“Another revolution that occurred in the early 70s was the advent of relative performance measurement,” recalls Desjardins. “Earlier, investment firms were evaluated on the basis of their performance relative to the market” [indices], But then the industry began to evaluate investment companies based on performance management surveys, which ranked them relative to all of their competitors, and it became a powerful marketing tool for companies like ours. It shook the industry.”
TAL maintained its position as an industry leader until 2001, when it was acquired by Big Six Bank. Professionally speaking, Desjardins says, sales weren’t something the leadership team really wanted to do. But since the company’s nearly 100 shareholders wanted to take the opportunity to become financially independent, TAL’s leaders decided to respect their interests.
“The day we sold the business, I told my wife and my close friends that if the opportunity came, I would buy an existing investment management company,” Desjardins says. “That opportunity came in 2003, and so did Fiera Capital.”
Next step
Continuing what he and his colleagues had started at TAL, Desjardins sought to develop Fiera Capital into a global investment management organization with a disciplined and organized quantitative ethos. They also identified another opportunity to get ahead of the curve by investing in private-market strategies, including alternative loans, real estate, infrastructure and more.
“This was a significant development in the wealth management business, where the opportunity to invest in and create these new strategies allows us to do a much better job for clients,” he says.
