When David Toyne and I have breakfast in the fall of 2009, it was an important moment for me. At the time, Steadyhand was barely 2 years old and struggled to get to the radar of investors. Here I was opposite a senior Bay Street director who wanted to become a member of our small team. His desire, or should I say, insist, confirmed again.
This month David closes his daily job in Steadyhand. As he said in his note to customers and friends, “It was a pleasure to build the presence of Steadyhand in Canada, make contact with customers throughout the country and to help determine how we are talking about planning, investing and pension – not only in portfolios, but in real life, with real Canadians!”
I met David for the first time when he was at State Street Trust Company Canada. I saw him in action while he was driving the company for an amazing period of growth. We became friends while he was president of Thomson Financial Canada.
In 2012, David wanted to do something meaningful and did not have to report a boss in the US, his pitch was simple. He would immediately be present in Toronto, the largest market in Canada, and offer the much needed Sales DNA.
And what a presence it was. David has countless people and is a natural connector. Both attributes have contributed powerfully to why a company established in Vancouver has almost half of its customers in Ontario.
It was also clear that David would bring the company energy. It all went from a shared office in Toronto to the head office in Vancouver. We all fed his drive and positivity, and unnecessary to say that Christmas parties were much more fun.
Davids claims on stable fame were numerous.
His interview with Neil and I was done with us all with ‘Duck Bill’ N95 masks. No, it wasn’t Covid. One of the children of Neil was exposed to Sars and we were careful. It looked and felt ridiculous.
David pushed us on his own in 2012 to start the Founders Fund, which turned out to be an important part of our success.
He became a champion of the AOP community for Advisory Planning (AOP). He searched for AOPs who could help our customers, organized half-yearly Round tables where planners could share with and from learning from each other, and he encouraged us to set up an AOP directory.
David also defended our YouTube channel (together with Lisa and Salman) and has been its face from the start.
And of course he was always personally present at customers and on the phones, and on our ‘Where’ here ‘and’ Steadyhand intro ‘presentations.
David’s print on Steadyhand will contain a long list of ‘Davidisms’. For example:
- “Our goal is to serve millions of Canadians, not only Canadians with millions.”
- “I’d rather have a thousand experiences than one experience a thousand times.”
- “We must be ruthlessly curious”
David and I had a lot of fun doing things together, although we sometimes bickled like an old couple. We pushed each other to be better, which meant that I would always hear when I ruined it or picked up my game.
As a target shareholder and a stable customer, David continues to pursue his other passions, knowing that the leadership and customer service teams he has helped are progressing to improve the customer experience. And we know that he will continue to bring his usual energy and passion for whatever he does, including a few Christmas parties, I hope.
#farewell #David #Toyne