This 'conductor' whose done 62 marathons is 'making sure all the pieces fit together'
Allison Taylor is the first to admit that she’s driven about what she’s passionate about. It shows in the phenomenal growth of her company’s alternative investment team in the last year, but also her mentoring to address the gender imbalance in the financial industry and her marathon goals.
“We expanded our team substantially in 2022 alone. We added 27 people. So, that’s huge. That’s basically doubling our employee base in 12 months,” Taylor, who is the chief executive officer of the Calgary-based Invico Capital Corporation, told Wealth Professional.
Taylor recently won The Care Lending Group Award for CEO of the Year for leading the 50 staff in her 18-year-old company. Last fall, she was also awarded the University of Calgary’s Management Alumni Excellence Award, which she shared with Invico’s president and co-founder, Jason Brooks.
Invico began in 2005, when alternatives were not on most people’s radar. She and Brooks were working at Ernst & Young when they realized that private companies did not have a lot of options to access capital, particularly if the banks wouldn’t lend to them. Given that 80% of companies with $100 million revenue are private, the market for private investment was huge, so they decided to expand into alternatives to support the companies while providing a broader option for retail investors. During the past decade, she said it was primarily the endowment and pension plans and larger family offices that diversified their portfolios with Invico’s private alternatives.
“It’s an opportunity for these private companies to grow. That, in turn, generates opportunities for growth, and employment, in the industry,” said Taylor, noting that companies that need funding to build, or buy, equipment often approach.
Invico now manages $2.5 billion in assets, about $475 million of which is in its Invico Diversified Income Fund. It’s planning to expand its product shelf by continuing to expand this fund as well as partner with some large international players to bring more alternative solutions to the average Canadian retail investor. Right now, it’s focused on governance and transparency to investors.
“If you look globally and, in particular, in the U.S. right now, there’s a big shift in what they call the democratization of alternatives, which is bringing alternative investments to the retail investor,” she said. “We feel we’re the leading edge on that. We want to keep providing alternative solutions to investors as they continue to expand their exposure to them.”
Taylor is keen on educating the market – both advisors and investors – about why it’s important to have alternatives in their investment portfolios: the benefits as well as how to access them and the types of alternatives available to them. But, initiating more products and providing that education has necessitated the increased staff and one of her staff as described her as the conductor.
“It’s true. I’m really there making sure all the pieces fit together,” she said. “So, as a leader, having the vision to undertake this, but also continuing to solidify and lead that team. I think it’s important, especially if you’re in a big growth mode, to make sure you delegate to the team and motivate it, and make sure the team is working together cohesively.”
She’s also passionate about expanding her team’s diversity – particularly in this Caucasian male-dominated industry. So, 25% of her staff was born outside of Canada and more than 50% are female.
Taylor said she never had a female mentor, but is also passionate about attracting more women to the industry and helping them succeed.
While she’s still trying to discern why more women don’t enter this field, she’s started talking to younger women about the possibility of having a financial career. She’s working with the University of Calgary’s business school to launch a breakfast series for young women in finance. She’s working with her staff to launch a speaker series as part of Invico’s community outreach. She’s also coming up with ideas about how to reach younger women in high school and junior high, and dialled her 13-year-old daughter’s class into a panel of professional women describing their jobs on International Women’s Day this year.
“I want to make people aware that there’s a whole other world out there in alternatives,” she said. “There are lots of opportunities for women to be successful in their careers, and I want to serve as a female mentor to them to show them, I did it, so they can, too.”
All of this has required her tenacity, especially since she felt the odds were stacked against Invico with her as a female CEO when it began. But, she’s very goal-oriented, even in her personal life. In fact, several years ago, she set a goal to run 50 marathons before she was 50.
“I crushed it. So, I’m now trying to do a marathon in every state,” she said. “That was challenging in the pandemic because the border was closed for a long time. But, I’ve got 62 marathons under my belt.”
While she said it’s important to set goals with her team and celebrate their successes, she also noted that it’s important to treat everyone, especially staff, with respect. That breeds loyalty and she said, “loyalty will result in overall success for everyone at the firm.
“That’s one of our founding principles: to treat everybody with respect, celebrate our success, and stay focused on the direction that we’re moving.,” said Taylor. “It’s about making sure everyone feels that they’re a member of the team and we’re all moving together in the right direction.”
