Back in 1995, pioneer Marvin J. Schmidt handpicked his first family office team

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When Marvin J. Schmidt uses the word “holistic,” it’s clear that it’s not just a catchphrase to him. The founder and principal of The Schmidt Investment Group and senior wealth advisor at CIBC Private Wealth in Edmonton handpicked his family office team way back in 1995. At that point, the investing world cared little for financial planning and family offices were in their infancy in Canada.

He has honed his craft since then, building the firm into an altruistic, client-centric practice with a focus on philanthropy. As founder and chair of Expand Hope, his charitable Canadian-registered public foundation, he has funded the building of schools in Guatemala, with the aim of improving access to quality education in underserved communities.

“I grew up learning how to have a servant heart. It’s a big part of why I got into the business,” he says.

These days, Schmidt is aiming to increase education about the family office industry, hoping to provide clarity about the tailored, personalized approach that top offices provide. To that end, he’s writing a book on the business set to be released this fall.

“Education is a big part of this. You can really help families understand what we’re doing,” he says.

You grew up the son of a minister father and teacher mother. Did you have a strict upbringing?

I was the fourth of four children, so I think it was very strict for the first child; it got progressively less strict when I came along. We came from very modest beginnings, and we were a family of six living on $450 a month. We understood what a dollar was worth and what it takes to earn a dollar – and the sweat and tears that go into it.

How would you characterize the investing business when you started your career in the 1990s?

In the early 1990s, the investment community was very different from what it is today. Financial and wealth planning was not a focus back then, and there were very high fees. It was a very transactional business: ‘How can you get the next trade done?’ That was never appealing to me.

I spent the first months in business putting together a professional advisory group of top lawyers, accountants, psychologists, realtors, bankers, insurance people and antique appraisers. This final group of 12 was intended to serve clients holistically.

It’s interesting that you included psychologists and appraisers …

Many times when business owners sell their business they don’t have a lot of hobbies because they were completely consumed by their business. They come home to their family and find the transition harder than anticipated.  It can be dark days for them – wealth doesn’t take away problems. So psychology is a big part of this.

Wealthy families also often have antiques or valuables. People [falsely believe], ‘I will give my son this and my daughter this.’ And all of a sudden one child realizes they really won out — they got the violin that’s worth $200 grand and the other gets some Tupperware. That’s why we have an antiques appraiser.

What is the state of the family office industry now?

In Canada, the family office industry in my view is akin to that of an eight- or nine-year-old child. If you’re in the U.S., the industry is equivalent to a 40-year-old. In Europe, it’s a 60-year-old – it’s a very mature industry.

And when people see the Canadian industry is starting to take off, you get a lot of people who just want to jump into the party. So many people now say they’re in the family office business. But truly, are they? That’s our number one goal with this book: to try to work toward some kind of family office industry standard.

I will go across the country when the book comes out — to all of the cities and to wealth, insurance and legal firms to try to help the independent industries understand how they can be in this space, how they can better position themselves.

How does that affect high-net-worth families?

A client doesn’t know what they don’t know. This is happening with a lot of wealthy families — they have great financial advisors, great accountants, great lawyers, but there isn’t a central family office that has expertise in all of these areas and who can coordinate all of these disciplines and actively quarterback all of the clients’ advisors and lifestyle needs together. Someone has to be able to look at everything combined, with that lens, to see if all of the most sophisticated strategies are integrated together.

How do you set yourself apart?

It’s a challenge for the ones who do a true family office. It becomes experiential proof.

I have a 48-hour rule – if you need anything done or have a question you don’t have an answer for, we will find the answer for you or put you in contact with the best firm or individuals to solve whatever problem you have. You’ll never get voicemail during office hours. Within three rings you will talk to a human. You have to be able to deliver a heck of a lot more value to families.

You also have a huge focus on philanthropy.

With every new client we bring in we donate 100 per cent of all revenue to our national public foundation for the first 18 months of the relationship. And we build a school in honour of every one of our new clients and whomever referred them to us.

In this case it’s in Guatemala, in areas where there is limited or exceptionally low standards of education. The clients get to come down with their family and whomever referred them on an 11-day global impact trip to actually open their family’s school. We finish that 11-day global impact trip by hosting our Global Citizenship Forum in Antigua with our global partners such as the UN, Telus International, the Canadian Ambassador to Guatemala, Food for the Hungry, the Canadian Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce, and others.

What effect do these initiatives have on your clients?

The families we work with often tell us they are concerned that they live in a bit of a bubble, that their children are growing up in a bubble. The reason we have these global impact trips, half is to provide education, and the other half is to help families of wealth and influence become better global citizens. They can bring those learnings and experiences back to their workforces and their families that they’re leading here in Canada.

What’s the best part of the job?

We recently had a client — we worked with their whole family — and there were hundreds of hours in getting this family over the finish line. They sent us a note: ‘Marvin you saved our family. We’ve never been closer and we’ve never had a brighter version of the future that we have today.’

That’s what gets me up in the morning.

Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

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