by Neil Jensen

As you may have heard, Tom is being inducted into the Investment Industry Hall of Fame this year. Founded in 2013, the Hall honours “excellence, integrity and leadership in Canada’s investment industry”, and includes 58 members (including this year’s three inductees).

Back in the spring, Steadyhand celebrated its 15-year anniversary, and I had some time to reflect on our journey. You wouldn’t know it from his youthful good looks, but Tom is 13 years older than me, and co-founded Steadyhand at about the same stage in life that I’m at now (mid-50’s).

At a time in their lives when many are considering retirement or at least thinking about winding down their careers, Tom took the personal, professional, and financial risk of starting a new firm. And he did it with all the passion and investor-first mentality that’s defined his career.

Tom has a storied resume with close to 40 years of experience in the business, and stops at such venerable firms as Richardson Greenshields and Phillips, Hager & North. He’s always been a gifted speaker and writer, and has used these skills over the past four decades to help make Canadians better investors.

Tom’s induction into the Hall is a great recognition of his accomplishments as an investor and firm-builder, but equally impressive, in my view, are his achievements as a person. From his philanthropic contributions to serving on several boards (including the Vancouver Foundation and UBC Investment Management Trust), Tom has always been generous with his time and resources.

What makes the induction even more special to Tom is that many of his mentors are also members. Among them are Bob Hager (PH&N), Chuck Winograd (Richardson Greenshields) and Bob Krembil (Trimark), three people who played an important role in shaping his career and values.

Tom has also been a mentor to me over these past 15 years. He’s been that proverbial steady hand for our business and clients, and has taught me a lot. I could go on, but I’ll draw on one of the many lessons I’ve learned from him here — don’t lose your audience by rambling.

Congratulations my friend, this is well deserved.