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‘Papa, charity means being kind’: Peter Cavelti’s journey of giving

Cavelti and his family want to ensure they give with impact—which means plenty of rigorous analysis of charitable organizations

Peter Cavelti is a philanthropist, investment professional and author. Born and educated in Switzerland, he emigrated in 1972 to Canada, where he joined the Canadian banking group of Guardian Trustco International and became president and CEO in 1982. He later founded his own firm, Cavelti Capital Management Ltd., overseeing mutual fund and private client assets. 

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As an author, Cavelti has published a critically acclaimed book on colonialism, a novel, a memoir, and several books and essays on geopolitics, demographic change, natural resources, gold and the debasement of money, among other notable topics. 

Deeply committed to philanthropy, Cavelti has worked as an advocate for charities with a global reach, as well as community-focused organizations. He is a fellow of the Switzerland-based International Center for Corporate Governance, focused on philanthropic institution governance. With his family, he has established the Cavelti Foundation, and here he shares how his journey from Switzerland to Canada has shaped him as an advisor, a colleague and a family man.

What are your memories of your early years in Switzerland?

Switzerland was the epitome of functionality. One major reason was that everything operated on a small scale, which made things functional and predictable. The country’s stunning topography comes up next, followed by my favourite pastime, skiing.

I also loved everything about our family life. Our relatives lived in different parts of the country, which exposed me to a variety of cultural and societal settings. One of my grandfathers was a parliamentarian, the other a railway administrator whose brothers and sisters were farmers. One of my grandmothers was of Italian origin, the other was born in Germany. Aunts and uncles were a diverse lot, too: a jeweler, a coffee merchant, a hairstylist, a travelling salesman. By the time I was a toddler, I was used to conversing in different languages.

The post-war years were economically challenging, even though Switzerland had managed to avoid any military engagement. I remember my dad, who was a struggling young dentist, coming home with a crate of apples or a side of bacon he’d been given by a farmer who couldn’t pay his bill. But once we entered the late 1950s, prosperity returned. Soon, we moved from our small apartment into the big house my parents had built, overlooking our town.

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What education and career choices did you make in those first years?

I was one of those kids who always wondered, and in time openly questioned, whether what was taught would be of much use in adult life. It was difficult to motivate me. I was 19 when I decided to drop out. It was a difficult decision—I knew I was disappointing my parents. But they accepted my decision, even though they insisted that if I ended my schooling I had to leave home and become independent. 

My expectations for myself were low when I moved to Zurich, but that soon changed. I was unexpectedly successful in my first job and was promoted within a few weeks. That, in turn, gave me the confidence to decide on my next step: I was going to see the world.

I soon emigrated to South Africa and worked there until I had enough money to backpack around the world. My journey across Africa, Asia and North America, mostly by bus and train, eventually took me to Toronto.

Who was a champion in your corner when you needed mentorship as a young person?

I was fortunate to have several exceptional mentors. My German language professor at college was an important figure. I loved him because he encouraged me to think independently, even when my conclusions collided with designated study texts.

I was in my 40s when I came to the conclusion that my parents were my most influential mentors. It was my mother who urged me to keep a journal of my most profound experiences when I was 10 years old—a habit that eventually led to the publication of hundreds of published papers and, so far, nine books. My mother also inspired me to begin painting, a pastime I’ve treasured all my life.

Then there was my father. Being with him for two hours was like spending a week in some exotic venue. He was infectiously positive and witty; everyone in our community loved him. As a professional, he was in a socially elevated position in our town, but he satisfied his great curiosity by talking to anyone he met. He reached out to gas station attendants or waiters in much the same way he did to his social peers, a habit I eventually adopted and found very rewarding.

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What was your career journey from arriving at Guardian Trustco establishing your own firm? 

Actually, a key element that led to my Guardian Trust position was my four-year stint at Deak & Company, at that time one of the best-known foreign exchange dealers, with branches in some 20 countries. I started at Deak’s in a lowly position and was fortunate enough to leave as the head of its Canadian operations.

When Guardian Trust hired me, it was to establish and run a foreign exchange and precious metals trading operation, build up its presence in Toronto, and establish connections and joint ventures abroad—segments that soon generated the largest part of the company’s revenue. I left Guardian 11 years later, when it was taken over, a transaction I strongly resisted. 

Obviously, leaving what I had created was a disappointment, but my time at the trust company had been deeply rewarding. During my years there, I’d written two best-selling, internationally published books on gold and co-managed two of Canada’s leading precious metals funds. Once I established my own company, a large U.S.-based mutual funds group and a Swiss-based natural resources fund came knocking, and soon after many private clients followed.

Starting my own firm also coincided with another life-changing event: I met my wife, Caroline, who shared many of my passions.

How much did you rely on advisors along the way?

I’ve always been too self-assured and independent-minded to seek advice. I’m sure I could have grown my company into something much larger, but size never mattered much to me. My key objective all along was to have a good time and to balance my career journey with my creative interests. Looking back, I loved innovating and building, but once administrative tasks gained the upper hand, my enthusiasm invariably waned.

That’s why, 20 or so years ago, I sold the assets of our major operating subsidiary. I kept a few of my larger clients, but cutting back on my intense workload allowed me more time for the things I like best: family, the outdoors and my creative pursuits. Caroline and I travelled extensively, trekking in the Rockies, the Himalayas and North Africa’s Atlas Mountains. I wrote several non-financial books, including a cultural study, a novel and more.

