Bill Healy has been an entrepreneur for most of his life—starting at the age of 15, when he launched his first (ultimately failed) venture. But it was in the realm of finance, and particularly within the family office ecosystem, that he found a place to truly apply his industriousness and creativity.
At the Montreal-based multi-family office Patrimonica, Healy—who prefers to be called simply “Bill”—broke ground as co-founder of a dedicated investment unit that followed an outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) model, acting solely as fiduciaries to clients with a process of “managing the managers.” From there, he served as an executive and CIO at PortfolioHiWay, a wealth management firm that serves sophisticated investors, including high-net-worth individuals, family offices and institutions, and later as a consultant for Prime Quadrant, an MFO.
Today, Bill is still deeply involved in the Canadian family office ecosystem as a consultant, board member and advisor. He also sits on the Editorial Advisory Board of Canadian Family Offices, sharing his experience and insights with our editors to help ensure the relevance, accuracy and timeliness of the publication.
In this interview, Bill talks about how he got started in family offices, the importance of so-called soft skills, and how Michael J. Fox (no doubt inadvertently) inspired his long and successful career journey.
Tell us about your background. Where did you grow up? Who helped you along the way?
I grew up in LaSalle, a suburb of Montreal. I was an only child, raised essentially by a loving mother, a hardworking nurse who worked the night shift. I really didn’t have any positive male role models in my childhood and teen years, except for a close friend, Luc, who was a year older than me. He had a strong work ethic, and I had the good fortune of working with him. He inspired me to do my best.
I was industrious and entrepreneurial, working part-time after school and weekends from age 12. I tried and failed to turn a hobby into a business at 15, and later I launched a sportswear brand with two partners. It seemed like a good idea at the time: Import some tees, polos and sweatshirts and simply sew on a cute animal logo that we had embroidered locally. It flopped.
What lessons did you learn?
A great many very hard lessons, primarily on my own, due to a lack of guidance and an overabundance of freedom and self-confidence.
Maybe working two full-time jobs during a summer to save enough money to fund the opening of my first brokerage account was not such a great idea? And, yes, I did eventually get fired for falling asleep on the job. Then, I got my real estate licence at 18, never thinking about who in their right mind would entrust the sale of their home to a teenager, right? When that didn’t work, I moved on to commercial real estate.
How did your interest in finance begin?
Strangely, I believe the character of Alex P. Keaton on [the 1980s TV show] Family Ties is what triggered my interest in business, economics and the markets. The role, which launched the career of Michael J. Fox, was that of an ambitious teenaged capitalist, which I could really relate to. Good thing I didn’t wear a suit and carry a briefcase to school, though. That would have been hazardous.
How did your education choices further your career?
After grade school, academics weren’t high on my list of priorities. Changing schools every year from Grade 6 on didn’t help, either. However, once I had homed in on investment finance as my chosen career, education became a necessity, and I was motivated. At 21, I qualified as an adult student at Concordia University towards the B.Comm in Finance. I could not afford to quit work for several years, so I enrolled on a part-time basis and, given my spotty student record, I had to complete an extra 27 credits on top of the obligatory 90. That’s four nights a week with summer semesters as well, for almost seven years.
I’ve had the privilege of advising many of the most successful entrepreneurs in Canada. But witnessing family members suffering and relationships fracturing is hard.
It was a great experience, however. The evening classes tended to be given by experienced industry practitioners, which brought a real-world dimension to the theory. Still, I have to admit being envious of the ‘normal’ university life of full-time students.
What was the most memorable experience early in your career?
While it wasn’t my first job, it was certainly the most pivotal. At 24, I was an investment advisor for one of the large bank-owned brokerage firms. It is where I became acutely familiar with the term ‘conflict of interest.’ Back in the day, advisors were often pressured to sell new issues to investors. Some were good, some were bad. I was given an allocation of Canadian Airlines International, which I just refused to sell. ‘No problem,’ said my branch manager. ‘They’re yours, Bill!’
They were deposited into my account and sold at a loss—a big loss. Not only had I lost all my capital, but my account was now deep in overdraft. ‘No problem, Bill, you can it pay down with your future earnings.’ For several months, I was delivering pizzas in the evening with my brand-new Honda Accord Coupe, terrified at the possibility that I may have to deliver an extra-large all-dressed to one of my investing clients. Less than a year after qualifying in the top quartile of my rookie class, I resigned the day my debt was paid off.
How did the experience inform your professional life going forward?
From that point on, I sought out an environment more aligned with clients’ interests. In Montreal, TAL Investment Counsel was one of the major Canadian institutional money managers, and they spawned a mutual fund company, Talvest, which I joined in an inside sales capacity.
Within a few years, at age 27, I was VP, regional sales for Western Canada. I appreciated the fact that we were part of a respected institutional money manager, as many of the competitors in the space at the time were solely retail focused and very salesy. That year, I finally graduated from Concordia and enrolled in the CFA program.
