Vancouver-based Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. is setting up shop in the heart of Toronto’s financial district.
The move will bring the independent, employee-owned investment-management firm closer to 40% of its client base, which is located in Ontario, according to the firm’s announcement on Monday.
The Toronto office will be led by Marcel Leroux, a vice president at Leith Wheeler, who joined the firm in September 2015 specifically to expand its presence in Ontario. He is responsible for the discretionary investment management of private client and foundation portfolios at Leith Wheeler.
“To open a Toronto office, it was critical to find an investment professional with a complete understanding of our investment philosophy and culture,” says Jim Gilliland, CEO at Leith Wheeler, in a statement. “Marcel shares Leith Wheeler’s client-first approach and has spent his career as a value investor.”
Leith Wheeler’s client base includes private clients, institutions, foundations, pension plans and First Nations communities. The firm has $16.4 billion in assets under management.
This is Leith Wheeler’s third office in Canada. The firm, which was founded in Vancouver in 1982, established its Calgary office in 2011.