THE BOOMERS ARE DRIVING FINANCIAL SERVICES THAT DON'T EXIST..........YET! KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE BANKS.

The Canadian banks have a competitive advantage on the creation of the future services being sought by the 'Boomers' who are starting to retire this year as they reach age 60. Professional Practice advisory services distribution must align itself with the needs of the emerging Boomer market. It includes the intergenerational wealth about to be transferred from the post 2nd. WW II generation to its children..the Boomer generation.

BMO Harris Private Banking has engaged Dr. Howard Bergman, a leadiing professor of geriatric medicine at McGill University in Montreal and a director of its Division of Geriatric Medicine in participating in enCircle, a council of geriatric health-care professionals that would advise a new wealth-management service for well-to-do-seniors. BMO Harris' initiative represents the first time a non-health care organization has shown an interest in leveraging his expertise.

Launched in the spring of 2005 , enCircle is a banking and investment program for seniors with investment assets that exceed $500,000. In addition to investment management, enCircle clients are offered a variety of services such as bill payment, and tax-return filing for snowbirds , estate and trust services and travel planning. Members also have access to information about home care and health care via a 24-hour helpline run by FGI World, a company that supplies employee assistance programs to businesses. Clients are charged an annual fee ranging from 1% to 1.7% of their investment portfolio, depending on whether the client is looking for passive or active management of their portfolio.

The enCircle advisory council, which consists of five members including Bergman, was created to provide guidance and advice to BMO Harris. It's not involved in creating financial products themselces, but it does commenton a range of issues, from the simple, such as creating easy-to-read documents, to the complex such as the psychologicaland kegal issues that arise among family members who care for aging relatives.

For Jean Blacklock, vice-president and managing director of personal trust services at BMO Harris, the council has more than lived up to expectations. In particular she gives it credit for focussing enCircle services so that they target not just seniors but the needs of their families as well. (We refer to this as "The Broad Concept". It is an approach developed by an icon in the Canadian life insurance industry, Hal Zlotnik, CLU over 40 years ago). "After we launched, we realized that a number of seniors are coming to us via their adult children," Blacklock says. "The council gave us a clearer perspective on families and the needs of that adult caregiving generation."

The idea of creating a service catering to seniors first took seed at BMO in early 2004. Blacklock remebers coming across a StatsCan report at the time that showed demographic growth rates across different age groups over a 10 year period. "It was negative in every category except 60 and up, and I thought, 'This is our growth area and a wonderful opportunity. Let's go after it."

Starting virtually from scratch, Blacklock and her colleagues began creating various products and services catering to older people such as the bill payment program which remains part of the enCircle program. A few months later, Blacklock attended a conference in Washington and learened of at least two U.S. banks that, in addition to providing financial services for their seniors, had also set up health information helplines for o;der clients for Blacklock it was a revelation. Banks tend to think only about their financial products. (This is a move from commodity based marketing to complex information/advice based 'professional practice' marketing). But with seniors she realized, health issues can affect every part of their lives - including their banking and investment needs (not to mention their life, retirement, estate and longterm care needs. Why is it that the banks always see the unfolding of the financial services markets long before the life insurance industry?). We needed to be more attuned to that. Only we're a bank. We didn't have the expertise." So Blacklock and her group began approaching members of the geriatric medical community, such as Bergman asking if they'd help the bank. (collaborative practice at its professional best!).

The response was positive and the advisory council was born.

The succes of enCircle - sales are exceeding 150% of forecasts, Blacklock says - has been felt across BMO Financial Group. And the advisory council modelis now being adapted for other departments. In september, for example, BMO Financial Group launched its "New Retiement Initiative." It's being afvised by acouncil of medical, legal, and public policy experts, who are helping the bank anticipate emerging retirement trends, such as the growing phenomenon of Boomers leaving work at earlier ages to start part-time businesses.

Bergman who turned 60 this year, believes enCircle is a step toward changing society's perception of seniors. "The current image is often negative," he says. "The image it brings to mind is that in 20 years, we'll be overrun with older people, incontinent and demented, pushing walkers through the streets." The reality couldn't be further from the truth, he says.

The seniors of tomorrow will be healthier and more active than ever before. And that's exactly what society has always wanted to see - people living longer and living better. There will be challenges Bergman says , but there are also opportunities. "The more industry gets involved, the better off older people are going to be and the more we are going to develop a positive view on aging."

From: Financial Post Business.