MATTHEW STEWART, MBA, CIM®, Senior Wealth Advisor, Portfolio Manager, Scotia Wealth Management, Toronto, Ontario
MATTHEW STEWART
“Canada is a safe, secure, trustworthy place to invest money.
Our number one export should be financial services.”
Matthew Stewart’s road to Canada’s financial sector was not a typical one. The Senior Wealth Advisor at Scotia Wealth Management couldn’t know that the year he would spend in Caracas, Venezuela, after graduating high school, would change his life and set the foundation for his career in finance.
“When the opportunity to go on exchange came up, I really wanted to go to France and learn French,” says Matthew, “but by the time I filled out my applications, Caracas was what was available. I looked it up on a map and thought ‘Why not?’”
After boarding with a family and immersed in the Spanish language for 11 months, Matthew was drawn to the idea of improving his speaking skills and went on to complete an undergraduate degree in Spanish at the University of Saskatchewan. After graduation, he began work in a small local business where his interests in its operations and accounting were the spark he needed for the next step in his career. “I grew up in more of an academic household, and money wasn’t a common topic of discussion around our dinner table,” he explains, “but working in that business, really made me want to know more.” As the self-appointed “black sheep” in his family, Matthew left the prairies, heading east to Toronto to the financial district. “That was something no one in my family had ever done before.”
While completing his International MBA at Schulich School of Business at York University, he travelled to Chile on scholarship for eight months on a professional exchange where he once again grew his Spanish speaking skills while learning about the financial sector. When he returned, he took a position with Scotiabank’s international corporate finance and banking divisions. When the opportunity to help develop RBC’s offshore advisory business presented itself, Matthew took it. Now fluent in Spanish and the language of finance, he had become indispensable in the industry.
Speaking Spanish has allowed Matthew to carve out a niche market and put a second language to use in ways that many people can only dream of. Each year, he visits countries stretching from Dominican Republic and Mexico all the way to Argentina and Chile, advising Latin American clients, helping them to build a secure financial future with conservative-leaning portfolios based in the United States.
“Being invested in the largest capital markets in the world, with the most liquid currency, is important to my clients,” he says. Matthew believes Canada’s number one export should be financial services. “Many of my clients live in countries where the rules can change at any moment; currency fluctuates, and parents are worried when their kids go out at night or even when they go to school.” Where Matthew’s Canadian clients rely on equities to grow wealth, his Latin American clients invest for different reasons—fixed income and balanced portfolio.
“In Canada, we sell safety and security. My portfolios represent safety and security, and my personality is safety and security,” says Matthew. “My Latin American clients carry risk in their companies and business operations, and their finances can be volatile. I represent the opposite of that, both personally and professionally.” My wife, Jen, and I have been married 25 + years and we have three adult children. I also have a 20+ year working relationship with my key investment associate, Sarah Lawrence. Clients like stability and familiarity.
“What has surprised me most in the last 10 years is how our approach in Latin America resonates with Canadian clients.” Canadians want experience, market knowledge and a global view, and select clients are invited to join Matthew’s practice. “They really appreciate where we come from and we share that same Canadian experience.”
When Matthew’s Canadian clients ask him mid-career, “When can I retire?” he examines every opportunity to invest and build a portfolio in the most tax-efficient way. “In Canada we have multiple avenues in which we can build wealth for retirement; my main focus for my Canadian clients is to help them recognize where cash flow can come from, and we look at how to maximize those streams of income during retirement.”
But for Latin American clients, it’s different; they are less interested in risk and more interested in securing what they already own. “We talk about family, a lot, too,” Matthew shares. “There is nothing more important than family in those communities. When we can talk about our children, trust is established quickly,” he admits. It’s not unusual for him to be invited into the homes of his clients when he visits them, or to be invited to their children’s weddings.
Many clients in his portfolio are business owners, positioning themselves to pass their businesses on to their children. The kids are involved in the business from an early age, in many cases. “We might talk about market strategy for their business,” explains Matthew, “and that trust and guidance is invaluable to them.”
There is something to be said for the unconventional route. Matthew has built a career in which he represents stability for his international clients, in their language. To know his clients, he has to see them in their countries and meet their families. While he started with an international focus – the process that has been developed is universal. “Develop trust, know the client, know the markets.
Carmen Morgan is a skilled business writer and storyteller, collaborating with business owners and executives to tell their stories and share perspectives on growth and success, as well as perseverance and adversity. Over two decades she has refined her interview, writing and editing skills to capture the nuggets and captivating details that engage readers and make a story memorable.
Matthew Stewart, MBA, CIM®
Senior Wealth Advisor, Portfolio Manager
Stewart Investment Group,
Scotia McLeod a division of Scotia Capital Inc.
40 King St W, 16th Floor
Toronto, ON, M5H 3Y2
416 - 479 - 2077