For my field trip report I had the pleasure to sit down with Investment Advisor Harj
Grewal, BA (Econ), CFA, CBV, CFP from RBC Dominion Securities. Harj has a diverse
background in investment banking and finance. Harj currently holds a Chartered
Financial Analyst designation along with Certified Financial Planner, and Charter Business
Valuator. Through his career, Mr. Grewal has worked various different positions. Harj
originally started off as an investment advisor and then went into institution sales,
business valuation, corporate finance, and now has gone back to an investment advisory
position. While Harj worked as a professional business valuator, Harj successfully raised
millions of dollars for various different North American corporations.
According to Mr. Grewal, the function that an investment advisor plays at RBC Dominion
Securities is to assist people in making a more intelligent, tax efficient, and risk adjusted
investment decision. In terms of difficulty, I was told that at times this can be a very
easy task and sometimes it could be difficult when it comes to influencing a client.
When
clients are self motivated it is much easier to show them different options that they have
and implementation of the plan has greater success. After speaking with Harj in regards
to the function that an investment advisor plans, I really got the feel that financial
planning plays a major role when helping a client determine what kind of investments to
purse. Harj strongly agreed with me when I made this point and added that the CFP
designation lays a great foundation when it comes to the financial planning aspect of
making an investment decisions.
In terms of clients that Harj Grewal deals with at RBC Dominion Securities, they come
from all walks of life. A lot of these individuals are self employed professionals who...