‘I’ve seen a lot of change and a lot more to come’, says McKenzie’s McInerney

Options have been democratized and there are now approximately $20 trillion in AUM options worldwide, primarily used by large institutional investors.

“We are on a journey at McKenzie to bring those types of investments, both liquid and private markets, into the hands of individual investors across Canada,” McInerney said. “They have served institutional investors extremely well in providing risk diversification and an expanded return opportunity.”

Mackenzie also focuses on retirement options, providing a more results-oriented product for the fall, especially as Baby Boomers move into their retirement years. Finally, he said, Mackenzie’s sustainable investment “has grown exponentially over the past two to three years”, when the leadership saw its birth in Europe.

“I would say you will see those trends continue to move very strongly, but there will be others, and Luke (Gold) and his team will find them,” said his successor, Kay McInerney, currently chief financial officer at IGM Financial. In the meantime, McInerney expects to continue to see more democratization of investment for individual investors, more young investors, and robo advisors, as well as blockchain, crypto, and non-fungible tokens, which will become part of another paradigm shift.

“It’s a very dynamic, exciting time, and it’s constantly changing,” he said. “Five years later, maybe up a third of assets will be in products that don’t exist today. This is how this industry runs, and it moves fast: new ideas, new asset classes, and new vehicles.”