What Wall Street Won't Tell You About Direct Investing
We exist for one reason. Owner-operators deserve to see, understand, and control every dollar they've earned. Not through pooled funds managed behind closed doors — but through direct holdings in your name, with full transparency into every position, every fee, and every decision that shapes your financial future.
Since 2009, we've built a firm around a principle the traditional advisory industry considers radical: your money should actually belong to you.
See If We're a FitHow a Broken Industry Created a Different Kind of Firm
Act I — The Disconnect
Marc-Antoine Savard spent eight years at Manulife Asset Management, working in institutional portfolio management. He watched owner-operators — people who built companies with their bare hands, who knew the cost of every bolt in their warehouse and every hour on their payroll — get sold opaque, fee-heavy pooled products they couldn't decode without a securities lawyer.
They wanted control. They received complexity. They wanted clarity. They received quarterly PDFs filled with legal boilerplate and performance figures that obscured more than they revealed.
The deeper Marc-Antoine looked, the more uncomfortable the picture became. Layer upon layer of management expense ratios, trailer fees flowing to advisors who hadn't called in months, and fund-of-fund structures that multiplied costs while diluting accountability. The very people who ran their businesses with forensic attention to every line item were being treated like passive consumers of someone else's financial strategy.
In 2009, from a home office on Wolfedale Road in Mississauga, Marc-Antoine took his first three clients. All referrals from his brother-in-law's manufacturing network. All family-business owners. All frustrated by the same disconnect: their advisor couldn't explain, line by line, what they owned or what it cost.
The name "Qtrade" reflected his belief in quantitative transparency — every investment decision grounded in measurable, auditable data that a business owner could examine as rigorously as their own company's financials. No black boxes. No faith-based investing. Just math, conviction, and full disclosure.
Act II — The Proof
For fourteen months, Marc-Antoine ran Savard Qtrade while still holding his institutional role. He built systems — portfolio reporting frameworks, risk-monitoring dashboards, client communication templates — all designed so that every client could see exactly what they owned, why they owned it, and what it cost. He refined methodology. Proved the model could deliver institutional-grade management to private clients without the institutional opacity.
In late 2010, he made the leap full-time. Assets had reached $8M. Not a fortune by Bay Street standards, but those assets belonged to families who stayed because they finally understood their own portfolios.
Every client in those early years came through word of mouth. No advertising. No cold calls. No sponsorship booths at conferences. Results that earned introductions. When a food-and-beverage distributor in Brampton saved $34,000 in hidden fees during his first year, he told three other business owners at his Rotary meeting. Two of them became clients within the month.
Nathalie Groulx joined in 2011 as the first employee, bringing a decade of back-office expertise from National Bank Financial to formalize operations, custody relationships, and compliance infrastructure. Aisha Mahmood came aboard in 2013 from Sun Life Financial's high-net-worth advisory division, becoming the primary relationship touchpoint for a rapidly growing roster of family-business clients. Priya Chandrasekaran arrived in 2014 with an MBA from Rotman and equity research experience at RBC Dominion Securities — she would go on to create the proprietary Operator Alignment Score framework that now underpins every portfolio strategy the firm builds. Daniel Fournier, a 12-year veteran of KPMG's private enterprise tax practice, joined in 2016 to architect the tax-efficient structuring capabilities that corporate clients had been requesting since the firm's earliest days.
The team grew because the work demanded it — never ahead of client need, never to pad headcount.
Act III — Now
$285M+ in client assets. 94% retention rate. A team of six specialists. Zero pooled fund products in any client account. 72% of new clients arrive through referrals from existing ones — people staking their own reputations on a recommendation.
We still operate from Mississauga. We still answer every call before 4 PM the same day. We still build every portfolio position by position, holding by holding, with every client's name on every security they own. The case studies are real. The fee savings are documented. The retention speaks for itself.
We serve owner-operators across manufacturing, healthcare, skilled trades, food and beverage, professional services, and real estate. Our six-step process begins with a discovery call and a complimentary Fee Autopsy — a forensic audit of your current portfolio's hidden costs. Most prospects are surprised by what we find. Many become clients because of it.
The foundational principle has never been compromised.
Life is short. Do exceptional work. Don't waste anyone's time.
Sixteen Years of Building Trust, One Client at a Time
Founded from a home office on Wolfedale Road, Mississauga. First 3 clients — all referrals from a family manufacturing network. Direct-hold model established from day one.
Marc-Antoine goes full-time. Assets reach $8M across 7 family-business relationships. Portfolio reporting infrastructure formalized.
Nathalie Groulx joins as first employee, bringing a decade of operations experience from National Bank Financial. Custody, compliance, and settlement processes formalized.
Aisha Mahmood joins from Sun Life Financial's high-net-worth division. Client base exceeds 20 families. Referral rate climbs above 60%.
Priya Chandrasekaran joins with Rotman MBA and RBC equity research background. Proprietary Operator Alignment Score framework developed and integrated into every client engagement.
Daniel Fournier joins from KPMG's private enterprise tax practice. Tax-efficient structuring becomes a core service offering, particularly for corporate surplus deployment.
James Whitfield joins as Quantitative Risk Analyst. Real-time portfolio stress-testing platform launches — monitoring 200+ macroeconomic variables across all client accounts.
Assets under direct management surpass $200M. Builder's Blueprint program launches for next-generation family business owners aged 30–45.
$285M+ AUM. 94% client retention. 72% referral rate. Six specialists. Zero pooled products — the same promise we made on day one.
The Principles That Shape Every Decision We Make
Every dollar invested is treated as if it came from the operator's own cash register. Because it did. We never forget that capital represents years of 5 AM starts, difficult payrolls, and personal guarantees signed in ink.
