or phone call will unlock the financial plan that best serves all of their hard work, savings, dreams and wishes for the future.
“Plans don’t come together over night,” he adds. “When I leave the office at the end of the day, the plan is still ongoing and our work is never complete. Working with clients over generations allows us to help them build and preserve their wealth when handing assets down from generation to generation.”
Jamie understands that wealth can be “eroded” very easily. Getting the right advice is crucial to families seeking to protect their investments.
“In a world where all advisors look the same – suits and ties, formal attire – we are confident that our process differentiates us from our competitors,” says Jamie. “We’re not trying to sell anything to clients – our products are secondary. We are trying to discover a client’s purpose and help them fill in any gaps that exist within their financial plan. It’s often about risk tolerance, we can’t make any recommendations without a deep conversation about risks versus returns.”
Many of his team’s clients are also business owners. “Business owners have different criteria and planning objectives,” explains Jamie. “Taxes are a big thing we focus on. We can guarantee tax savings and that’s usually where we place our focus. We advise our clients to take anything we propose to their tax accountant and lawyer so that we can all collaborate for their best interest.”
While some Financial Advisors and financial institutions may focus on fitting clients into specific boxes, Jamie’s team recognizes that there are no “one size fits all” solutions when it comes to wealth management. He believes that this, in addition to effective communication and relationship building, is part of what sets his team apart from competitors.
“Banks are strong institutions, but ultimately when we sit down with our clients, we will say that what makes us different is that we’ve restricted our practice to 400 clients,” Jamie explains. “In a world where everyone is trying to get away from communication with people, we understand that communication is the foundation of all relationships. We believe in looking someone in the eye when times are good or bad and giving them the advice they need. We arrange to meet at a minimum once per year, but it could be up to four times per year. We’re always just a phone call away and not at a toll-free number, a local cell phone or office line where clients can reach us. We believe that banks have too many clients and as a result they can’t live up to the same service standards that we have set for our practice. So, we are very selective and we choose to limit the number of clients we work with.”
Family Values and Valued Families
By limiting the number of families his team deals with, Jamie and Andrew can really zone in on their client-centric approach and maintain that ever-important, healthy work-life balance. Married to a fellow east-coaster from Cape Breton, Jamie and his wife welcomed their first child in August of 2018.
“My son really makes me understand my priorities, which have changed immensely since his arrival,” he says. “Work, spending time with family and lots of travelling – I am a firm believer in the work hard, play hard mantra. Taking breaks allows me to spend time with family & recharge. When I’m not in the office, I know I have a great team standing-in who can handle things for me.”
Jamie is also involved in charity work. In addition to his work with the QEH Golf Tournament, he has been a member of the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty for approximately four years.
“Rotary is a great way to socialize and be part of the community,” says Jamie. “Each week we host a different speaker and we do a lot of charity work.”
As a man with strong family values, he is also big on credibility and accountability to show the families he works with that they are valued.
“As Financial Planners, we have the ability to always be working on our knowledge and to share that and educate our clients,” Jamie explains. “Everyone is always busy and investments are moving up and down regularly – it’s important to be informed. Overall, I’m really excited about how our industry is moving towards using the CFP® designation only if formal certification has been obtained.
While some planners and advisors can currently call themselves Financial Planner without actually having certification, there is a new shift in the industry to change this. Jamie and his team welcome these new changes.
“The direction of IG Wealth Management is that all advisors in our firm be certified by 2022, if not certified by then, they will be in the process,” says Jamie. “I believe in more transparency for our clients. Obtaining the CFP® designation has allowed for credibility for myself and my practice and it is definitely one of the things I am most proud of in my career.”
This is a general source of information only. It is not intended to provide personalized tax, legal or investment advice and is not intended as a solicitation to purchase securities. For more information on this topic or any other financial matter, please contact Jamie Currie of Investors Group Financial Services Inc.
April Potter is a veteran writer with expertise in financial services including nearly 15 years in debt restructuring.
April has written for multiple online publications on a variety of subjects and offers a range of social media and website copywriting services.
Also a painter, her background in finance is balanced by her artistic endeavors.
Jamie Currie, CFP® RRC®, BBTH
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®
Currie, Hughes & Associates
18 Queen Street, Suite 106
Charlottetown, PE, Canada C1A 4A1
(902) 566 4661 - Mobile (902) 940 2157
jamie.currie@investorsgroup.com
investorsgroup.com Member of the Power Financial Corporation Group of Companies