Trust, Culture, and All-Weather Portfolios: A Conversation with Robbie Pryde

What drives a farm boy from rural Ontario to lead one of Canada's top wealth management firms?

Vanessa Hui and CEO, Robbie Pryde share his extraordinary journey from family farm bankruptcy to Bay Street success.

Robbie looks at his pivotal career moments, his leadership philosophy, and Forthlane's innovative approach to delivering institutional-grade investment strategies to individuals and families.

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
04:03 – The Big Pivot: From Farming to Finance
10:19 – Leadership Philosophy: Trust, EQ, and Collaboration
21:28 –World-Class Client Service: More Than Just Words
24:29 – What Drives Long-Term Success: Humility and Curiosity

GUEST: ROBBIE PRYDE, CEO Forthlane Partners
Website | LinkedIn

CONNECT WITH VANESSA HUI
Website | LinkedIn 

Chapters

• 4:03 The Big Pivot: From Farming to Finance
• 10:19 Leadership Philosophy: Trust, EQ, and Collaboration
• 21:28 World-Class Client Service: More Than Just Words
• 24:29 What Drives Long-Term Success: Humility and Curiosity

Transcript

Robbie Pryde (00:01):

And that process of bankruptcy and helping my parents through that taught me a lot. And I realized I didn't want to be sitting on my side of the table. I wanted to be on the banker's side of the table. I

Vanessa Hui (00:24):

Welcome to Forthlane Features a podcast series by Forthlane Partners where we dive into the world of global wealth and asset management. I'm your host, Vanessa Hui, chief Client Officer at Forthlane, and I'm so excited to kick off this inaugural episode with Forthlane, CEO, Robbie Pryde. In today's episode, we will delve into Robbie's career journey and his perspectives on delivering world-class investment management and client service. Let's get started. Good morning, Robbie.

Robbie Pryde (00:57):

Good morning, Vanessa.

Vanessa Hui (00:58):

So I get to officially welcome you as the first guest of Forthlane Features. You are launching this podcast for us and you are setting the tone for all the episodes to come. No pressure at all since it's 10:00 AM we sadly don't have a wine glass in hand, but I'm still excited to sit down and take a pause from our day-to-day responsibilities and get to know you even better.

Robbie Pryde (01:25):

Thanks, Vanessa. It's great to be here. It's an honor to be your first podcast participant and I'm excited about the next few minutes as well.

Vanessa Hui (01:34):

Amazing. Okay, Robbie, I know you would never say this yourself, so I will just go ahead and say it for you. You really are one of the most respected figures on Bay Street, not just for your accomplishments in your career, but for your reputation of how you treat others and your integrity. So I'd love to start by giving our listeners a glimpse into who the real Robbie Pryde is. Can you start by telling us about your roots and your origin story, Robbie?

Robbie Pryde (02:08):

Okay. Well, I would say that probably most people who don't know me super well are always a bit surprised to find out that I come from a rural background. So I grew up in a farm, Vanessa, and it's maybe not the typical launching pad for a Bay Street career, but it taught me a lot of things. I really enjoyed growing up on a farm, being outside, creating things, growing things that turned into food for others. I just enjoyed the life. It grounded me. It taught me what a hard day's work was. And then I also had a lot of responsibility at a young age and it taught me a lot.

Vanessa Hui (02:50):

So where was the farm?

Robbie Pryde (02:52):

Near Exeter, Ontario, so about 30 miles north of London.

Vanessa Hui (02:57):

And what did you guys grow on the,

Robbie Pryde (03:01):

Oh, just cash crops. So corn, soybeans, peas, white beans, all sorts of stuff. Probably about six or seven different crops. Yeah,

Vanessa Hui (03:10):

I love that. Okay, so farm hard work, what next?

Robbie Pryde (03:16):

Well, I was one of six kids.

Vanessa Hui (03:18):

Oh my gosh.

Robbie Pryde (03:19):

I was the only one of the siblings that showed any interest at a younger age about carrying on the family farm, and my parents were quite interested in me doing that. So that seemed to be my life destination, was to actually run the family farm because I got later into my teens, I wasn't quite as enthusiastic, but I didn't want to tell my parents that. But I went to Guelph for my first year of university to learn how to be a better farmer. And it was at Guelph where I did a mental, and then I guess I called a physical pivot and decided I didn't want to do that program and I transferred to Western and embarked on an economics degree, which was a big pivot in my life.

Vanessa Hui (04:03):

Wow. Huge pivot. And I mean, maybe we can get into this a bit, but how did your parents at first take your decision to not lead the family farm?

