Three speakers shared the practices that enabled them to grow their businesses through acquisitions or succession. Each followed a different business model and drew lessons both in business development and in acquiring client portfolios.
The Insurance Portal reports on remarks made during a panel discussion on client portfolio acquisitions and business development. The panel took place at the 2026 Congress of the Association de la relève des services financiers (ARSF), held in the Greater Montreal area on May 12, 2026. Several hundred advisors attended the annual event.
Thirty acquisitions
Dimitri Yana, regional sales director at iA Financial Group since May 5, took part in the panel to share his experience from his previous role as director of business development and acquisitions at Livsta services financiers, a life and health insurance firm based in the Quebec City region.
Yana said Livsta has acquired about 30 firms representing roughly 6,000 insurance and investment clients in the mass market over the last three years. Technology developed by Livsta entities' parent company, Upsta Intelligence Financière Inc., made it possible to handle such a high volume of transactions by centralizing information on all prospective client portfolios and standardizing the acquisition and client evaluation process.
According to Quebec's enterprise register, Upsta is also registered under the name Livsta Intelligence Financière. Thomas-Louis Veilleux is its principal shareholder. The company also includes other entities such as Livsta services financiers, Livsta Gestion financière, Livsta Gestion de patrimoine and Diversico Livsta Finance. These entities are registered with the Autorité des marchés financiers as life and health insurance firms.
As for Diversico Livsta Finance, Thomas-Louis Veilleux and Daniel Guillemette, president of Diversico Finances Humaines, are equal shareholders. Although Guillemette did not participate in the ARSF panel, he answered The Insurance Portal's questions about the firm's role within his organization.
He explained that Diversico Livsta Finance completes acquisitions involving segmented client portfolios. Guillemette added that Diversico Livsta Finance also manages what are known as "delegated management" transactions, meaning an advisor can delegate the servicing of clients they wish to retain to another advisor. "An entity will manage those clients on the advisor's behalf in exchange for a share of the commissions earned (known in industry jargon as a split)," Guillemette explained.
Surround yourself with the right people
Audrée de Champlain, a financial security advisor, group insurance advisor and mutual fund representative, heads NDC Services Financiers. Through that firm, she took over the client portfolio of her father, Normand de Champlain, the firm's president and founder, following a succession process that began in 2015.
De Champlain viewed the succession and mentorship involved in taking over her father's firm as an enriching experience. At the time, the firm had $100 million in assets under management. She was determined, however, not to follow an established mould. From the outset, she made it clear to her father that she would do things her own way. Rather than building her client base by acquiring client blocks, as her father had done, she chose to grow it through referrals.
De Champlain praised the business coach who guided them through the transition and helped her clearly communicate her message to her father. She also appreciated having the opportunity to "be challenged by an expert." "I wouldn't be standing here today if it hadn't been for that person," the advisor said.
I had someone I could turn to, someone I could talk to and who acted as a mediator— Audrée de Champlain
"Surround yourself with the right people," she advises anyone buying a client portfolio, regardless of their relationship with the seller. "I had someone I could turn to, someone I could talk to and who acted as a mediator," she recalled.
In addition to taking over NDC Services Financiers and its client portfolio, Audrée de Champlain later purchased two client blocks from advisors to whom she was unrelated.
Pushed by discomfort
For his part, Gabriel Ferland, a financial security advisor and mutual fund representative, views his first acquisition as a springboard. Five years after entering the industry, he had become a specialist in life and health insurance but had little investment experience. Colleagues encouraged him to place greater emphasis on investment business. He then seized the opportunity to acquire an investment book of business from an advisor nearing retirement, who had promised to stay on for two years to facilitate the transition.
In the end, "he stayed for only one day," Ferland said of the seller. Ferland suddenly had to introduce himself to his new clients just before the holiday season. He turned the situation into an opportunity: to meet them more quickly, he invited them all to an investment seminar.
At some point, you have to dive in and go for it — Gabriel Ferland
Being pushed out of his comfort zone with limited investment knowledge ultimately strengthened his confidence. The confidence he projected was also conveyed to his new clients, he said. "Transfers of funds from other financial institutions started coming in," Gabriel Ferland recalled. The experience taught him not to let "impostor syndrome" hold him back. "At some point, you have to dive in and go for it," he said.
His second acquisition proved much less challenging. It involved the client portfolio of "the financial planner who had trained me," when that advisor retired. "The synergy was incredible. Clients had known for a long time that he would be retiring. By the time I completed the acquisition, I already had the assistants, the system and all the follow-up processes in place. There was nothing left to build. It was an easy acquisition that fit the mould, in a way. All I had to do was retain the clients," Ferland recalled.
Paying the right price...
You have to make sure you're not paying too much — Dimitri Yana
Yana described the process that enabled Livsta to complete numerous acquisitions in a short period as rigorous. Under Livsta's model, every communication with clients involves both the seller and the buyer. A single transaction may involve thousands of clients, making it essential to determine the potential revenue value of each one. "You have to make sure you're not paying too much," Yana cautioned.
For her part, Audrée de Champlain recalled the high multiple her father sought in determining the purchase price of his client portfolio."It may not have been the deal of the century, and I might have found a better opportunity elsewhere, but to this day I haven't lost a single client," she said.De Champlain also knew she would be able to generate synergies from that client portfolio. In her view, the quality of a block of business can also make it easier for a buyer to find a financing partner for the transaction.
...And reaching the right agreement
Yana also stressed the importance of ensuring that the seller's business philosophy aligns with one's own—what industry insiders refer to as a fit. "Don't be afraid to say no," he insisted.
Audrée de Champlain, meanwhile, advises buyers to take charge of their new clients quickly to prevent them from leaving. "Don't wait. Clients are human beings; they don't like a vacuum," she warned.
When choosing a seller, however, she noted that outcomes can sometimes be surprising, even when the parties do not share the same values. Referring to the two other advisors whose client portfolios she acquired, she said: "There was no fit with either of them, yet both turned out to be excellent acquisitions with very good clients who are still with us today."