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When did philanthropy become important to you?

Philanthropy is a big word, but my many encounters with real suffering in Africa and Asia got me deeply focused on the need for charity. The most pivotal experience was my 1971 visit to a refugee camp, half a day’s bus ride from Calcutta. What I saw there changed me forever. Starving children, bellies badly extended, some with parts of their faces covered with thick clusters of flies; adults, some uncontrollably crying, others laughing hysterically, before breaking down again; mothers holding babies to their withered breasts, the babies too exhausted to suck. There were over 300,000 people in that camp, all survivors of what became known as the Bangladesh Genocide. I couldn’t take this wretched display of human suffering for more than a few hours, but it stayed with me forever.

Once I decided to look more deeply into the merits of individual charities, I learned that a large number of them failed most of the criteria I had set.

Peter Cavelti

I was in my early 30s when I started giving to charity in a determined and organized way. Realizing that I earned quite a bit more than I spent, and understanding that I was incredibly privileged to live in a stable, prosperous country, I decided to give a percentage of my income away. Predictably, my main focus was on humanitarian relief.

It was at Guardian Trust that I started to learn a lot about Canada’s charitable universe. Taking charge of the board’s ‘charitable activities committee,’ I soon learned that our money was given away without much thought. And once I decided to look more deeply into the merits of individual charities, I learned that a large number of them failed most of the criteria I had set. I was both disappointed and fascinated by my findings, so much so that I decided to deploy my analytical skills to studying how our company and myself could achieve the most impact.

How did you establish the Cavelti Family Foundation?

I was 60 when I started the foundation. My wife, Caroline, and I had come to realize that the most effective way to raise children was to be an example and to share meaningful experiences with them. And since charitable giving was an important part of our lives, why not create a platform in which we could all participate? A foundation would gradually transform the analytical work I’d done all these years into a group effort and, concurrently, create a legacy that might transcend the next few generations and carry on the values we believed in.

You’ve spoken about the value of involving your entire family in the foundation from the very beginning.

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Caroline and our daughter Melissa were a bit surprised when I suggested that the foundation’s ‘granting committee’ should include our grandchildren, who at that time were between five and seven years old. There was great excitement when I invited the three kids to my office for a meeting, and when we started the first session, I began by asking what charity was. Abigail, the youngest, stunned me by saying, ‘Papa, charity means being kind.’ I knew I was off to a good start.

The next few get-togethers were interesting. Only Cameron, whose mom (our daughter Krista) had tragically died not long before, embraced my devotion to humanitarian relief charities. He asked whether he could come along to my frequent visits to Doctors Without Borders and quickly bonded with their cause. Alexandra’s and Abigail’s enthusiasm fell elsewhere; they suggested that more of our money should go to abandoned and sick animals.

Over the course of the next five years or so, the grandchildren started to understand how complicated charitable giving was. I insisted that any recommendation be backed by analysis, which encouraged them to design spreadsheets comparing things like fundraising ratios and administrative expenses. We learned a lot from each other.

What initiatives are important to you and your family?

We always start with a top-down approach. The first task is to decide how much we want to grant to which segments of the charitable universe. We’ve come up with five broad categories: humanitarian relief in the world’s disaster zones (medical and food aid), social initiatives at home (educational, food and medical aid, justice, arts), animal welfare, environmental well-being, and better giving (charitable education and charity rating services).

An interesting thing happened a few years ago. I asked Caroline, Melissa and the grandchildren independently to write down what their preferred allocation to these five segments would be. Intriguingly, we came up with almost identical targets. We’ve all been on the same page since, with only minor modifications from year to year. Broadly, we grant 35% to humanitarian relief, 35% to social initiatives and 10% each to animal welfare, environmental well-being and better giving.

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The bottom-up part of our analysis is the most difficult. This is where we compare the social impact and efficiency of charities active in the same field and make our specific choices.

Our largest grants during the past year went to Doctors Without Borders (specifically toward help in Gaza) and the Toronto Foundation for Student Success, which runs Beyond 3:30, an exceptionally impactful after-school program offered in underserved communities.

How should families get younger generations involved in philanthropy?

I think it’s important to get future generations involved early. That way, they view their charitable engagement as a joyful pursuit and not a duty. It also helps if they can learn by exploring causes they feel attracted to. Contacting or even visiting a charity achieves several things. It makes the process of doing research less tedious, adds to the knowledge base, and creates invaluable shared family memories. So far, our approach seems to have worked well. The grandkids are now in their 20s and enthusiastically participate in our family’s charitable work.

Your most recent book, Thoughtful Giving, provides insights for those seeking to do more with their own philanthropic initiatives or foundations.

In the first paragraph of my introduction to Thoughtful Giving, I write that the vast majority of charities are poorly managed and don’t put nearly enough of the funds they receive toward their stated goal. And when they do, it’s often not in a timely or impactful manner.

My book distills the knowledge I’ve gained into easy-to-follow advice, guiding the reader through the techniques and to the sources that will help them find the most impactful charities. Whether you are an individual or a foundation, in the end only you can decide what type of charitable activity you want to support. The book also delves into the challenge of passing on charitable habits to future generations. 

As we all witness every day, many aspects of our world are deficient, if not dysfunctional. With a dose of compassion and awareness of what could be, our children and grandchildren can help change that.

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