KRISTINE MORGA,CIM® & LINDSEY ROSS,CIM®, Senior Investment Advisors, Wellington-Altus Private Wealth
KRISTINE MORGA & LINDSEY ROSS
"The Right Team"
Kristine Morga CIM®, PFP®, & Lindsey Ross CIM®, PFP®, Senior Investment Advisors, Wellington-Altus Private Wealth have an enviable business relationship. Both are extremely qualified Advisors who can provide clients with highly effective advice and help them navigate the ups and downs of investing, but they come from different backgrounds and so each offers a unique view of the planning process.
They are effective communicators who pride themselves on their abilities to listen and absorb a client’s needs, so regardless of whether a client connects with Lindsey or Kristine, they’re going to get the right answer because they both know each client’s needs extremely well.
After all, why wouldn’t a client want two all-stars working for them?
Backgrounds
Kristine and Lindsey have different origin stories, but one thing they have in common is a work ethic that is second to none.
Kristine’s career path was guided by fortune. She earned her B.A. from the University of Manitoba with an economics major in a co-op program that allowed students to experience a variety of industries. One of the first was a marketing position at an investment firm. It was there that Kristine’s love of finance was ignited. She knew that she’d be in the business for the rest of her career, but she didn’t realize that she’d be an Investment Advisor.
A short-term opportunity opened at Kristine’s firm working with a mentor, and she leaped at it. Her appetite for knowledge about the business was voracious – she wanted to learn everything there was to know. When that opportunity ended, she moved to one of Canada’s largest bank-run firms.
Kristine studied under, and learned from, one of the best teams in the business. She took the opportunity to put her learning into practice and ask a lot of questions – not just how things worked…but why they worked the way they did. For Kristine, understanding the “why,” was just as important as the “how.” It was an experience that prepared her well for the Advisor she would grow to become.
When the opportunity arose to take over a colleague’s book of business, Kristine took it and that’s where her journey began. She grew from that into a leadership role, which is how she met Lindsey. In her management role, Kristine loved working with Advisors; she relished the challenge and provided the same type of quality mentorship she received early in her career.
She realized though that she missed working with clients directly – she missed their stories, their goals, and their dreams.
Lindsey, like Kristine, also began her career with a stroke of good fortune. She started her career in psychology, before moving on to a business degree. But that isn’t a limitation – it’s a differentiator. “I laugh a little about my Psych background. When it really comes down to it, a lot of the work we do is about coaching clients to make the best decisions. What should they be looking for? What kind of questions should they be asking? That all comes down to a mindset into which my background offers insight. It helps build and strengthen relationships because we aren’t just trying to sell. We’re trying to help.”
In 2001, Lindsey was looking for a part-time job to support herself through her university business degree. She learned, through her father, that his Financial Advisor was looking to hire a part-time marketing assistant to help drive leads, support the brand, and manage communications. For Lindsey, it was perfect.
She stayed in the role for a few years and increasingly learned about the business. Lindsey was hooked. The associate role gradually progressed into an advisory career. Lindsey was lucky to be mentored by a series of excellent Advisors. Each of them offered a unique perspective into the business and client relationships.
Lindsey is still in contact with most of her mentors to this day.
While Kristine and Lindsey were working together, they became aware of just how closely aligned they were on their industry outlook. That awareness gradually led to the successful business relationship they share today.
The Morga/Ross difference
Kristine and Lindsey have an overriding philosophy that guides their business: although repeatable processes for each client are important for structure, each client is unique, and no two clients will ever receive the same service.
They see it as their key differentiator.
“It is important that each client meeting has a similar structure, for example, we always need to know what a client’s income is, what their holdings are; but we take it much, much further,” said Kristine. “We want it to feel like a conversation, not an interrogation. We ask deep questions, to find out what makes a client tick, and what really drives them. Yes, everyone wants to retire, sure, but what do you want to do in retirement? Do you want to travel? Passionately engage in a beloved hobby? Even start a new business? It isn’t about knowing they want a 4% rate of annual return until retirement; it’s about knowing that they want to buy a boat and sail around the world once they get there.”
Kristine and Lindsey spoke about a quote they’d recently read that really spoke to them: “When you create a plan for your money, you give your money a purpose.”
Providing a coherent financial direction is vital to future success. It’s something Kristine and Lindsey impress upon their clients, no matter their goals.
At its heart, that direction is guided by their enthusiastic inquiry – because, without a complete understanding of a client’s goals and dreams, they cannot provide the most effective advice.
Another thing that Kristine and Lindsey see as a key differentiator is their team-based approach to the business.
They work together in meetings and on building a client’s plan, so they are both intimately familiar with the details. It’s a significant advantage. Oftentimes clients have concerns they need to address quickly; something happens in their life or maybe they see something on the news that raises their blood pressure. They can call Kristine or Lindsey and get the same high-quality, well-informed response because both are equal partners in the architecture of a client’s plan. It's a team-based approach that is strongly beneficial to clients. Both Kristine and Lindsey have a client’s dreams and goals at the forefront of everything they do.
Working for you
Wellington-Altus Private Wealth allows Kristine and Lindsey the freedom to offer every client the solutions they need to achieve their goals. They aren’t forced to hit arbitrary sales targets, which gives them the flexibility to create the right plan for each client.
Kristine’s work ethic was instilled by her family, who were first-generation immigrants to Canada. “When we were young, my parents would often tell me that working hard is the only way to achieve success. With hard work, you can meet every challenge, and accomplish every goal. That stuck with me.”
That advice is a large part of why Kristine is so driven today, and part of the reason she and Lindsey get along so well. Lindsey’s parents gave her similar advice, “they told me to keep focused on where I wanted to go. They fully supported me in everything I did; but they expected me to keep my eye on the prize, as it were; to focus on what I wanted and determine the steps to get there. In a lot of ways, it’s like the type of planning we do for our clients today.”
Kristine and Lindsey believe that the only way to be successful is to provide the best service to clients, and they work every day to strengthen those relationships. They focus on the relationship first, and everything else becomes secondary. Whether a client’s needs are family-related, succession planning, or inheritance, Kristine, and Lindsey focus on who a client is as an individual and what they are hoping to achieve.
“Our clients know we’re behind them. We have built excellent relationships and they know they can count on us,” Kristine said before Lindsey added, “we’re here to guide them. The process isn’t always easy, but the destination makes the voyage worthwhile.”
Gary Milakovic is a veteran writer with more than a decade in the public sector and corporate communications. He has covered a wide spectrum of topics and his work has been featured by large and small organizations across Canada. Gary is passionate about communication, his writing often focuses on uncovering the “story behind the story.”
The Morga-Ross Advisory Team
Wellington-Altus Private Wealth Inc.
201 Portage Avenue 25th Floor
Winnipeg, MB R3B 3K6
Office 204 410 2723
Toll-Free: 888 315 8729
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