Pembroke Management celebrates its 50th Anniversary

Innovation, Insight and Growth since 1968

In 1968, a group of four Montrealers with expertise in the financial services sector established a company to manage the assets of several U.K. based institutional investors. Founders Ian Soutar, Scott Taylor, Neil Ivory and Clifford Larock shared a passion for investing in growth stocks and wanted to create a firm that would stand the test of time. This could only be accomplished if the partners were able to provide outstanding results for their clients, along with a strong and supportive culture for their employees. Fifty years later, that original client remains with Pembroke Management and one of the founders still reports to work every morning.

Ian Aitken, M.S.C., CFA joined Pembroke in 1987 and serves as Managing Partner.

During a recent conversation, Managing Partner Ian Aitken explained that the firm has always been dedicated to growth stock investing and committed to the investment needs of its clients. “We believe in the importance of focus and the power of ownership and aligned interest. Unlike most investment firms that have diversified as they have grown, Pembroke remains an investment driven organization that has maintained its focus on investing in growth stocks. And unlike many other firms, we have also chosen to remain independent as we believe that is in the best interests of our clients and our employees in the long run.”

“We work as a team, and having colleagues that appreciate our focus on growth stocks and our culture is critical. We tend to hire young people with great potential, whom we mentor over the years. That approach has resulted in low employee turnover and we now have three generations of Partners actively involved in the business. I have had the pleasure of working with Jeff Tory since 1987, and we are part of the second generation of Partners. The third generation of Partners have all been with Pembroke for more than 12 years, and so we have a great combination of industry experience and experience working together as a team.”

Jeffrey Tory, CFA joined Pembroke in 1987 and serves as Chairman.

Pembroke Management and its subsidiary Pembroke Private Wealth Management (formed in 1988 to serve the investment needs of individuals, family offices and foundations) are respected for their focus and for their culture. To illustrate, Ian cites the recent addition of two talented investment executives. “Portfolio Manager Andrew Garschagen came to us from New York, and Chief Risk Officer David Whittall left San Francisco to come to Pembroke. Our firm’s approach to investing in growth stocks, our supportive culture, and our long term-focus on serving the investment needs of our clients is what attracted them. They moved to Montreal with their families, leaving major financial centres to come to Pembroke and we are certainly glad that they did.”

Continuing, Ian recounts how a Northern European institutional investor found Pembroke. “They were looking for a firm with whom they could have a very long and mutually beneficial relationship. In fact – they said that their goal was to have a relationship that would extend beyond the lifetime of the person who hired us. Our track record was the initial attraction, but it was our multi-generational team, our focus and our culture that won their confidence.”

Ian Aitken and his associates believe in giving back to their community, both as individuals and as a company. They have been actively involved with the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation, the St. Andrew’s Society and many other Montreal based groups. Pembroke tends to keep a low profile, but is publicly identified as the presenting sponsor of the Montreal Highland Games and the Canadian Ski Marathon and this year will be supporting the “Alexander Calder – Radical Inventor” exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts as part of the firm’s 50^th anniversary celebration. Pembroke is also a supporter of Enactus Canada, a national charitable organization that works with students and business leaders from coast to coast to coast to build a more entrepreneurial Canada. Ian Aitken founded this organization while at Western, and continues to serve as Chairman of the Board.

Fifty years is an important milestone in the life of any company – perhaps even more so in the sometimes turbulent world of investment and financial services. As Ian stated; “To remain standing as an independent firm for fifty years, you have to be doing something right!” In the case of Pembroke, they are doing a lot of things right.

Pembroke has branch offices in Toronto and Vancouver, but the Head Office is firmly set in Montreal and as Ian said, “we are fortunate to live in such a wonderful city”. For more information about the firm, please visit: www.pml.ca