About Private Debt and Equity

PrivateDebtandEquity.ca is a website designed to introduce and educate Canadian individual investors, corporations, and family offices to many of the new concepts available in Private markets.

Private Debt and Equity are relatively new asset classes that have gained acceptance from major pension plans over the past decade or more and now have significant portions of their portfolios allocated to this asset class, but individual investors have little exposure.

Bank-owned wealth management firms and their advisors are slow to accept new investment concepts and generally focus on traditional asset classes, such as publicly traded stocks and bonds. If you're reading this, chances are you're frustrated with the traditional 60/40 portfolio (60% stocks and 40% bonds) because stocks have been too volatile for returns generated over the past 20+ years and it is psychologically challenging to look at your statement and see that you have losses of 20 or 30% over a one-year period. Not to mention that your million-dollar portfolio (you can scale it up or down) has declined by $200,000 to $300,000.

Bond yields are relatively too low for you to meet your long-term financial goals and that is not to mention that fees for bond funds can almost eat up all your returns and leave you with the risk of rising interest rates.

Many conservative investors would prefer equity returns without the volatility and with preferential tax treatment. That is, “get me a return better than GICs without the volatility where the tax man doesn’t take half and I have a chance to keep up with inflation”. Or more aggressive investors are not satisfied with the 6 – 7% compound annual returns of the S&P 500 or TSX index and feel the return is not acceptable at the level of volatility.

When a business can identify a major client frustration and find a solution, there is an opportunity and we believe, like the major pension plans, that private debt can solve the above frustration for conservative investors and private equity for more aggressive investors. From our perspective, it is an opportunity to meet you and help you see if there is a better way.

This website is built on 5 pillars: Concepts (your menu to opportunities), Education (giving you the ability to learn. An educated and confident investor is a more successful investor), Events (opportunity to hear from the people who manage the money and/or reach out and attend a seminar or webinar or touch a real estate project, for example), Updates (news and updates) and Opportunities (where you can learn about open ended or limited time opportunities to determine if they are right for you). When concepts are new, it is virtually impossible to find all the information you need but PrivateDebtandEquity.ca is a great place to start.

Bob Simpson – Co-Founder

Following careers as International Commodity Trader for an international import/export company and a sales position with a Swiss-owned manufacturer of flavours for the food industry and fragrances for the cosmetic industry, Bob joined the investment industry in 1981 as a financial advisor with Nesbitt Thomson (which was acquired by Bank of Montreal) where he built one of the most successful advisory practices in Canada.

Seeking new challenges, he moved to managing money institutionally for a publicly traded insurance company and then to a series of positions, including fixed income strategist, branch manager, head of training and development, and a member of the national sales management team for Midland Walwyn, Canada’s largest independent wealth management firm. When the firm as acquired by Merrill Lynch near the turn of the century, he moved on to pursue more entrepreneurial opportunities in the financial services industry.

In 1998, Bob founded Synchronicity Performance Consultants, which he ran for over 25 years. Synchronicity was a coaching / consulting firm that worked with financial advisors across North America to help them “strengthen their core business stabilizers” – investment management, relationship management and business development.

In 2020, he joined Wealth Stewards as Vice President, Portfolio Strategy, where he helped the firm to construct client strategies and portfolios that are utilized today. He also works with the Wealth Stewards Wealth Advisor team to better communicate the investment management strategies and performance and is the host of our Quarterly Updates, Outlook, specialty webinars like the Real Estate Summit and the quarterly Due Diligence Interviews.

In May 2023, Bob co-founded www.privatedebtandequity.ca, “Canada’s source for all things private investment” with Wealth Stewards’ Managing Director Paul Tyers. Private Debt and Equity is a website designed to educate investors about private investing concepts through information and a series of master classes and provide details and updates about upcoming investment opportunities.

Bob is a Registered Dealing Representative with Portfolio Stewards Inc.

About Paul Tyers - Co-Founder

Paul Tyers is the Managing Director of Wealth Stewards Inc., registered with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and President of Portfolio Stewards Inc., a registered portfolio manager in Ontario, Alberta, BC and Quebec.

He and his team provide financial planning and wealth management services to affluent Canadians, typically in conjunction with their other “trusted advisors.”

A Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA), Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA), Certified Financial Planner® (CFP) and Chartered Investment Manager (CIM), Paul has both the education and experience to provide comprehensive wealth advisory services.

Upon the completion of a business degree at Wilfred Laurier University, Paul began working at Thorne Riddell (now KPMG), gaining experience in a wide variety of business sectors. After obtaining his CA designation, he moved into corporate finance with the Bank of Montreal and subsequently with Corpfinance International, a boutique M&A firm specializing in mid-market debt financing. In 1987, Paul partnered with a venture capital firm to acquire Retirement Counsel of Canada (RCOC) and directed it through substantial growth prior to selling it in 2002. In 2003, Paul returned to his passion of building, managing, and preserving the wealth of private clients.

His success is attributed to ensuring clients’ interests always come first.  This was borne out when he was nominated as an ELITE Advisor™ for his service to clients and he and his team were Canadian winners of the 2017 & 2018 Global Financial Planning Awards and runners-up for The Americas.

Paul co-authored the Canadian best-seller “Fiscal Fitness, Financial Planning for all Stages of Life” as well as a recent E-book “A Roadmap for Canadian CPAs to Develop & Manage a Wealth Advisory Practice”.

About Wealth Stewards

Wealth Stewards Inc. is a boutique wealth management firm with strong, diverse technical and relationship management expertise. Our primary aim is to help our affluent clients understand and successfully use their financial resources to accomplish their family, career, business, and personal goals.

Traditionally families have various professionals which are not coordinating.  Our team of experts work in tandem to provide comprehensive planning - as one team of experts.

About Portfolio Stewards

Portfolio Stewards Inc (PSI) is a portfolio manager registered in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec and is held to the highest fiduciary standard. All client investments are managed on a fully discretionary basis. All clients will receive quarterly statements prepared on a household basis, as well as a year-end tax package.