Doug Macdonald of Macdonald Shymko & Company is part of this year's Wealth Professional Canada's Hall of Fame
Founder
Macdonald Shymko & Company
Years as an advisor: 45
Another Wealth Professional Awards Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Doug Macdonald was recognized in 2016 for a career spanning more than four decades. One of the founders of Macdonald Shymko & Company, he explains how the firm came into being.
“In 1972, having identified the need for independent, objective, comprehensive advice, I, along with two other individuals, created a firm to provide professional advice on a fee-for-service basis,” he says. “This was motivation enough, particularly as most people we sought advice from claimed it would not work.”
The naysayers clearly were mistaken – this year, Macdonald Shymko & Company marks its 36th year in business. The industry has changed massively during that period, but Macdonald and his team have been able to move with the times in every respect – particularly in regard to technology.
“The computer, and its evolution as a significant analytical and planning tool, has been a major change,” he says. “It provides improved access to information to efficiently work with clients to make more informed decisions.”
While technology has changed the game, Macdonald is frustrated by other parts of the business that have proven resistant to progress. “I would advocate for the regulators to establish the legal framework that mandates that all individuals using the term advisor to be legally held to broadreaching fiduciary standards,” he says. “A clear understanding of these fiduciary obligations would allow all advisors to do their job more effectively, garnering greater client trust.”
Macdonald Shymko & Company
Years as an advisor: 45
Another Wealth Professional Awards Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Doug Macdonald was recognized in 2016 for a career spanning more than four decades. One of the founders of Macdonald Shymko & Company, he explains how the firm came into being.
“In 1972, having identified the need for independent, objective, comprehensive advice, I, along with two other individuals, created a firm to provide professional advice on a fee-for-service basis,” he says. “This was motivation enough, particularly as most people we sought advice from claimed it would not work.”
The naysayers clearly were mistaken – this year, Macdonald Shymko & Company marks its 36th year in business. The industry has changed massively during that period, but Macdonald and his team have been able to move with the times in every respect – particularly in regard to technology.
“The computer, and its evolution as a significant analytical and planning tool, has been a major change,” he says. “It provides improved access to information to efficiently work with clients to make more informed decisions.”
While technology has changed the game, Macdonald is frustrated by other parts of the business that have proven resistant to progress. “I would advocate for the regulators to establish the legal framework that mandates that all individuals using the term advisor to be legally held to broadreaching fiduciary standards,” he says. “A clear understanding of these fiduciary obligations would allow all advisors to do their job more effectively, garnering greater client trust.”
