Hemisphere Capital Management - Celebrating Business Excellence

HEMISPHERE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Above: Stephan Aronitz, Jim Aronitz, Skyelar Siwak, Dylan Assen, Lauren Normandeau and Joanne Kotulski.

Shows the Benefits of Boutique Written by Rennay Craats Published by Melissa Mitchell | Photos by Rebecca Hardcastle

C

hoosing a team to manage your money comes down to trust and experience, and Hemisphere Capital Management offers clients both in spades. Jim Aronitz started Hemisphere in Saskatchewan in 1993, offering investment management to a growing client base. After moving the business to Calgary in 1998, he took the opportunity to join forces with a respected colleague, Tom Loucks of Loucks, Lee & Associates, in 2002.

At this time, he welcomed another partner, Rick Riffel to the firm. The two partners continued to work together until 2020, when Rick retired from the investment management business. This presented a great opportunity to plan for the future of Hemisphere.

109

Above: Stephan Aronitz, Dylan Assen, Skyelar Siwak and Jim Aronitz.

“We have a young team which is extremely unique.

For their age, their experience far exceeds what you would find at our competition,” says Aronitz.

“We knew the importance of having a succession plan and initially structured one where Skyelar became a partner. We have since brought Stephan and Dylan into the firm’s partnership,” says Jim Aronitz, founder and chief investment officer for Hemisphere Capital Management.

“We have a young team which is extremely unique. For their age, their experience far exceeds what you would find at our competition.”

This team of seven passionate, talented individuals at Hemisphere are dedicated to helping clients manage their wealth. The firm offers both select managed portfolios for clients with between $250,000 and $750,000 of investable assets as well as private portfolio management geared toward clients with $750,000 or more. Unlike larger competitors that require their clients have $1 million or more to invest, Hemisphere appreciates that this starting point is not attainable for everyone. They proudly make discretionary portfolio management accessible to clients in the wealth accumulation phase of their lives.

The company also facilitates philanthropy with the Hemisphere Foundation. They help clients set up their own tax-preferred charitable investing accounts through a donor-advised fund. This allows clients to essentially create their own private foundation without the set up and administration costs and responsibilities.

Below: Lauren Normandeau and Joanne Kotulski.

It may be boutique but Hemisphere makes a big impact. The firm is consistently named one of Calgary’s top eight wealth advisors by Advisory HQ, and partner, portfolio manager and chief compliance officer Skyelar Siwak was recognized as one of Wealth Professional magazine’s 2021 Rising Stars in Canada’s wealth management industry. In this maledominated field where only about 10 per cent of portfolio managers are female, Skyelar brings something unique to Hemisphere’s lineup that appeals to existing and potential clients alike.

“With the wealth transfer and with women making their own money and financial decisions, it’s definitely something we’re thinking about and can tailor our client experience to,” she says.

She and Hemisphere’s team of young professionals represent the next generation of the company and are committed to being around for the long haul to grow clients’ investments. In fact, the portfolio managers apply the same strategies for their personal money as they do for clients, so clients can be confident that the most prudent investment decisions are being made on their behalf.

“We’re investing in the same things as our clients so there is a mutual interest. We say ‘we eat home cooking’ which is really rare nowadays,” says Stephan Aronitz, partner and portfolio manager at Hemisphere.

That home cooking comes with a heaping side of customer service, and the personalized attention that clients receive not only attracts new clients but retains existing ones. It’s common to have long-time clients refer their children and grandchildren to Hemisphere to start their own wealth management journeys. The team knows that the journey is a marathon not a sprint, and clients are urged to focus on the long-term returns of investing. The tendency toward turnover at large firms can make it difficult to build trust or confidence with clients. Hemisphere’s succession plan ensures that there will continue to be consistent relationships with portfolio managers throughout a client’s investment journey.

“The industry stresses this long-term view for investing through retirement.

But when you have many financial advisors that are approaching retirement, it’s a lot harder to have that viewpoint. We have the next 30 years laid out for our clients, and they know that these relationships are going to exist over that time frame,” Stephan says.

“With the wealth transfer and with women making their own money and financial decisions, it’s definitely something we’re thinking about and can tailor our client experience to,” says Siwak.

Strong relationships are critical, and Hemisphere nurtures them through accountability, integrity and quality communication. If clients have questions they can always reach and meet with their portfolio manager directly whether that is by phone, in person or virtually. As Hemisphere grows, it is implementing ways to streamline and improve its processes to better serve clients, and the team is integrating new technologies to stay current. The key is to balance growth and innovation with preserving the individualized service that clients have come to expect from the firm.

From the beginning, Hemisphere Capital Management has worked hard to deliver the best possible combination of stocks, bonds and other securities for a client’s portfolio. Each client is different so there are no cookiecutter plans and Hemisphere tailors the portfolio to suit a client’s unique financial situation. As an independent firm unbeholden to a specific bank, investment dealer or insurance company, Hemisphere is free to find the absolute best investment for clients.

“Financial institutions tend to emphasize their own products. We don’t sell specific products. For us, the client comes first,” says Dylan Assen, partner and portfolio manager at Hemisphere.

Today, independent employee-owned investment firms like Hemisphere are the exception, dwarfed by large financial institutions and insurance companies who continue to consolidate the industry. Hemisphere’s independence is what allows the firm to serve their clients’ individual needs without being incentivized to push certain investment products. The team’s disciplined investing protects the downside risks while generating positive returns, and these returns are all verified to show clients they are legitimate.

“Banks tend to emphasize their own products.

We don’t sell specific products. For us, the client comes first,” says Assen.

“Hemisphere follows the CFA Institute code of conduct and its best practices. Within the CFA Institute they have the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®). Hemisphere is one of only a few firms based in Calgary that claims compliance with GIPS®. It takes a lot of work but our process for calculating clients’ investment performance is independently verified back to the inception of the firm,” says Jim. For 30 years, the team has gone above and beyond to take care of clients and their nest eggs. With decades of experience behind it and a young, driven team propelling it forward, Hemisphere Capital Management will continue to be one of Calgary’s top choices for investment management.

Suite 603, 734 7th Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2P 3P8 Phone: 403-205-3533 Toll free: 800-471-7853 Email: info@hemisphere.ca Web: www.hemisphere.ca