Robbie Pryde (04:16):

Well, as in relationships, there was a call, a secret on both sides. I had my secret that I didn't want to do this. They had their secret, which was we're going bankrupt anyways.

Vanessa Hui (04:26):

Wow.

Robbie Pryde (04:27):

So they lost the family farm. And so I would've been looking for a career option going forward anyways. So again, in that process of bankruptcy and helping my parents through that taught me a lot. And I realized I didn't want to be sitting on my side of the table. I wanted to be on the banker's side of the table where they seem to have all the power and it did help shape my life going forward. So at Western I enjoyed what I was doing. It was new to me in a lot of ways. Didn't know what I wanted to do, but I had a professor tell me that I'd make a good stockbroker or in today's world, IA investment advisor. So I didn't really know what I wanted to do. So I took the Canadian Securities course, I thought I'd give it a try, landed a job in London. I went to Western and became an I. So I learned about managing people's money and I was put into a management role fairly quickly into my career, and that taught me a lot about managing people that were quite a bit more senior to me. So Vanessa, fast forward my career a little bit, the move to Toronto was an important one, obviously, and then I made a move out of, we'll call it the retail sector. So being an IA to the institutional equity desk

(06:01):

And did that for a few years. And why did I do that? Because I was enjoying a good career. It was the challenge of learning something new, which is talking to institutional investors. And I found that to be a bit more sophisticated and a bit more challenging than what I had been doing. So that was important to me. And then the group of people I was working with at Nesbit at the time, there was a few of us that decided that we could do this really well on our own. So the entrepreneur in me emerged. There was a total of nine of us from I think three different firms at the time through our hat in our own personal ring, which is let's leave great jobs and go

(06:46):

And do this institutional equity boutique. And we came up with a name, Newcrest Capital, and it proved to be a really rewarding experience for me. All the partners, I think for a number of reasons. It taught us about risk taking. We've had our own money on the line every day and we were doing big trades and big underwritings. It taught us about a partnership you had to trust the people around you as you were taking all of this risk. And I think we certainly built this amazing culture at Newcrest. We all cared about each other and worked really well together and conflict was dealt with really easily. And our clients trusted us, they truly trusted us and they rewarded us with lots of business. And then TD came along and bought us in late 2000. And so it was a pretty significant pivot for many of us going back to a big firm again. And we did it for a few reasons. The main one being that the world had shifted by 99, 2000, the tech bubble had sort of come and gone a little bit. Capital in our business was becoming increasingly important. So we thought partnering up with a bank again would probably be a good idea. So we helped TD really grow their franchise and I feel very proud of that.

Vanessa Hui (08:17):

And specifically, what did TD integrate Newcrest as? And when you say build their franchise, what does that mean?

Robbie Pryde (08:27):

Well, TD security was a greenfield, meaning TD was the only big Canadian bank that didn't buy an investment dealer. So they built it from scratch and until they bought Newcrest, and I think TD was really looking to amp up their equities offering and that's what New Crest did. And so we brought that in spades to them, and

(08:51):

We also brought an entrepreneurial culture along with this. So the leadership that TD evolved into some new Crest leaders, Bob Dorrance in particular becoming the CEOI took over Bob's position and ran global equities for a number of years, and then I pivoted to running in global investment banking. And that was the last role I had at td. So I think TD was sort of a sixth place participant in late 2000. We built it times where we were at the top of the eap, but certainly at top two, three at all times the last dozen years or so. And so that was quite fulfilling. So lots of call it a vast array of experiences throughout and every one of them taught me something new that I still use today.

Vanessa Hui (09:45):

So a career of pivots and ups and downs. While in this next chapter you are stepping into the CEO rule here at Forthlane, taking the reins from Forthlane's amazing founder Ken Gral. This is obviously a big milestone for both you and the firm. I'm curious, Robbie, before we get into Forthlane and your decisions for getting involved, can you just start by sharing how you would describe your leadership style?

Robbie Pryde (10:19):

I would say that it's evolved over time, Vanessa. It certainly hasn't been a static journey through a person's life and career journey. There's learnings, obviously I've gained some wisdom. I hope it feels like I have the highs and lows teach you a lot. So I think that that's the same for everyone in my foundation. I think in terms of leadership style would be building trust. I would say anyone that is a great leader over the course of history, no matter what or where, one way or another, build trust with people that are looking up to 'em. So I build trust through engagement. My open door policy, which everyone's well aware of being a great listener and I believe I am a great listener. I like to collaborate. I want know what people are thinking, how would they do things? I may not take that idea or I may incorporate part of it into my decision making, but if people feel like they have a role to play in the skin in the game, then I think it creates a much more motivated partner. And I think that's really an important part of my foundation. So that approachability, collaboration and being a really steady hand because there's headwinds that hit you and they can hit you really hard and people look to see how you're reacting and you need to be that steady hand.

