MARY A STEWART, CFP, EPC, Senior Wealth / Investment Advisor, iA Private Wealth, Vancouver, BC
MARY STEWART
“I loved this business right away.
I fell in love with the possibilities of putting a strategy in motion that would have meaningful and positive impact on someone’s life.”
“I never want my clients to look at me with a glazed look in their eyes,” says Mary Stewart, founder of Integrity Capital Management. In her past career, the Senior Wealth and Investment Advisor founded a private school for newcomers to Canada, teaching English as a second language. Nine years later, a new mom, she sold her business and landed in a sector she never imagined. “I was introduced to a Financial Advisor who was looking for an admin assistant.” Three months into the job, Mary’s aptitude for wealth management had become apparent and she was asked to be a partner.
“When I was teaching English, I would break down language into its basic elements and then help the student create connections between their natural language and the new one they were learning,” explains Mary. “When talking finances with clients, it’s no different.” She believes the illustrative power of a story leaves a bigger impact and stays with people longer. As a Certified Financial Planner, she believes that building a ‘financial roadmap’ helps create a tangible connection between the process and the outcome. Mary uses illustration, graphs and real-life stories with her clients so they can visualize the strategy, the concept, the vision for their financial future.
“I’m all about empowering people wherever I can,” she says. “I once went into a grade 11 classroom for an afternoon to teach students about inflation. I showed them a McDonald’s menu from 1950 and compared it to the current one. They couldn’t believe there was such a thing as a 20-cent cheeseburger!” That kind of relational, illustrative power leaves people with a lasting understanding.
Even before its inception, Integrity Capital Management was an enterprise built on transparency and shared goals. “I’m not great at sales, but I am a relationship builder,” says Mary. When I was naming the company, I defaulted to my clients, asking them ‘What word defines me and our relationship?’ The consensus was ‘Integrity’”. But it’s not just that, Mary says. She is emotionally invested in her clients, and she is often the first phone call when there’s a financial question, and sometimes even when there is a family crisis. “I love that I’m embedded in my clients’ lives to a point where they think of me as counsel, or a trusted person to call when they need advice,” she says.
In her 27-year career, Mary has witnessed and experienced an array of exuberant and active markets. “It’s standard for people to get excited and want to take on more risk,” she says. As an advisor and fiduciary, it’s important to Mary to know her clients really well. “I never want to run the risk of traumatizing a client who is not experienced in the psychological impact of a down-market.” She spent a lot of time on the phone in 2022/23, counselling clients who were managing the emotional impact of market volatility.
That’s why her discovery process airs on the emotional side of investigation: “I ask them to identify a time they experienced monetary loss, and then ask them to elaborate so that I can get a sense of how they are going to respond to volatility.” That exercise is a proactive approach, she says. “I help them maintain a balanced investment strategy to ensure asset allocation is strategic and diversified in a way that’s suitable for their time frame.” In some cases the proactive approach means making a tactical change because client emotional well-being is paramount. “I need my clients to sleep at night.”
She recalls a memorable quote from Matthew McConaughey’s book Greenlights: ‘It’s not a risk unless you can lose the fight.’ “Yes, investing involves the possibility of loss and gain, and there is an inherent vulnerability along the way,” Mary says. “When I can convince my clients to be patient with me on this financial journey and to stay invested, there is success, and I’m so grateful to my clients for putting their trust in me.”
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.
Mary A. Stewart, CFP, EPC Investment Advisor
Certified Financial Planner
Integrity Capital Management | iA Private Wealth
Ste. 928 – 1030 West Georgia St.
Vancouver, BC, V6E 2Y3
T: 604-909-8801 | M: 604-837-5147