Taking your career to the next level and in the direction that works best for you calls for more than luck or even hard work. For Ivan Arturo Burbano, CLU, CFP, it took planning and focus.

One of the biggest changes in his career occurred when he focused on a niche market of Hispanic business owners and professionals. “It changed my business 180 degrees. Becoming a specialist attracts clients who are a good fit for my business,” said Arturo, a four-year MDRT member from Whitby, Ontario, Canada. “As a
Hispanic immigrant myself, there is nothing more rewarding than helping people from my community achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives.”

His niche is his community

Arturo calls it an honor to serve Hispanic business owners and professionals who came to Canada to either open a business or make a career transition. It’s a demographic he understands. In 2002, when Arturo was 22 years old, he moved to Canada from Colombia to attend university. He graduated in 2008 with a business degree from York University in Toronto, Ontario.

“Now, one of my passions is to help the Hispanic community achieve their goals, while also making a bigger impact on clients across Canada,” he said.

The Hispanic community is growing in Canada, nearly doubling from 2021 to 2023, when the population surpassed 1 million. Now 3% of Canadians are of Latin American or Hispanic descent.

“Lately, I have been servicing a lot of IT professionals and business owners in the tech sector,” Arturo said. “Yet, this niche market is currently underserved, as many Hispanics may come to Canada with little knowledge about financial services. They need tailored, holistic advice to protect their future and the future of their loved ones.”

Another niche market that Arturo developed throughout the years is individuals and families who are either nearing retirement or in retirement. Through his expertise, he helps these clients navigate the retirement landscape with customized financial and retirement plans that suit their unique needs. To help attract and retain that demographic, last year he started providing financial education webinars to his clients and prospects. The topics included market updates and taxes in retirement, as well as taxes and estate planning for business owners. “These webinars have helped me connect to many new clients who need advice on these topics,” Arturo said.

“Gaining more professional designations like CFP and CLU also helped me transition to covering more wealth management needs. This education provided me with the confidence and knowledge needed to grow my practice and provide my clients with trusted advice.”

Plan to succeed

These invaluable changes in Arturo’s business were strategic and rooted in planning. He created three-, five- and 10-year business plans. “Having a business plan is like having a road map where you know exactly what your destination is. It helps you identify the different paths you need to go through before reaching your destination,” Arturo said. “Part of my goals includes setting production targets and increasing my production from the previous year.”

Each member of Arturo’s practice, which includes two associate advisors and an advisor assistant, regularly tracks their goals and typically breaks them into quarterly, monthly and weekly production activities. Everyone is fully accountable and clearly understands what is required to achieve their goals.

Learning to run a business

When an advisor manages or owns their practice, they must be both an advisor and a business owner or manager. Over the years, Arturo learned how to manage both roles better through a coaching program, which has taught him to break the week into focus, buffer and free days. He focuses on big-picture business growth and strategy on Fridays, the buffer day, leaving Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays as focus days to meet and work with clients.

It’s been rewarding for Arturo to see his business thrive as he works with people he enjoys and helps them create brighter futures for themselves and their community.