A letter from Jeff Moody: A new chapter

This past year was an eventful one for Gluskin Sheff, and we are anticipating 2022 to be no less notable.

It was an incredible year for global equities with North American stock indexes posting double-digit gains in 2021. Fueled by central bank and fiscal stimulus, the promise of vaccines and rebounding global economies, markets rode to all-time highs. We also saw substantial volatility in fixed income, a trend we anticipate continuing as global central banks enter a tightening cycle. As our 2022 Investment Outlook: Beyond the recovery  suggests, all eyes will remain on central banks this year–most importantly the U.S. Federal Reserve, as liquidity measures begin to unwind and interest rates start to rise in an attempt to curb inflation. Over the coming months, volatility will be the watchword.

Our investment team was well positioned to capitalize on opportunities, resulting in double-digit gains across our equities strategies in 2021. The past year also brought new strategies and services to meet the exacting and ever-changing needs of our clients. We partnered with Onex Credit to launch the Onex Falcon Direct Lending strategy to Canadian accredited investors, which seeks to deliver high income, utilizing private, senior secured loans to lower middle market companies globally.

And as part of our expanded wealth planning offering, we also announced the launch of the Gluskin Sheff Foundation for Philanthropy (GSFFP), which is a registered charity providing donor advised funds and other philanthropic services to our clients. The GSFFP offers a flexible, simple, tax-efficient way to establish your legacy and ensure the causes you care about are supported.

Leadership Update

As we communicated earlier this month, we are pleased to announce Dave Kelly has been appointed as the new Head of Gluskin Sheff. Dave brings close to three decades of financial services experience to the firm and is a well-recognized leader in the wealth management industry. By adding a leader with his expertise, we are well positioned to continue to provide you with the same high-quality service you’ve come to expect from Gluskin Sheff, with an accelerated focus on operational proficiencies, product innovation and technology solutions.

With Dave’s appointment, I will be stepping down as CEO and transitioning to the role of Vice Chair where my focus will exclusively be on client portfolio oversight and management. I am firmly committed to Gluskin Sheff and its future success and am excited to partner with Dave. I look forward to introducing you to him on our upcoming quarterly client call.

For more than 20 years, it has been the honour and privilege of my life to serve you. I joined Gluskin Sheff when it was a vastly different organization and I’m proud of all we have accomplished to bring our clients the highest standards of investment management, wealth planning and client service. The firm has grown from approximately C$700 million in assets under management and 23 employees, offering a singular lineup of public-market strategies, to close to C$9 billion in assets under management, 175 employees and a compelling suite of public and private investment strategies and wealth planning services that truly differentiate us within the Canadian market. I have no doubt we will continue our successful trajectory with Dave at the helm.

Looking back, I’m incredibly proud of the way our firm has evolved to meet our clients’ ever-changing needs. From wealth planning services, to new innovative investment strategies, we have evolved as your needs have. We are privileged to be able to serve you during a time of unprecedented change and are humbled by your continued patronage.  I’m excited for this new chapter and know we have the right leadership, investment, technology and people in place to continue to serve our clients to the highest standard. We look forward to bringing you more exciting updates in 2022, including more customized solutions, collaboratively engineered by Gluskin Sheff and Onex.

Sincerely yours,

Jeff Moody

Vice Chair