Geoff MacDonald is calm about cash.
That’s a good thing because his Toronto-based investment company, EdgePoint, manages a great deal of money.
The business is currently nurturing $70 million in wealth and that’s just for Islanders.
In the eight years since MacDonald has made the dramatic – and successful – leap from employee to entrepreneur, the company he co-owns with two business partners has, through sound investment, generated an attention grabbing $4.5 billion for its clients.
Growing up in Charlottetown, MacDonald never envisioned being an entrepreneur.
Sure, he thought about becoming rich one day, but he is quick to note that didn’t make him unique.
To that end, though, he went on to take science courses at university with the goal of becoming a doctor.
The reasoning, he quipped during a recent speech to the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce president’s annual luncheon, was “because I never met a poor doctor.’’
As it turned out he hated science, so he shifted to business studies.
He quickly embraced the idea of a job that is all about making money grow for other people. He believed this was the career for him.
“The whole thing captivated me,’’ he told The Guardian.
MacDonald went on to do well working for others in the money making game, first gaining experience managing money for the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, than joining Invesco Ltd. in 1998 when it was still called Trimark.
There, he successfully managed a broad range of mandates during his 10-year tenure.
Despite describing himself as “risk adverse,’’ he took the calculated plunge of starting his own investment company.
Now, the 45-year-old entrepreneur who sports a bushy beard, seems to have more titles than can be found in a small library.
He is CIO and co-CEO of EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. He is CIO of EdgePoint Investment Management Inc. He is portfolio manager of EdgePoint Global Portfolio. And he is director of EdgePoint Wealth Management, to name just a few of his money managing monikers.
If it sounds like a good deal of work, it is.
MacDonald is often on the job by 6 a.m. and seldom later than 6:30 in the morning.
Yet, he describes the business more as fun, than work. It is a passion.
“The most tangible value of owning a business…is being able to surround myself with people I want to work with,’’ he says.
“Your days are more content because you are with people you enjoy being with.’’
The father of three children ages 17, 15 and 12, describes his business as being like a fourth child.
He makes a point most days of leaving that ‘fourth child’ behind in time to be home with family by five o’clock or just a little later.
Former Charlottetown mayor George MacDonald, says his son Geoff balances his time well between business and family.
“He’s not involved in a whole lot of activities in Toronto other than his work and his family and I think in terms of priorities that’s pretty important,’’ says George.
“He’s honest. He’s a hard worker. He approaches his work with commitment. He approaches his role as a father with commitment.’’
As for leisure, Geoff, who also owns a blueberry farm on P.E.I., likes to listen to indie music and tries to take in a performance every couple of months.
For now, he is more than pleased to put almost all of his energy and passion into family and business.
“I think the time to go golfing for six hours (a day), I think, is later in my life,’’ he says.
FACT BOX
A small snapshot to of Geoff MacDonald’s list of recognitions:
-- Honoured by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2009.
-- Recognized by his alma mater in its Top 10 after 10 program.
-- Named by Barron’s (a highly-regarded American financial magazine) as one of the top 50 portfolio managers of 2007.
-- Numerous awards have been received by funds MacDonald either led or co-managed.
Geoff MacDonald is calm about cash.
That’s a good thing because his Toronto-based investment company, EdgePoint, manages a great deal of money.
The business is currently nurturing $70 million in wealth and that’s just for Islanders.
In the eight years since MacDonald has made the dramatic – and successful – leap from employee to entrepreneur, the company he co-owns with two business partners has, through sound investment, generated an attention grabbing $4.5 billion for its clients.
Growing up in Charlottetown, MacDonald never envisioned being an entrepreneur.
Sure, he thought about becoming rich one day, but he is quick to note that didn’t make him unique.
To that end, though, he went on to take science courses at university with the goal of becoming a doctor.
The reasoning, he quipped during a recent speech to the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce president’s annual luncheon, was “because I never met a poor doctor.’’
As it turned out he hated science, so he shifted to business studies.
He quickly embraced the idea of a job that is all about making money grow for other people. He believed this was the career for him.
“The whole thing captivated me,’’ he told The Guardian.
MacDonald went on to do well working for others in the money making game, first gaining experience managing money for the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, than joining Invesco Ltd. in 1998 when it was still called Trimark.
There, he successfully managed a broad range of mandates during his 10-year tenure.
Despite describing himself as “risk adverse,’’ he took the calculated plunge of starting his own investment company.
Now, the 45-year-old entrepreneur who sports a bushy beard, seems to have more titles than can be found in a small library.
He is CIO and co-CEO of EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. He is CIO of EdgePoint Investment Management Inc. He is portfolio manager of EdgePoint Global Portfolio. And he is director of EdgePoint Wealth Management, to name just a few of his money managing monikers.
If it sounds like a good deal of work, it is.
MacDonald is often on the job by 6 a.m. and seldom later than 6:30 in the morning.
Yet, he describes the business more as fun, than work. It is a passion.
“The most tangible value of owning a business…is being able to surround myself with people I want to work with,’’ he says.
“Your days are more content because you are with people you enjoy being with.’’
The father of three children ages 17, 15 and 12, describes his business as being like a fourth child.
He makes a point most days of leaving that ‘fourth child’ behind in time to be home with family by five o’clock or just a little later.
Former Charlottetown mayor George MacDonald, says his son Geoff balances his time well between business and family.
“He’s not involved in a whole lot of activities in Toronto other than his work and his family and I think in terms of priorities that’s pretty important,’’ says George.
“He’s honest. He’s a hard worker. He approaches his work with commitment. He approaches his role as a father with commitment.’’
As for leisure, Geoff, who also owns a blueberry farm on P.E.I., likes to listen to indie music and tries to take in a performance every couple of months.
For now, he is more than pleased to put almost all of his energy and passion into family and business.
“I think the time to go golfing for six hours (a day), I think, is later in my life,’’ he says.
FACT BOX
A small snapshot to of Geoff MacDonald’s list of recognitions:
-- Honoured by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2009.
-- Recognized by his alma mater in its Top 10 after 10 program.
-- Named by Barron’s (a highly-regarded American financial magazine) as one of the top 50 portfolio managers of 2007.
-- Numerous awards have been received by funds MacDonald either led or co-managed.
