Oliver Yoon, an investment counsellor at Mawer Investment Management Ltd. in Toronto.Supplied
In the Behind the Advice series, Globe Advisor asks advisors about their relationship with money from a young age, lessons learned over the years and how their experiences influence the advice they give clients. Season 4 of the Behind the Advice podcast is coming out later this spring. You can find episodes from the first three seasons here.
Oliver Yoon, an investment counsellor at Mawer Investment Management Ltd. in Toronto, talks about wanting to be a pro baseball player before getting into finance, a life-changing trip that inspires him to help clients fund the life they want, and how advisors can face the challenge of AI:
Describe your upbringing and experience with money as a kid.
I was born in South Korea and moved to the Greater Toronto Area with my parents and older brother when I was 7 years old. My dad was a mechanical engineer, first in aerospace and later in power generation. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. It was a comfortable, middle-class upbringing.
However, from a young age, I always wanted more than my parents were willing to pay for – the newest iPods, sportswear and money to go out with friends. I had more than a dozen part-time jobs growing up, everything from getting yelled at by coaches and parents while umpiring to sales and retail. I learned early that financial independence meant autonomy, and autonomy meant being able to enjoy life on your own terms.
Was there an experience with money early in your life that impacts how you work with clients?
I learned early that you can’t put a price on life experience. I did an exchange semester in Singapore during my undergrad, during which I blew through my savings and had to ask my parents for money to fund travels across Asia. My parents didn’t give me a hard time. They appreciated that I knew how to go out and make my own money. It’s the only period of my life I’d describe as fiscally irresponsible. I have zero regrets. I wish I’d travelled even more back then. It was a rare window to explore, connect and make memories.
Years later, my dad took a posting in Singapore and we visited as a family. I went back to the same spots I used to hang out. It wasn’t the same. It couldn’t be, and that’s the point.
That experience shapes how I talk to clients about money. Wealth isn’t just a balance sheet. It’s about funding the life you actually want to live, including the moments that last only a brief time.
What did you want to be when you grew up, and how did you get into financial services?
I wanted to be a professional baseball player. I had genuine talent in middle school and early high school, but my parents weren’t willing to drive me across cities for competitive play. They told me to focus on my studies and pointed out, pretty bluntly, that the odds of making the majors were basically zero. They were right, and I’m grateful for their honesty.
My entry into financial services was almost accidental. In my first year of undergrad, I finally got a call back from CIBC for an ‘ambassador’ role, but when I showed up for the interview, I was standing in a Loblaws. That’s how I discovered PC Financial. I was quickly promoted to personal banking representative, advising customers on lines of credit and mortgages, and shortly after, earned my mutual fund licence with CIBC Mutual Funds. That was really the start of my career in investing and client advisory work.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received in your career?
Don’t fixate on your weaknesses. Focus on what you’re genuinely good at, refine those skills, and use those strengths to deliver the most value. Find your genius, the things that give you energy, and build from there.
What advice do you wish had been shared with you early in your career?
Being good with numbers is usually a given in this field. What actually separates people is emotional intelligence. The ability to connect, to make someone feel understood, to read a room – it matters more than almost anything else.
I was fortunate to ascend into senior roles and lead people earlier on in my career, which gave me real experiences and access to senior mentors who helped me recognize that. Given everything we’re seeing from AI right now, that insight looks more prescient than ever.
What’s the most significant change you see coming for financial services in the next five years, and how are you preparing?
The conversation is shifting from performance to integrated advice. Talking about portfolio winners and losers isn’t going to cut it; clients can get that anywhere. The real question for every advisor is how to demonstrate genuine value in a world in which AI can answer most technical questions in seconds. The answer lies in the human side: the relationship, the judgment, the ability to help clients navigate not just their portfolios, but their lives.
Which famous person or fictional character would make a great financial advisor, and why?
I’m a huge F1 fan, so this one was easy: Toto Wolff. He’s built and led the most dominant dynasty in Formula 1 history by assembling the right people, instilling a culture of excellence and managing the psychology of everyone around him to extract peak performance. Calm under pressure – mostly – he thinks beyond race weekends and understands that sustained success is a system, not a moment.
His team hasn’t stood atop the championship in recent years, and he lost arguably the greatest driver of all time in Lewis Hamilton, but nobody questions whether Toto Wolff is a winner. That’s exactly the mindset great advisors bring. Anyone can look smart in a bull market. The real test is navigating the difficult stretches and keeping clients from making emotional decisions when times get tough.
And just like Toto, the best advisors know they can’t do it alone. As life gets more financially complex, having the right team around you – tax, estate, legal, investment – and someone to lead and co-ordinate across all of them makes all the difference.
This interview has been edited and condensed.