Fiera Capital announces new CEO as company overhauls executive leadership

Fiera Capital Corp. is overhauling its executive leadership as founder and chief executive officer Jean-Guy Desjardins steps down for a second time and hands the reins to Maxime Ménard, the head of the company’s Canadian operations.

Fiera, one of Canada’s largest independent wealth managers, announced Thursday that Mr. Ménard – who is currently president and CEO of Fiera Canada and its global private wealth business – will take over as global president and CEO, as of July 1. Mr. Desjardins will remain with the company as executive chair and head of global asset allocation.

This is the second time Mr. Desjardins, 80, has announced a successor at the company he founded in 2003.

“The board has full confidence in Maxime,” said François Olivier, Fiera‘s lead director. “His experience, sound judgement and deep understanding of global investment management make him well suited to lead the firm forward.”

The CEO announcement comes on the heels of a work-force reduction that dissolved the chief investment office, according to a person familiar with the matter. The shutdown included the departure of Jean Michel, executive director, president and chief investment officer of Fiera public markets, the source said. Approximately 50 roles were affected and a “small number” of team members have departed the company as a result.

The Globe is not identifying the source as they are not authorized to discuss the matter.

The company’s investment, research and risk teams will remain fully intact, and there will be no changes to portfolio leadership or investment processes.

Fiera Capital spokesperson Yasmin Sardouk declined to comment on the departure of Mr. Michel or on other individual personnel matters.

The road to choosing a new leader has not been an easy one for Fiera.

In early 2022, Mr. Desjardins was confident he had found a successful replacement when he relinquished his position to Jean-Philippe Lemay, an internal candidate he had spent a decade grooming for the role. Then, in a surprise reversal in 2023, Mr. Desjardins returned to the role of CEO when Mr. Lemay left the company under circumstances that were not made public.

In early 2024, almost exactly one year after his return, Mr. Desjardins hired Mr. Ménard, an industry veteran who had spent 20 years at investment manager Jarislowsky Fraser, including five years as president and CEO.

At the time of his hire, Mr. Ménard was widely seen as a top successor to Mr. Desjardins, and was brought in to help boost the fund manager’s Canadian market share.

“This decision reflects a clear conviction: Maxime is the right leader to take Fiera Capital forward,” Mr. Desjardins said in a statement. “He brings the discipline, integrity, and strategic focus required to execute our vision and strengthen the firm for the long term.”

Thursday’s CEO announcement includes increasing responsibilities for Fiera chief financial officer Lucas Pontillo, who will now lead corporate strategy to help oversee long-term strategic planning, capital allocation and M&A activity. Gabriel Castiglio, Fiera’s global chief legal officer, will see his role expand to include global operations and organizational alignment.

Both will start their new roles on July 1, and report directly to Mr. Ménard.

The executive shakeup follows several years of a struggling share price and net redemptions for the Montreal-based company, meaning investors are pulling more money out of funds than they are putting in.

Fiera shares closed at $6.55 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday, down almost 50 per cent from $13.02, as of Jan 23, 2020 – a five-year peak the stock traded at just prior to the start of the pandemic.

With offices in North America, Europe and Asia, Fiera managed about $161-billion in assets as of April 29 – down from $170-billion in assets it managed it 2020.

Some of the decline is owing to redemptions from large institutional investors leaving Fiera for competitors.

In January, Calgary-based Canoe Financial LP pulled more than $5.5-billion from Fiera to move six equity funds to PineStone Asset Management, an investment fund company led by former Fiera star portfolio manager Nadim Rizk, who left Fiera in 2021.

And earlier this month, two Quebec-based fund companies – National Bank Investments and Fondaction – both ended some contracts with Fiera. Together, the two companies moved about $1.2-billion to Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. after it hired former Fiera small-cap fund manager Marc Lecavalier on May 5.

Mr. Ménard will look to plug any future outflows of money with a new strategic direction that the company said in a statement on Thursday will shift the firm toward “institutional stability, performance execution and cultural renewal.”

The restructuring means portfolio managers will now report directly to Mr. Ménard, to create a more agile culture with a direct line between the leadership and investment teams.

The closing of the CIO office is part of a ”deliberate shift to reduce friction, simplify oversight, and bring decision-making closer to those managing capital,” Ms. Sardouk said in an e-mail.

“Maxime Ménard is prioritizing deeper relationships with consultants and institutional clients, accelerating the pace of execution, and enhancing the scalability of Fiera’s investment platform,” she added.