KIM BEATON, CIM®, RIAC, Wealth Advisor, Portfolio Manager, Scotia Wealth Management, Saint John, New Brunswick
- CARMEN MORGAN
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
KIM BEATON
"When a client finally takes that dream vacation or a widow gains the confidence to manage her own finances or a young professional starts building wealth with intention, these are the moments that are truly rewarding."
Kim Beaton remembers the moment she realized wealth management would be much different than her career in economics. “I had a client experiencing personal crises and crying in my office,” says Kim. “It didn’t take long to learn that the numbers and balance sheets are only half the story in this work.”
After earning her graduate degree from Queen's University, Kim joined the Bank of Canada as a senior economist focusing on the U.S. economy, arriving just in time for the 2007-2008 global financial crisis.
By 2010, she had moved to Washington, D.C. to represent the Bank of Canada as Senior Advisor to the Executive Director representing Canada and several other countries on the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund. The role was supposed to last a couple of years, however, she stayed for a decade, eventually joining the IMF staff and working primarily with countries in the Caribbean through the organization's Western Hemisphere Department. In her roles at the Bank of Canada and IMF, Kim was Advisor to now Prime Minister Mark Carney and Bank of Canada Governor, Tiff Macklem in different capacities.
"I was working on financial challenges at the country level," says Kim. She spent considerable time in places like Grenada and Jamaica, tackling balance of payments problems and economic emergencies that would test any policymaker. “I worked with crisis countries” she says. “For example, countries that were hit by hurricanes. We helped them figure out how to recover from disaster.”
In 2019, Kim made the personal decision to return home to Saint John, and take over her uncle's wealth management business. Coming from a world of economic and financial analysis, Kim found herself navigating something far more nuanced.
"Coming from a very tactical, policy-based background, there were some initial surprises when I transitioned over to wealth management," Kim says. "So many of our big financial milestones in our life are really personal milestones where we are going through life transitions. People want to talk about the things that matter to them—their family and whether they're going to be able to meet their financial objectives.”
If Kim needed a crash course in the emotional intensity of wealth management, March 2020 provided it. At the same time the pandemic was throwing global markets into turmoil, one of her business partners was diagnosed with cancer. The experience crystallized something important: "It makes you realize that life is very short. And that a big part of our job is to encourage our clients to take advantage of the wealth that they've built and to do the things that they envision doing, while they have the ability to do so."
That philosophy now drives her approach. Where her IMF work translated economic theory into policy recommendations, wealth management offers something more direct. "What's really powerful to me is that when you're working with individuals and families, they have the power to make the decisions that are going to help them to get where they want to go. And that is very rewarding."
The foundation of every client relationship, she insists, is a comprehensive financial plan. "As individuals and families, we build wealth as a tool to live the life we want to live. So, the only way that we can help guide clients toward those objectives is by having an approach that's firmly founded on a financial plan."
Her team's annual review meetings reflect this philosophy. Rather than focusing primarily on investment performance and recent transactions, her team works systematically through every aspect of a client's financial life. “We see an annual review as an opportunity to find out what is going on in our clients’ lives, and if financial goals have evolved.” Are the income strategies, tax planning, estate consideration, charitable giving approaches, risk management and savings still serving the financial objectives? “That check-in is essential to ensure we still on the right track,” says Kim.
When clients don't know what they want, Kim helps them discover it. Sometimes that means showing them what's possible, illustrating how that dream vacation every year for the next decade would actually look, financially. "Sometimes it’s just about illustrating what’s possible that helps clients gain confidence in their decision to do the things they want to do.”
While Kim works with many different client profiles, she's particularly passionate about one demographic. "I love working with powerful women," she says, "because women are massively underrepresented in this industry and face several unique challenges when it comes to their wealth. For me, it's a mission to empower other women to take charge of their financial future."
The challenge isn't capability. "Women tend not to have as much confidence in dealing with their finances as male peers and question their decisions more than men. They tend to face more career interruptions, for example, when having children or caring for elderly parents, and statistically, we live longer and are much more likely to end up living our elderly years as widowers than men.”
She believes the solution is, in part, education: knowledge is power. Kim’s team has launched a series of educational events specifically designed to build that confidence, including seminars on the statistics around women and wealth, covering not just the wage gap but the wealth gap and all the factors that contribute to it over time. Her team has hosted panel conversations where women business leaders share lessons and advice from their own experiences.
Even in her existing client base, the disparity is striking. "There are still those couples where it is impossible to get the woman to come in and even sit through an annual review," Kim says. "But then there are other women who are financial powerhouses and building really successful careers, running business, and they're the CFO of the household.
Her goal is to shift that balance. For couples managing toward the same objectives, she wants both partners at the table.
Kim's educational focus extends beyond women to younger generations, also. She sees a critical gap in how young people learn about personal finance and investing. Her team has been working to fill that void, providing education on the fundamentals of personal finance for younger family members, ensuring they have the tools their parents and grandparents often had to learn by trial and error.
Throughout her career as an economist, she was often the person put in place to help relay complicated concepts or research in ways that could be interpreted by the general public. That ability to translate complexity into clarity serves her well. Clients want to understand, at a high level, what's happening in the world and what it means for their investments. Her experience at both the central bank and a major international financial institution—understanding the thought process behind global economic and financial policy decision-making—has helped her shape those conversations in relatable ways and inform the tactical portfolio decisions her team makes from time to time.
Sometimes, the transition from international economics to wealth management feels like it comes full circle. She still navigates complex financial challenges and language, but now she can see the immediate impact of her advice in the lives of real families. She still works to empower people to make better decisions, and finds it immensely satisfying helping clients use their finances as a tool to enjoy life.
“When a client finally takes that dream vacation or a widow gains the confidence to manage her own finances or a young professional starts building wealth with intention, these are the moments that are truly rewarding, now,” says Kim.
Carmen Morgan is a skilled business writer and storyteller, collaborating with business owners and executives to tell their stories and share perspectives on growth and success, as well as perseverance and adversity. Over two decades she has refined her interview, writing and editing skills to capture the nuggets and captivating details that engage readers and make a story memorable.
Kimberly Beaton, MA (Econ.), CIM®, RIAC
Wealth Advisor, Portfolio Manager
Scotia Wealth Management® | ScotiaMcLeod®,
a division of Scotia Capital Inc.
Scotia Wealth Insurance Services Inc
The Beaton Advisory Group
One Market Square, Suite N402
Saint John, NB E2L 4Z6
506 - 636 - 6819