No black boxes. No layered fees. No fund-of-fund nesting. If we can't explain a holding in plain language over a 15-minute phone call, it doesn't belong in your portfolio.
We've never run a television ad. Never sponsored a golf tournament. Never bought a booth at a conference. Our growth comes from people who stake their own reputations when they refer us — and we treat that trust as sacred.
For owner-operators, personal wealth, business equity, succession planning, and family legacy are inseparable threads of a single fabric. We manage all four — not just the piece that's convenient to measure.
Life is short. Do exceptional work. Don't waste anyone's time. This is the sentence painted on our office wall, and it governs every meeting, every recommendation, and every client relationship we hold.
Six Specialists Who Chose Clients Over Careers
Every member of our team left a larger institution because they believed owner-operators deserved better. Combined, we bring 50+ years of experience across portfolio management, equity research, tax structuring, risk engineering, and client relationship management. We don't have a sales team. We have specialists who do the work.
Marc-Antoine Savard, CFA, CIM
Founder & Chief Investment OfficerEight years at Manulife Asset Management in institutional portfolio management before founding Savard Qtrade in 2009. Marc-Antoine personally oversees every client's portfolio strategy, signs off on every investment decision, and conducts the initial discovery call with every prospective client. Advisory board member, Mississauga Board of Trade Small Business Council. He believes every holding in a client's account should be explainable in a single sentence.
Off the clock: Restores vintage Citroën automobiles. Says it teaches patience and the value of understanding every component — much like portfolio construction.
Priya Chandrasekaran, CFA, MBA
Director of Portfolio StrategyMBA, Rotman School of Management. Four years at RBC Dominion Securities in equity research covering Canadian industrials and mid-cap growth companies. Creator of the proprietary Operator Alignment Score framework — a diagnostic tool that maps a client's business risk profile, liquidity cycle, and succession timeline against their personal investment portfolio to eliminate hidden correlations. Every direct equity portfolio and fixed-income ladder the firm builds begins with Priya's strategic blueprint.
Off the clock: Three-time Toronto Waterfront Marathon finisher. Currently training for her fourth.
Daniel Fournier, CPA, CA
Director of Tax-Efficient StructuringTwelve years at KPMG's private enterprise tax practice, specializing in owner-manager compensation strategies and corporate restructuring. Daniel architects tax-efficient direct holding structures for both corporate and personal portfolios — coordinating with clients' external accountants and estate lawyers to ensure every position is held in the optimal entity and account type. His work on corporate surplus deployment has saved clients between $28,000 and $94,800 annually in documented fee reductions, as detailed in our case studies.
Off the clock: Licensed private pilot. Flies out of Brampton Flight Centre on weekends and says pre-flight checklists are the closest thing to a good tax review.
Aisha Mahmood, CFP, CLU
Senior Client Relationship ManagerJoined 2013 from Sun Life Financial's high-net-worth advisory division. Aisha is the primary point of contact for 40+ family-business client relationships, managing onboarding, quarterly reviews, and the ongoing communication cadence that keeps clients informed between formal meetings. She coordinates the six-step process from discovery call through ongoing partnership, ensuring same-day callbacks for every message received before 4 PM. Clients consistently cite Aisha as the reason they stay — and the reason they refer.
Off the clock: Parents ran a textile import business in Brampton for 22 years. Aisha grew up watching family-business dynamics firsthand — the late nights, the cash-flow anxiety, the pride — which shapes every client conversation she has.
James Whitfield, FRM
Quantitative Risk AnalystM.Sc. Financial Engineering, University of Waterloo. James built the firm's real-time stress-testing platform — a proprietary system that monitors 200+ macroeconomic variables, running scenario analyses across interest rate shifts, currency fluctuations, sector dislocations, and geopolitical events against every client portfolio simultaneously. When markets move, James's dashboards tell us within minutes which clients are exposed and by how much. Clients with portal access can view simplified risk summaries anytime.
Off the clock: Co-organizes the Mississauga bouldering meetup group. Sees parallels between reading a climbing wall and reading a risk surface.
Nathalie Groulx
Operations Manager & Compliance CoordinatorLongest-tenured employee after Marc-Antoine. Joined 2011 after a decade at National Bank Financial managing back-office operations. Nathalie oversees custody relationships, trade settlement, regulatory compliance, and the operational infrastructure that ensures every client's holdings are accurately recorded, properly custodied, and fully compliant with Ontario Securities Commission and CIRO requirements. She is the reason the firm has maintained a spotless regulatory record since its founding.
Off the clock: Devoted Habitat for Humanity volunteer with the Halton-Mississauga-Dufferin chapter. Has helped build 11 homes since 2015.
Find Out What Your Current Portfolio Is Actually Costing You
Request a complimentary Fee Autopsy — a forensic audit of your existing holdings, fee structures, and hidden costs. Most owner-operators are surprised by what we uncover. There's no obligation, no sales pitch, and same-day callbacks for messages received before 4 PM.
Call us directly at (205) 866-8829 or start the conversation online.
See If We're a FitImportant Disclosures
Past performance is not indicative of future results. All investment returns cited on this website are historical and do not guarantee future performance.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. The value of your investments may fluctuate, and you may receive back less than your original investment amount.
Savard Qtrade Inc. is registered as a Portfolio Manager and Investment Fund Manager with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC Registration No. PM-2009-4471) and is a member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), Member ID: SQ-88294.
Content on this website is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute personalized investment advice. Please consult with a qualified professional regarding your specific financial situation before making investment decisions.