A visit to "The Shed" with Aaron Fransen

?“Since I joined Worldsource four years ago, my assets under advisement have almost doubled.”

When we sat down to chat with Aaron Fransen, CFP?, MFA?,CHS , Certified Financial Planner (CFP) at Fransen Financial Inc. in honour of his Worldsource anniversary, we knew we would hear some interesting stories – and he did not disappoint.?

COVID-19 impacted numerous aspects of everyday life, not the least of which is being the way people work. Aaron, however, took this innovation to another level. One afternoon in the midst of lockdowns, while sitting in the backyard staring at the trampoline his kids used to play on, it hit him: “I thought you know, this might be a good place to have an office.”

After a chat with a client (and friend) who builds tiny homes on the side, a decision was made – Aaron was going to build a backyard office. His brother-in-law, a builder, broke ground on the?100 square feet in May 2021 and Aaron moved in shortly afterward. With that, “The Shed” (as Aaron affectionately calls it), was born.

A year later, he refers to his business as a lifestyle practice; built around work-life balance and connection, a practice he says has transformed and accelerated the growth of his business.?

“I embraced video meetings, even though prior to COVID I had never used Zoom before,” he said. He says the decision has been very well received by clients, who can now meet with him without the concerns of traffic, parking and more.

To be clear, Aaron only uses The Shed for virtual meetings; when clients want face time, he’s happy to drive to their home or business or meet at a restaurant, saving them time in the process.

Aaron has always been comfortable with making a change, and so far, that mentality has paid off.

After joining the insurance industry in 1993, he left in 1999 to become a Mutual fund Advisor and Financial Planner. This soon led to expanding practice and product offerings and becoming an Investment Advisor and specializing in retirement income planning. After spending almost two decades with the same organization, Aaron decided it was time for another change.

“I wanted to guard my independence and simplify my practice,” he says. “So I interviewed pretty well every non-bank-owned firm in the country.

“When I met Trish Nielsen, CIM (Head of Partnerships and Business Development at Worldsource), there was an instant connection. I finally found someone who listened to what my goals were, and understood the direction I wanted to take my practice.?So I made the big decision to come to Worldsource. I get that change is difficult, but I thought ‘This is good, I can do this, this will be better for my clients, this is better for me!’?

“As luck may have it, I became the first advisor that Worldsource onboarded since changing their back office to Dataphile. This transformed my practice because it was digital-based, meaning I could work remotely. Since partnering with WFM, everything I was told would happen, from Trish to the back office team, has been delivered. Having Worldsource as my mutual fund dealer has been a game-changer for me.”

Over the years, he’s also developed a strong business relationship with Worldsource’s parent company Guardian Capital Group Limited, specifically with? Mark Bodnar, CFA (Client Portfolio Manager, Guardian Capital Advisors ).

“I have investment management referral arrangements with other firms, but Guardian is different. Working with Mark has transformed my practice and helped me take it to another level. We both have different skillsets, which allows me to focus on what I do really well, which is financial planning, and our clients benefit from what he does really well, which is investment management.

“Having direct access to a portfolio manager like Mark where I can refer clients for additional investment management services makes a difference. And a key point is that I sought him out, not the other way around.”

Coming out of the pandemic with a new office has also given Aaron’s a new view on life.

“One of my neighbors recently asked if I retired because I seem to be home a lot more.?My response was, yes in a way, you can say that. I retired from the 9-5 grind of having a traditional office in the corporate world, and now I’m running a lifestyle practice. I guess I'm living by my definition of retirement, which is to no longer do the things I no longer enjoy doing."

How does Worldsource fit with that?

“Worldsource is a very important partner to me, one that not only provides a trading platform, first-class back office support,?and an approachable Compliance department, but also, stability. I’m comfortable just calling compliance and talking about stuff,” Aaron adds. “Having made the change to a virtual office without Worldsource would have been really, really difficult. The philosophy of the firm, is in sync with mine. I truly believe they have my back.”

Sounds like we’ll be getting an invite to The Shed real soon.