Trish Collins

"We are not competing at the same level [as the banks] because we don't have the same clientele," says Trish Collins, Vancouver-based manager of financial planning at Vancouver City Savings Credit Union, the largest credit union in the country."Generally speaking, we are not dealing with very high net-worth clients," says Collins, adding that VanCity's chief competitors are smaller credit unions.Typically, a client is a working person in his or her 50s who is concerned about retirement planning.

Clients, who are members of the credit union, pay fees ranging from $500 to $1,500 for a detailed financial plan.Collins heads a team of six financial planners at VanCity's head office who work in tandem with 15 "investment and retirement advisors."The IRAs provide solutions to the 125 "financial services advisors" at the credit union's 41 branches.

VanCity is also competing with independent fee-only financial planners, says Collins: "But we have a very friendly relationship with them.If there are situations that are beyond us, we will refer clients to a fee-only planner."

At the branch level, she says, competition is stiff and FSAs (who sell investment products) must be up to speed."We try to ensure the client is served, no matter what the dilemma, and by making the correct referral to specialists and following through," says Collins.IE

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When long time VanCity employee Bob was about to retire, we were asked by Trish Collins to create something memorable and fun to honour Bob's years of hard work.
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- Trish Collins, Manager, Financial Planning, VanCity.