Richardson Wealth CEO Andrew Marsh in the company's head office in downtown Toronto on July 25, 2013.Philip Cheung/The Globe and Mail
Richardson Wealth Ltd.’s CEO Andrew Marsh is retiring from his role just months after steering the company through a three-year restructuring that saw the investment advisory firm split from its capital markets division.
On Tuesday morning, RF Capital Group Inc. – the parent company of Richardson Wealth – announced Mr. Marsh will leave on March 31.
With more than $30-billion in assets, Richardson is one of Canada’s largest independent wealth managers, with 160 investment advisers. RF Capital chief executive Kish Kapoor has not named a successor, but in a statement he said he would spend the next “several weeks” with Mr. Marsh to ensure a “seamless transition.”
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Mr. Marsh says the timing is right for him to “pass the torch” as Richardson Wealth – with help from an international consultancy group – begins to develop a new strategic business plan. That plan, as well as his successor, will be revealed later.
The change in leadership comes less than five months after the company went through a major reshuffle of its ownership structure. It was a decision Mr. Marsh says he “pondered” over the holidays, but had first discussed with Mr. Kapoor almost a year ago.
“I always wanted to pick my time to go out at the right time for shareholders when the business is in great shape, but also the right time for me,” he added.
Formerly known as Richardson GMP, the company was previously jointly owned by GMP Capital, the Richardson family and its adviser employees.
After GMP Capital – which was recently renamed RF Capital Group Inc. – sold its capital markets division in 2019, it announced a long-awaited plan to purchase the 67-per-cent stake of RGMP it did not already own. That new ownership proposal was tweaked several times owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and a last-minute shareholder revolt over the proposed share price, which ended last October when the majority voted in favour of the acquisition.
“I’m very proud of what we have accomplished but I’m an entrepreneur and the firm is now in need of a different skill set,” Mr. Marsh said. “I knew this business would eventually get to a point where it would have to go to the next level.”
Over the years, the company has gone through several transformations under the leadership of Mr. Marsh, who helped launch GMP Private Client in 2004, at the age of 36.
In 2009, GMP Private Client merged with Richardson Partners Financial, and Mr. Marsh was appointed CEO of the newly formed Richardson GMP.
In 2013, he scooped up another major rival – Macquarie Private Wealth – an Australian powerhouse that also entered the Canadian market in 2009 and began poaching multimillion-dollar books of businesses and advisers from the Street.
The deal doubled Richardson GMP’s assets under management to $28-billion.
One of the toughest moments, Mr. Marsh says, was rebuilding confidence with advisers after the business was publicly put up for sale in 2016 – and then having the sale called off later that year.
“We had to lead with conviction – and that was tough – but it also opened my eyes that I needed to de-risk the business and invite some advisers who did not fit our principles to leave the firm,” Mr. Marsh said.
At the time of the deal last fall, Mr. Marsh told The Globe he was heavily focused on recruiting new advisers, in hopes of doubling the company’s $30-billion in assets.
“We understand and respect his wish to move on. He will leave a strong foundation for us to build on, and I know we will continue to benefit from the great relationships he has developed across the wealth-management industry,” Mr. Kapoor said in a statement.
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