As we approach the end of the year, it’s a great time to take a look back. Which articles did you, the readers of Canadian Family Offices, enjoy most on our site?
The family office ecosystem in Canada is evolving rapidly, and we have been evolving along with it, honing our editorial offerings and expanding our coverage and analysis.
Here are the most-read articles for the first half of 2024, January through June. (To see the most-read articles for July through December, click here.)
Thank you for reading.
January: Ice cream, dyslexia and mom: Kevin O’Leary’s journey
Investor and TV personality talks about his upbringing, his first big payout and starting a new venture
Shark Tank TV personality and Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary, whose businesses have netted him millions, has a background as varied as his investments.
Today he’s known for his wealth and success, but he overcame several challenges to get there. His father died when he was young. He was later diagnosed with dyslexia. His stepfather worked with the U.N., which meant the family moved around the world.
How did O’Leary end up the investor, business leader and tough-guy television personality that earned him the tongue-in-cheek nickname “Mr. Wonderful”?
In our interview, O’Leary shares how he used his dyslexia as his superpower. He also tells about the one and only day he was someone else’s employee, and how his mother surprised the whole family with her sharp financial acumen after her death.
Click here to read the article.
February: ‘We’ve done very, very well’: The glories of alt investments, from Robert Janson
Exposure to real assets has paid off, and now inflation is ‘wind in our sail,’ says co-chief of Westcourt Capital
As co-CEO and chief investment officer of Westcourt Capital Corp., Robert Janson embraces alternative approaches to portfolio construction.
Raised in Canada, in 2000 he left for Switzerland, where he worked as a high-net-worth advisor at UBS, learning alternative ways to invest amid the global financial crisis. He returned home after a decade and joined Westcourt, a strong proponent of alternatives.
Today the firm manages billions in assets, with client accounts ranging from $5 million to $400 million.
In our Q&A interview, Janson shares his thoughts with Canadian Family Offices on the benefits of varied asset class exposure, its appeal for family offices and what has made the approach especially useful in 2024.
Click here to read the article.
March: Claudine and Stephen Bronfman have donated over $100 million
When Claudine Blondin married into Montreal’s Bronfman family, she pivoted from a marketing career to work with her own and the larger family’s philanthropy
With a decade’s experience in her marketing career at Molson Coors Brewing Co., Claudine Blondin married into Montreal’s Bronfman family and began to help refresh the family foundation’s mission.
Claudine and her husband, Stephen, also created their own charitable foundation. Stephen is the grandson of Samuel Bronfman, of Seagram’s fame, and they have four children together.
The family’s philanthropy is focused primarily on support for the arts, environmental causes, entrepreneurship aimed at young people, and the well-being of the Jewish community. Claudine and Stephen have donated over $100 million to a plethora of causes.
In this interview with Canadian Family Offices, Claudine shares how she and Stephen bring old and new worlds together through meaningful partnerships, community outreach and a sense of equality that dominates their philanthropic initiatives.
Click here to read the article.
April: Michael Grondin: From third-gen entrepreneur to family office CEO
He talks about coaching younger clients, building resilient portfolios and making succession plans really work at Samara in Montreal
Michael Grondin spent more than two decades as a portfolio manager at financial institutions including RBC Wealth Management and at Merrill Lynch, where he created his own wealth management team at the tender age of 26.
“I’m a third-generation entrepreneur,” says Grondin, who is now president and CEO of Montreal-based Samara. “And all our partners and stakeholders are or have been entrepreneurs. So we can all relate to the importance of helping other entrepreneurial families prosper while using their wealth to leave a legacy and make a meaningful difference in our society.”
In a conversation with Canadian Family Offices, he unpacks Samara’s core values, tells how his firm stress-tests scenarios to assess risks, and talks about the challenges of taking on entrepreneur clients in their 30s and 40s who have a lot to learn when it comes to replicating the success of their business in their investment portfolios.
Click here to read the article.
May: The greatest destroyer of family wealth, according to Thomas Deans
His third book continues to challenge accepted financial wisdom and smooth the transition of wealth to next generation
Thomas Deans recalls how some advice from a financial planning legend set the stage for his prolific writing and public speaking career. It was 2008, and Deans had recently finished his first book, following the sale of Symplastics Ltd., an Orangeville, Ont.-based manufacturer founded by his father in 1973.
During a meeting with fellow Canadian businessman David Chilton, who had self-published The Wealthy Barber 19 years earlier, Deans received what he describes as extraordinary advice. “David said you can leverage your first book to be a speaker, or to be a consultant, but you can’t be both — at least not exceptionally well.
“So I went the author/speaker route and never looked back.”
Some 2,000 keynotes later, here’s what Deans had to say about protecting and transferring family wealth in conversation with Canadian Family Offices.
Click here to read the article.
June: Compensation at family offices: What to expect
Pay packages for top executives run $250,000 and up, reaching as high as $750,000 to $850,000, but variations abound
Job seekers looking for tidy compensation grids at the average Canadian family office are pretty much out of luck.
In Canada, executive packages for CFOs, CIOs, COOs and other senior executives have a base range of $250,000 and up, reaching as high as $750,000 to $850,000.
At the senior level, short-term bonuses can be 50, 60 or even 100 per cent of base pay. Longer-term incentives designed to promote executive retention might also be in the offing. Other executives might find co-investment opportunities, too.
Four experts shared insights on pay and other forms of compensation in this article from June.
Click here to read the article.
For July through December: Click here to see Canadian Family Offices’ most popular articles for July to December of 2024.
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