ESTEVAN - A relocation and expansion last year has made a big difference for IG Wealth Management in Estevan.
The office is located at 1138 Third Street in Estevan. The renovation was completed in April 2021.
Space has been a big difference maker, according to Daniel Betnar, a division director and local financial planner with IG Wealth Management. Previously they were in the same building, in an office area that fronted 12th Avenue.
“Where we used to operate, we actually operated out of the back side of the (present) building,” said Betnar. “When we purchased the building in December 2020, we moved up here.”
They painted the walls, changed the baseboards and installed new flooring. Most of the changes were cosmetic.
“The bones of the building are really good. It was more updating it to be 2021 instead of 1975,” said Betnar.
In their previous space, they had about 1,500 square feet, and now they have more than 3,000 square feet, so it’s more than double the area.
The firm has three individual financial planners/consultants, two associates and an administrative employee. In the previous location, they maxed out at five employees, but they had one consultant retire in the middle of 2020 and another in early 2021. People have been brought on to replace them.
“The last two years have been hard for everybody. There’s no doubt about it,” said Betnar. “It really gave us a space to be very proud of, and proud of our renewed energy into our business.”
The practices that were in place in the Estevan building and in the company were great, and always have been, Betnar said. But there was a lot of changes happening due to pandemic retirements and other factors, and they want to promote their new space to their clients and a lot of new individuals.
“We’ve had a lot of growth, with a lot of new clients coming through the door for the first time, and seeing ‘Here’s the brand that we’re dealing with,’” said Betnar.
They aren’t actively looking to add new staff, but if somebody talented wants to come in to complement the talented people they already have in place, Betnar said it would be considered.
Everyone in the office was born and raised in the Estevan area, and they’re proud to live and work in the community.
IG Wealth Management is a full financial planning company, Betnar said, and they offer full financial services to clients.
At this time of year, people are thinking about income taxes, so that’s their focus at the moment. There’s a lot of advice that goes into tax talk in February and the beginning of March.
Clients are satisfied with the work at the local IG Wealth Management office. Betnar believes it reflects in their growth from a customer perspective.
“We probably increased our clients by 15-20 per cent. So we had probably that amount of growth, from that standpoint. I think it’s been an interesting time in our world because of the pandemic, and it’s afforded some people to save more money than they ever have simply because they can’t do much else. You can’t travel and you can’t do those things,” said Betnar.
The amount of time they spend with clients has been good, and they haven’t reached the point where they have too many clients.
“We have talented people, not only in an advisor role, but surrounding us in associates and admin to be able to manage our clients well,” said Betnar.
