Fiera Capital takes a global approach

Montreal-based asset manager, Fiera Capital Corp., is shifting its management structure from a geographic approach to a global model.

Effective July 1, the firm will reorganize its business lines into three operating groups: public markets, private markets, and private wealth.

Under the new structure, the firm’s president and chief operating officer, Jean-Philippe Lemay, will head up the new public markets division.

The president and CEO of Fiera Private Alternative Investments, John Valentini, will lead the new private markets group.

Meanwhile, New York-based Peter Stock, Fiera’s executive vice president, strategic development, will be in charge of the private wealth group.

Fiera said that it’s also investing in the development of an integrated global distribution function across both public and private markets.

In a statement, Lemay noted that the restructuring is the result of a strategic review, and wasn’t prompted by Covid-19.

“The new structure announced today will allow us to leverage the at-scale operating model of our successful Canadian business more broadly and remove operational duplication to create a stronger, more synergistic and more unified Fiera Capital,” Lemay said.

As a result, Fiera expects to record severance and restructuring related charges of between $19 million and $21 million before taxes for the second quarter of 2020.

The firm also said that the realigned management structure is expected to generate cost synergies, which will be realized in 2021 and beyond, primarily in the public markets group.

Overall, the company said that the restructuring is expected to add between $5 million and $10 million to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), starting in fiscal 2021.

“Our new structure will better equip our global leadership team to have better line of sight on key business challenges and opportunities, thereby allowing them to scale solutions on a global basis and accelerate the execution of our 2022 strategic plan,” said Jean-Guy Desjardins, chairman and CEO.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.