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Experience carries enormous weight in the world of wealth management. Clients often assume that someone who has worked with money for forty or fifty years must naturally be better at it. After all, long careers bring experience, pattern recognition, and…
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Losing Control of Wealth
We often assume that wealth automatically brings control. If someone has accumulated meaningful assets such as investment portfolios, holding companies, trusts, or even a family foundation, it seems logical that they’re firmly in charge of their financial life. Surprisingly in…
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How I Resist My Investing Urges
Recognizing our behavioural biases is one of the most powerful ways investors can improve their long-term results. However, this is often easier said than done. Each investor is a different person, a real human being with personal emotions. Some struggle…
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The Truth about Financial Advisor Incentives
Most families assume that financial advice is embedded in the services they receive. They see reporting, transactions, implementation, and assume that judgment is included in the fee. The industry’s compensation structure often tells a different story. And even for firms…
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Paper Money vs Real Wealth
High income can be deceptive. It creates the appearance of abundance, stability, even financial success. But income alone is not wealth, and confusing the two can quietly undermine families for decades. And, create blind spots for the next generation, which…
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Home Bias and Global Investing: Global vs. International Equities Explained
When investors talk about diversification, the terms global equities and international equities are often used carelessly. They are not the same thing. For Canadian and U.S. investors, understanding the distinction can materially improve clarity, discipline, and long-term results. What is…
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Good Intentions Aren’t Enough: Governance in Family Foundations
Most family foundations are created with generosity and good intentions. Over time, however, many discover that their biggest challenges have little to do with investment returns or grant performance. Instead, the friction comes from a more basic question: who actually…
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DAF, Private Foundation, or Both?
Many strategic philanthropists ask a simple question as they progress their charitable journey: Should we use a donor-advised fund or a private foundation? Over time, however, philanthropists with growing complexity often discover that the better question is not which vehicle,…
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Stepping Into Family Wealth Stewardship: Next-Gen Challenges
Stepping into the role of “point person” for your family’s wealth and investments is both an honour and a burden. It can feel exciting and purposeful but also heavy and awkward. Many next-gen investors don’t plan to make this their…
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Three Ways to Get Unbiased Financial Planning Advice Before Selling Your Business
When someone is preparing to sell a business, financial complexity tends to spike all at once. A future liquidity event collides with legacy obligations from a prior divorce, questions about lifestyle and cash flow, the need to update an estate…