Vanessa Hui (11:58):

People trust consistency and they want to know that what you see is what you get. And it sounds like that's key to your style.

Robbie Pryde (12:07):

And then I just would add if I can, I always had a real focus on EQ for myself, but also for people that I hire and lead. This business is filled with lots of high IQ people and that's usually in abundance. But where you really can make a difference in rise that are top is if you have an excellent EQ attached to your iq. And I think that is culture building. I think it really is something that matters a lot when I'm sitting across a boardroom table, whether it's talking to an employee partner or whether it's talking to a client, you need to read them. It's important that you get a sense of how they're reacting to you and what might they be thinking. And then you can react if you think you're the smartest person in the room at all times, that probably is not going to work in your favor. So whether it's in terms of how you interact with people or how you lead people, I think it's important that you have a humbleness to you and an ability to put yourself in the position of person sitting across from you.

Vanessa Hui (13:25):

So speaking of building great culture and the strong organization, I want to pivot now to talk about Forthlane This year you, Robert Vander Hooft and Peter Groff, two of your close friends all decided to become shareholders of Forthlane and help take us to the next level. For our listeners, can you start by just touching on who Rob and Peter are both as partners to you, but also touching on their careers and what they bring to the original decision to invest in Forthlane?

Robbie Pryde (14:00):

Yeah, certainly Pete and Robert to my closest friends and getting back to what I've been preaching a little bit is just trust. So all three of us have had really great careers, a Wall Street careers, and I think all three of us felt like it was still another chapter to be written for us and we wanted to do it together. And so we put our collective heads together and wealth management we think is an amazing business and has an amazing future. There's the transition of wealth from the boomers, rumors over the next coming years is monumental. The US alone is $84 trillion will change hands over the next number of years. I don't know what the number is in Canada, but it's big. And then at the end of the day, the three of us also need to think about how we want to manage our money. And

(15:00):

So the experiences that my two partners had with their respective firms, Rob at Graystone and Pete at Sprott Inc really drove home. The idea that we had and the view that we had is that you needed to have alternative investment sleeves asset classes. It's part of your portfolio. Greystone Rob, he built that organization is the leader from a few billion dollars to 38 billion when Cheaty bought it back in 2018. And a large part of that growth for Greystone was off the back of alternative investing for institutions. So Rob had an immense amount of experience from the institutional side growing an alternatives platform. And then Peter at Sprott again grew that organization from a few billion to not sure when Pete left, it was 25 or 30 billion US dollars. And they built an amazing firm based off of, I would call it the alternative investing, which is focused on precious metals, gold and silver in particular. So both of my partners had a vast amount of experience in alternatives, and we saw that as an important part of the future.

Vanessa Hui (16:28):

I think that was the meeting of the minds when we met you, Pete and Rob over a year ago, is that we all felt that having spent decades in this industry, there is a need and desire for people to access the alternative strategies that frankly have been traditionally only available to large institutions like Greystone, like the pension funds. So speaking of that mission now to provide individuals and families with access to the investment strategies that have really been only reserved for institutions. Can we talk about more why that's important? Why should people be considering or why do we at least feel that people should consider adding alternatives to their portfolio?

Robbie Pryde (17:24):

Yeah, for sure. There is a need, Vanessa, there's no question in our minds, we have full conviction that a more sophisticated approach to investing is the right approach for high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals and families organizations, it's a much more complex world becoming increasingly complex, whether it's technology driving it or globalization over the last couple of decades, the geopolitical trends that help drive the environment today, it's all fast moving and not necessarily easily understandable to the average investor. So we feel that absolutely is a need for professional advice, world-class professional advice around how to navigate in these, call it more turbulent times. And then the reality is, and the numbers show that diversification is key to long-term investing success and having a portfolio that is well diversified amongst various asset classes with very little correlation amongst those asset classes results in really compelling returns at a fraction of the risk that you would have in call it a normal 60 40 equities fixed income type of portfolio. So

Vanessa Hui (19:01):

I was going to point out that a year like 2022 really emphasized that our clients saw that in 2022, a traditional equities fixed income portfolio really suffered for the first time in a long time. Stocks and bonds both went down at the same time, but our clients saw the value of having a robust multi-asset class portfolio and they frankly weathered that 2022 storm quite well.

