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SMALL BUSINESS MONTH - SUPPLEMENT TO THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2016
VPI is one of Canada’s few adviser-owned mutual fund companies. The company’s clients have earned more than $500 million since it opened in 2005. One of the keys to the company’s success has been the fact advisers invest their own money alongside their clients.
VALUED PARTNERS: VPI PROVIDING CLIENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GROW
money than they gave us, and collectively our clients have $500 million dollars more than they originally invested with us,” Filmon proudly says. He recalls a husband and wife who came into the company’s office in 2008, a time when the global economic downturn was hitting people hard. They were near retirement and worried they might not have enough money for their short-term needs and long-term growth. The couple became clients and a portfolio of investments was put together, as well as advice given to them about their spending habits. Eight years later and now in their early 70s, the couple is at a point where they know they’re not going to run out of money, Filmon says. “To have people go from worrying about, ‘Am I going to have enough?’ to knowing they’re going to have enough, to being able to say, ‘We’re actually going to be able to leave a legacy,’ that’s an incredible journey to take with people.” He’s also proud of the success VPI has achieved in an industry where it’s up against six chartered banks, three big insurance companies and some multi- national companies. “Here we are, this little company of some intelligent, hard-working entrepreneurial people here in Winnipeg and we’re having success building our business and gaining new clients all the way across Canada,” Filmon says. At the same time, VPI is promoting Winnipeg and bringing dollars into the local economy. When shareholder meetings take place once or twice a year, they’re often held in Winnipeg, but visitors see more than a hotel or conference room.
Filmon and the staff ensure shareholders get to know the city and its unique features. Recently, one meeting included the Hermetic Code tour of the Manitoba Legislative Building, where architectural mysteries are revealed by guide Frank Albo. It was a fitting excursion, as Filmon views VPI as a rare jewel. “It is one of those little hidden gems,” he says of the company. “It is one of those little Winnipeg big success stories that nobody’s ever heard of. “We’re providing opportunities and we’re growing our economy and I think that’s awesome and I’m really, really proud of that.” ❚
By Judy Owen for the Free Press G
regg Filmon has heard the same stories over and over. Clients of Value Partners Investments (VPI) will tell him about past financial experiences that have left them frustrated
and worried. “It astonishes me how often that we see clients who have received really bad advice,” says Filmon, the president of VPI. “And then I always ask them, ‘Do you think that the person advising you was doing the same thing with their own money?’ And the clients always go, ‘I have no idea.’ And I go, ‘Well, that’s a huge problem.’” It’s a problem clients don’t have with VPI, which opened in 2005. The Winnipeg-based firm is one of Canada’s few adviser-owned mutual fund companies, with those advisers investing their own money alongside their clients. “We are having the same investment experience that our clients are having,” Filmon says. “And, in my opinion, when you’re investing your own money alongside your clients, you’re far more likely to be more aware of the risk that you’re taking.” The company’s staff of 25 – many University of Manitoba grads – are also owners along with the 140 shareholder advisers. They have approximately $30 million of their own money invested in the pools, and VPI’s assets are valued at $1.93 billion. “Right now, 99 per cent of our clients have more
“To have people go from worrying about, ‘Am I going to have enough?’ to knowing they’re going to have enough, to being able to say, ‘We’re actually going to be able to leave a legacy,’ that’s an incredible journey to take with people.”
- Gregg Filmon, president of Value Partners Investments
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