Edmonton, Alberta · Est. 2016 · Advisor Practice Consulting
The 5 Uncomfortable Truths
Every Mid-Market Advisory Firm
Should Know About Retention
Your portfolio returns don't explain why clients leave — your process does. Since 2016, Kenmore Advisor Ltd. has built the operational frameworks that turn good advisory firms into indispensable ones. With 72+ years of combined industry experience across our five-person consulting team, we've helped over 40 mid-market practices across Western Canada redesign how they serve clients — and how they prove it.
Schedule Your Free 30-Minute Practice ReviewWho We Serve
The 3 Advisory Firms That Call Us Most
You've attended the conferences. You've downloaded the whitepapers. You've tried the new CRM your dealer recommended — and nothing has fundamentally changed how your practice operates. That's when firms find us. We work exclusively with $100M–$500M AUM advisory practices in Western Canada, and we've spent the last eight years learning what actually moves the needle at that scale. Here are the three profiles we see most often.
The Growing Independent
4–8 advisors · $100M–$300M AUM
You built something real, and now it's outgrowing the systems that got you here. Every advisor runs their own process — their own discovery questions, their own review cadence, their own idea of 'good' client communication. Consistency feels impossible without crushing autonomy. You're hiring, but onboarding is chaos. Your best advisor's methodology lives entirely inside their head, and you know that's a single point of failure.
See How We Help →The Multi-Branch Network
10–25+ advisors · Multiple locations
Growth by acquisition seemed like a good idea — until you inherited four office cultures, three technology stacks, and zero unified investment process. Clients in Ft. McMurray get a fundamentally different experience than clients in Edmonton, and you know that's a problem. Compliance gaps multiply with every branch you add, and the New SRO's consolidated oversight makes inconsistency riskier than ever. You need a single operating standard without a three-year integration timeline.
See How We Help →The Succession-Facing Practice
Aging client base · Transfer risk
Your average client is 65. Their children live in Calgary or Vancouver. When the wealth transfers — and it will — industry data says 87–95% of heirs change advisors. You're watching your book of business evaporate in slow motion. The adult children don't know your name, they've never sat in a meeting with you, and their first instinct is to consolidate everything at whichever institution has the slickest app. This is a solvable problem — if you start now.
See How We Help →Not sure which profile fits your practice? Our FAQ page answers the most common questions about engagement scope, or you can schedule a free discovery call with Nathan Brulé to talk it through.
The 4 Shifts That Change Everything
Most advisory firms we work with aren't broken — they're invisible. The value they deliver is enormous, but nobody can see it, including the clients who benefit from it most. Here's what changes when process catches up to talent.
"Most advisory firms deliver enormous value that they never articulate. The problem isn't performance — it's visibility. When your clients can't describe what you do for them beyond 'manages my money,' you've already lost the retention battle." — Dr. Malcolm Kenmore, Founder & Principal Consultant
Before Kenmore
Reactive client communication — you call when the market drops, not before. Clients hear from you when there's bad news, which trains them to associate your voice with anxiety.
Inconsistent advisor processes — every team member runs a different playbook. Your newest hire conducts discovery completely differently than your founding partner, and neither knows it.
Compliance as back-office burden — documentation done after the meeting because you have to. Notes are incomplete, KYC updates are overdue, and every audit cycle feels like triage.
Intergenerational asset loss — heirs take the inheritance to the nearest big bank. You never met the adult children, so they have zero relationship equity with your firm.
After Kenmore
Proactive engagement systems — volatility playbooks triggered before the first client call comes in. Pre-drafted communications, tiered by client segment, deployed within hours of a market event.
Unified advisor workflows — consistent client experience regardless of which advisor they see. A shared discovery framework, standardized review cadence, and firm-wide service tiers that still leave room for individual advisor style.
Compliance as competitive differentiator — documentation integrated into the client conversation itself. Meeting notes, suitability rationale, and KYC updates generated as a natural byproduct of how advisors already work.
73% intergenerational retention — because the next generation already knows your name. Structured family meetings and junior client pathways start years before the transfer event.
The 6 Problems We Solve for Advisory Firms
Every engagement is different, but the problems cluster into six categories. Our services page breaks down each offering in full detail, including three tiered engagement levels — Diagnostic, Strategic Transformation, and Enterprise Integration — so you can choose the depth that fits your firm's needs and budget.
Advisor Practice Diagnostic
Every engagement starts here. A structured 4–6 week evaluation of your practice's operational health — client segmentation, service delivery, technology stack, compliance infrastructure, and advisor capacity distribution. Our team conducts on-site advisor shadowing, reviews your process documentation, and analyses client satisfaction data. Deliverable: a Practice Health Scorecard benchmarked against mid-market Canadian advisory standards, with prioritized recommendations ranked by impact and implementation complexity.
Investment Process Architecture
We design systematic, repeatable investment decision-making frameworks that translate institutional methodology into mid-market practice. This includes IPS development templates, model portfolio construction guidelines, rebalancing protocols with drift thresholds, and IPC governance structures. The goal is a documented, defensible investment process that any advisor in your firm can follow — and that any regulator can audit without surprises. Led by Dr. Malcolm Kenmore, CFA, who spent 14 years in institutional asset management before founding the firm.
Compliance & Regulatory Alignment
Proactive compliance infrastructure aligned with Client Focused Reforms (CFR) requirements, New SRO obligations, and provincial securities guidelines. Darren Okolo, our former Alberta Securities Commission examiner, builds systems where compliance is a natural byproduct of how your advisors already work — not a separate task they dread. From KYC update workflows to conflict-of-interest disclosure templates, everything integrates into existing advisor conversations rather than adding paperwork.