When did you take the step into the world of family offices?
I eventually migrated from the mutual fund to the private client division, and moved from TAL, when it was bought out by CIBC, to McLean Budden. My time there really widened my horizons. I launched a fund, was a member of its management team, and served foundations, endowments, pension plans and a few very wealthy, well-organized investors.
Soft issues are the hardest to deal with and pose the greatest long-term challenges to family legacy, unity and continuity.
They had offices separate from their operating businesses, with a staff managing their holding companies. Their vast portfolios included public market securities, direct real estate and private equity investments. So, I guess I was exposed to family offices before either I or they were even familiar with the term.
What was it like?
It was enlightening. It actually inspired me to study family offices, attending conferences in Europe and the U.S., as there were few in Montreal at the time.
You eventually co-founded the investment management unit at Patrimonica, a multi-family office. What need did that address?
I was convinced that conceptually, in its purest form, the multi-family model was the best wealth management solution for wealthy families. By ‘pure,’ I mean independent and truly aligned with client interests.
A few other firms had adopted a similar OCIO [outsourced chief investment officer] model, and they were quite successful. However, the key differentiator for Patrimonica was that in addition to covering investment needs, we also provided accounting and tax services as well, which is closer to the essence of a family office.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced working with families?
I think one of them is dealing with dysfunctional families where there is discord between siblings or generations. I believe this requires an entirely different skill set—but I tend to stay in my lane, as a dedicated investment guy.
I could not be happier with my career. I’ve had the privilege of advising many of the most successful entrepreneurs in Canada. But witnessing family members suffering and relationships fracturing is hard. Watching Succession on Netflix is entertaining, but for some families, it’s not fiction. My family is what I hold dearest, so it’s just sad to see families that have estranged children or siblings. How one can get to the point of uttering, ‘He or she no longer exists to me’?
There are professionals available to help in these matters. For highly successful individuals, given their impressive status and accomplishments, it’s not easy to accept any shortcomings in their private lives. But it’s best to make that call and get help before it’s too late.
Ironically, in family office terms, we refer to the finances and tax aspects as the ‘hard issues’ and the human dimensions as the ‘soft issues.’ But these so-called soft issues are the hardest to deal with and pose the greatest long-term challenges to family legacy, unity and continuity.
What advice would you give to a young person interested in a career in family offices?
I’ve been involved with the Kenneth Woods Portfolio Management Program at Concordia’s John Molson School of Business since its inception 25 years ago. I’ve seen firsthand which internships attract students most—investment banking, private equity and equity research in particular. All are great, but few students seek out internships in family offices. From my perspective, it would provide a broader experience and exposure to a much wider range of dimensions.
Any thoughts on the need to share best practices and relevant experiences with other players in the family office ecosystem?
I’ve found that single-family offices tend to be open to collaboration, as many are faced with the same challenges. There is tremendous value in that network—the sharing of experiences, collaborating based on complementary expertise and resources. Some may outsource work to multi-family offices to fill gaps. Conversely, multi-family offices tend to keep to themselves, given the competitive and commercial nature of these firms.
What are you working on now?
I’ve transitioned away from a ‘full-time’ work life, yet I remain very much engaged, sitting on family office and institutional investment committees and corporate boards and doing freelance consulting. I’m truly happy, and I’m grateful that I can take time to enjoy life with my wife. She’s been extremely supportive and patient with me these past 32 years, through the part-time B.Comm., the CFA program, and then the master’s degree, which I completed at the tender age of 44, all the while raising two amazing young men. She also contributed directly to the success of Patrimonica, helping build the business from scratch as our office/HR manager.
Now that I have the freedom to live on my own terms, I consider it a privilege to work with only a few wonderful families and individuals with whom I share common values and who are a constant source of inspiration.
Are your children following in your footsteps, career-wise?
My sons have chosen very different career paths from my own, and thankfully both are happy and successful in their chosen fields. What has rubbed off has been a strong base in financial literacy, which is sorely lacking in our education system.
What’s next for you?
I’ve studied both finance and economics, with the latter more broadly out of personal interest, and I feel that my exposure to environmental economics, sustainability, behavioural economics, development economics and the economics of poverty will inspire some future endeavours for me, whether volunteer, philanthropic or political.
Having spent most of my early teens to mid-life as an underdog, albeit largely self-inflicted, I feel compelled to help the younger generation get prepared and make the right decisions to stay on track towards their goals, and inspire those who have fallen off to find their way back on.
Joe Chidley is Managing Editor of Canadian Family Offices. His 35 years of experience in journalism and communications includes nearly a decade as editor of Canadian Business magazine. He also was a senior writer and associate publisher at Maclean’s newsmagazine. He also served as a columnist at the Financial Post and as editor-in-chief of Content Works, Postmedia’s commercial content division. He also led the corporate and public affairs department at a major Toronto-based public relations firm for several years.
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