Robbie Pryde (19:35):

Yeah, I think there's always a point in time where things go sideways and it depends on age stage, how you feel about that, but those that are looking to preserve wealth and reduce the amount of volatility and risk in their portfolios are certainly people that Forthlane, what we're built for really, and we invest, certainly we've talked about Rob and Pete, but Wayne Cozen who spent 22 years at J Teachers, very sophisticated investing helped build the pension investing style that the Canadian pensions are so well known for globally.

Vanessa Hui (20:22):

When Wayne started at t Joe's, they were investing in tbi.

Robbie Pryde (20:24):

Yeah. So he saw quite an evolution as part of that. So the same thing is happening with individual and family investing, Vanessa, where people are pivoting to a more sophisticated strategy to not just preserve wealth and reduce risk, but to actually have compelling returns as well. You call it all weather and I believe it's all weather and it's sleep at night investing. So that's what we do at Forthlane. And there's currently six different asset classes. It's soon to be seven, and within each asset class there's five to up to eight different funds or investments in each one of those asset classes. So it is super diversified. And you mentioned 2022, that was a good litmus test, but even in go-go market like 20, 23, 4, we still have very good compelling returns.

Vanessa Hui (21:28):

Compelling returns. So on top of a world-class investment offering, what else is top of mind for you as CEO Forthlane?

Robbie Pryde (21:37):

Well, it all starts and ends with the client, and that's just not an advertisement. It's real that

(21:47):

This is the trust business. If people are going to hand their hard earned money over to you, they certainly need to trust you that you're going to do a great job for them. So that's front and center for me. And how do you build that trust? Well, you build it by being, first of all, real, the EQ on the other side of the table. People have to and trust you. You need to have, I think, exceptional or very good acceptable investment returns. We've used the word compelling and I think that's the right way to look at it. And then it really comes down to client service. And how do you make people feel, and do you have a good system for them to track their holdings? Are they able to understand what they're invested in? Do you spend time talking to them about their investments and how it's going? We're spending money on technology and on people to do the best job possible. If you're going to advertise world-class, well, you need to be world-class. So client service has to be world class and there's increasingly sophisticated service expectations. So we need to live up to that, which we're working really hard at doing. And then the other thing that we've focused on, we've touched on already in the podcast so far, is how does it feel to be a Forthlane partner? And if we feel good about that, meaning our culture, we exude that to the outside world. So our clients feel the same thing, our clients become part of our family.

Vanessa Hui (23:23):

Absolutely.

Robbie Pryde (23:25):

And that's what we strive for, is everyone to feel like they're part of our family.

Vanessa Hui (23:29):

I've had so many clients tell me how important it is that Forthlane has a culture of ownership where all of our employees are owners, because a lot of our clients are trusting us with their multi-generational wealth. They want to know that Forthlane is going to be there for their kids, their grandkids, and have engaged people and really, like Rob can speak to with Graystone, having a culture of owners, people who have skin in the game and feel like it's their organization, I think is the key to ensuring longevity and providing that consistency and trust to a client.

Robbie Pryde (24:10):

No, very true. And it was the same at New Trust, the same at Sprott, where I think as equity owners, you feel different coming into work. It's not just a job, it is a entrepreneurial adventure for you, and it's really important that we all are on the same page from that perspective.

Vanessa Hui (24:29):

Definitely. All right, Robbie, so unfortunately we have to wrap up now, but I will conclude with asking you a question that I plan on asking every future guest a Forthlane. And that question is, what is one lesson you learned early on in your career that has stuck with you and continues to guide you today?

Robbie Pryde (24:50):

Well, going back to the start of our conversation, I used the word grounded, and I think I've remained grounded. And I think that's really important that a person doesn't get too full of themselves. So I think being a humble person is top of the list, but that humble person should be one that also never rounds corners, takes shortcuts, and because that usually leads to not great results and just remaining curious. So humble not being a corner rounder and just remaining always curious will make you a better partner and help you in your career.

Vanessa Hui (25:39):

What great words to end on. So Robbie, I can't thank you enough for joining me today, but also joining Forthlane and giving me personally the opportunity to work beside you and grow Forthlane. You've set the tone for an incredible podcast. And to our listeners, we hope you found today's conversation insightful and valuable. We do have an open door policy at Forthlane. We'd love to hear from you. So we invite you to reach out to our team with any questions or feedback on topics that you'd like us to cover. So until next time, take care and thank you so much for listening.