Client Discovery & Engagement Design
Structured methodologies for how advisors conduct initial and ongoing conversations — far beyond a KYC form. Our discovery frameworks capture financial data, risk psychology, life goals, and behavioral tendencies using a proprietary question architecture developed by Dr. Priya Chandrasekaran. We also design annual review agendas, quarterly touchpoint scripts, and segmented communication calendars that ensure every client hears from you at least eight times per year — and that each touchpoint delivers demonstrable value.
Behavioral Finance Integration
Communication frameworks grounded in behavioral economics research — volatility playbooks pre-drafted for different market scenarios, risk conversation scripts calibrated to individual client psychology, and bias-aware client profiling that goes beyond standard risk-tolerance questionnaires. We train your advisors to recognize loss aversion, recency bias, and anchoring in real conversations, then give them language and tools to address it constructively. This isn't academic theory — it's field-tested methodology refined across 40+ Western Canadian practices.
Intergenerational Wealth Transfer
Proactive engagement frameworks that bring the next generation into the advisory relationship years before a transfer event. Structured family meeting facilitation guides, junior client onboarding pathways for adult children, and succession-relevant content strategies designed to build trust with heirs who may live in different cities. Our clients have achieved 73% intergenerational asset retention — compared to the industry average of 5–13%. This service alone has saved practices millions in AUM that would otherwise walk out the door.
The 1 Case Study That Explains What We Do
We could describe our methodology in abstract terms. Or we could show you what happened when a real firm — with real advisors and real clients — let us inside their practice. This is the engagement we point to when someone asks, "But what do you actually do?"
Client Spotlight
Prairie Wealth Partners
Red Deer, Alberta · 6 advisors · $180M AUM · Kenmore client since 2016
The Problem
Grant Hirsch's firm was delivering top-quartile returns over 3- and 5-year periods — and losing 19% of clients annually. Nearly double the industry average of 10–12%. Advisors were spending 70% of their time on portfolio administration — rebalancing, trade entry, statement reconciliation — and virtually no time on proactive client communication. Exit interviews told the story: departing clients didn't feel known. They described the experience as "transactional" and "impersonal," despite portfolio returns that consistently beat benchmark.
The Diagnosis
The issue wasn't performance — it was process. No standardized discovery protocol. No systematic review cadence. No mechanism for demonstrating value beyond quarterly statements. The firm's earned value management was effectively nonexistent; advisor capacity was misallocated toward administrative tasks that could have been systematized or delegated. Dr. Priya Chandrasekaran spent three weeks on-site, shadowing every advisor and mapping each client touchpoint. The Practice Health Scorecard revealed 14 critical gaps — 9 of which could be addressed within 90 days.
The Result
81% → 96%
Client retention within 8 months
+14%
Revenue per client (wallet share)
+38%
Referral-sourced new clients YoY
Since 2016
Continuous Kenmore client
"I tell every advisor I know: call Kenmore before you change your portfolio strategy — the issue might not be where you think it is. We were ready to overhaul our entire investment lineup. Turns out the investments were fine. Our process was the problem."
Read more about our approach and client outcomes on the About Kenmore page.
The 3 Steps Between You and a Better-Running Practice
You've called three consulting firms. Two never called back. The third sent a 40-page capabilities deck and a $200,000 proposal before asking a single question about your practice. That's why we built a process that respects your time — and your intelligence. From first call to actionable recommendations, you're looking at 6–8 weeks. Here's how it works.
The 30-Minute Discovery Call
No pitch deck. No capabilities presentation. We listen. You describe your practice, your frustrations, and what 'better' looks like. Nathan Brulé — our Director of Operations with a 100% callback rate within two business hours — coordinates every first conversation. He'll ask about your AUM, advisor count, client demographics, and the specific pain points driving you to seek help. If we're not the right fit, we'll tell you — and refer you to someone who is.
The Practice Diagnostic
A structured 4–6 week assessment — on-site advisor shadowing, process documentation review, client satisfaction data analysis, compliance gap evaluation, and technology stack audit. We observe your advisors in actual client meetings (with permission), interview support staff, and review a representative sample of client files. Deliverable: a Practice Health Scorecard with prioritized, actionable recommendations benchmarked against mid-market Canadian advisory standards. Every recommendation includes an estimated implementation timeline and resource requirement.
Implementation & Partnership
We don't hand you a binder and disappear. Every framework includes hands-on implementation support — advisor training workshops, workflow integration sessions, template rollouts, and a 90-day adoption monitoring period where we track whether the changes are actually sticking. Then we stay. Our 91% three-year client retention rate exists because we build relationships, not invoices. Most firms continue working with us on an ongoing basis — quarterly recalibrations, annual Scorecard updates, and on-call support when market volatility or regulatory changes require a fast response.
72+ Years of Combined Industry Experience — In 5 People
Kenmore isn't a large firm by design. We're a five-person team of specialists — a CFA-chartered finance professor, a former securities regulator, a behavioral finance Ph.D., a practice management veteran, and an operations director who keeps everything running. Every client works directly with the senior people who designed the methodology. No handoffs to junior analysts. No subcontractors.
Your Best Quarter Might Be Costing You Clients
Let's find out what's actually happening in your practice — not what the quarterly reports say. A 30-minute call with Nathan Brulé costs you nothing and could change the trajectory of your firm.
Book Your Free Practice ReviewOr call Nathan directly: (510) 673-9926