For many financial firms, success is measured in assets under management, team size or acquisition milestones. At HSI Financial, however, 30 years in business represents something else entirely. For this boutique firm, success is rooted in generational relationships, a team approach and a commitment to delivering a personal touch in an increasingly automated industry.
This philosophy has helped distinguish HSI over the past three decades, a milestone few independent advisory firms reach. Warren White, President and majority owner of HSI, has been part of the company’s evolution from the early days. Alongside licensed advisors and co-owners Andrew Owsiak, Devon Cheema and Blake Carruthers, as well as administrator Roma Gahir, he has helped shape the firm into what it is today.
“I was in high school and my parents were clients. The founder needed an assistant, so I joined the company after university and have been here growing the company ever since. Our founder retired a few years ago and I took over that President role,” Warren says. “But something that sets us apart is the fact that all four of us are owners. It’s that old line, ‘we liked it so much, we bought the company.’”
Another differentiator is HSI’s approach to client service. While traditional advisory firms are built around individual planners managing separate books of business, HSI operates with a pooled-client model. Advisors collaborate to provide exceptional, seamless service to every client, drawing on one another’s strengths and vast experience. This structure allows the team to collectively navigate virtually any financial scenario while ensuring continuity if one advisor is unavailable. Every client benefits from the depth of knowledge across the entire firm.
This level of service is possible because HSI focuses on the people behind the portfolios. Rather than operating transactionally, the firm builds integrated, long-term relationships with clients. A client base that was once determined by investable assets is now guided more by personal alignment and trust.
“We used to have formal minimum investable assets for individual clients, but we got rid of that,” says Devon Cheema, CFP and Financial Strategist. “While assets are important, personality fit is equally as important.”
At HSI, financial planning extends well beyond investments. The team looks at a client’s entire financial picture, including retirement strategies, tax optimization, insurance, corporate benefits and group plans, cash flow management and estate planning. Supported by a trusted network of lawyers and accountants, the advisors help clients navigate major financial decisions, from the early stages of planning for retirement to transferring wealth between generations and everything in between.
“We’re really in a relationship business, we just happen to do financial planning. And those relationships transcend generations,” says Blake Carruthers, CFP and Financial Strategist. “It’s not lost on us that we wouldn’t be here without our fantastic clients and we thank them for being a big part of our journey.”
The multigenerational perspective in particular has become increasingly important as today’s clients focus more on wealth transfer and legacy planning. In some cases, HSI works with four generations of the same family, putting strategies in place to help clients balance their retirement goals with supporting aging parents as well as helping give their children and grandchildren a strong financial foundation.
To help clients achieve this, the firm’s advisors do much more than check boxes to ensure clients have Wills, Enduring Powers of Attorney or that they made their RRSP contributions. Advisors review the documents closely, identify efficiencies and proactively plan years ahead to minimize taxes and protect their assets for their retirement and beyond.
“While planning for retirement is always a primary objective, we’ve seen an increased focus on generational planning over the last several years. You have Baby Boomers who have acquired wealth over the last 20 or 30 years and now they want to pass it on. There are a lot more strategies surrounding that estate planning side,” says Warren.
But personal financial planning is only part of HSI’s expertise. The firm works extensively with corporate clients, offering Group Registered Retirement Savings Plans (GRSP) and Defined Contribution Pension Plans (DCPP) that help employees save for retirement and defer taxes. For a company’s upper management team, HSI also designs customized executive compensation arrangements such as Individual Pension Plans (IPPs) and Retirement Compensation Arrangements (RCAs) tailored specifically to higher income earners in an organization.
HSI also helps employers make the most of group insurance benefit plans, balancing employee wellness with cost containment strategies that keep plans sustainable and affordable for the company. While HSI specializes in executive planning solutions for small and medium-sized companies, its model can also accommodate much larger organizations.
“We have a lot of experience and are able to provide a lot of value to that upper management C-suite or business owner because we can look after everything in one spot, whether it’s personal investments insurance, group benefits or company pensions,” says Andrew Owsiak, Client Services Manager.
Whether advising individuals, families or businesses, HSI Financial guides clients through every step of the process to ensure they understand and are comfortable with all aspects of the plan. This leaves clients feeling confident that their financial future is in good hands. This clear communication and attention to detail is central to the firm’s philosophy, and HSI has enjoyed measured growth to ensure those service levels are never compromised. Despite technology driving communication virtual today, the five-person team continues to prioritize in-person meetings with their client base, which spans from B.C. to Ontario, so they can build relationships and keep clients well informed.
“You can always get a hold of someone here. Someone picks up within three rings,” says Devon. “Even with technology making communication easier, we still go to Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, Kelowna multiple times a year because we like to sit down with our clients. No matter how much technology comes along, I don’t think that’ll ever change for us. You can’t replace that face-to-face.”
And you can’t replace experience with AI bots or programs that are becoming more pervasive in the industry. After 30 years, HSI Financial continues to embrace technology that enhances client service while staying true to the principles that built the firm in the first place. The next 30 years will be built the same way as the first: through trust, strong relationships, collaboration and a commitment to help clients build their financial future.