Fintech Revolution: Reshaping Canadian Finances with Joe Canavan

Strictly Money with Saijal Patel

Today we sit down with the illustrious Joe Canavan, a name synonymous with innovation in the fintech space.

With a career that spans several successful startups, Joe shares his unique perspective on the seismic shifts occurring in financial services, banking, and insurance. His insights into the disruption of traditional asset management and how technology is paving the way for a new era in finance are not to be missed.

Joe is not just any industry expert; he's a visionary who has guided numerous fintech CEOs and startups towards monumental success. Having served on nine different boards and advised companies like Wealthsimple and Koho, Joe's expertise is unparalleled.

His ability to understand and leverage technology to transform the consumer landscape in Canada makes this episode a treasure trove of knowledge for anyone looking to stay ahead in the finance sector.

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Saijal Patel, CFA, is a former CNBC and BNN journalist and passionate financial wellness advocate. She's bringing Strictly Money directly to you via YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and where ever you get your podcasts.

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https://www.nextcanada.com/joe-canavan/

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Incubators and accelerators like Next Canada, CDL and others play a crucial role but so do those talented founders who have built successful companies, had an exit, take that accumulated wisdom and capital and reinvest in the next round of incredible startups creating a virtuous cycle of innovation, disruption, employment and wealth creation. For our country to truly thrive and prosper we need to support this ecosystem, incent risk, retain the incredible talent graduating out of our best universities and attract global talent here. We must support our visionaries and our country’s fastest growing businesses. We need our founders/angel investors and vc’s to reinvest in our entrepreneurs.

Joe Canavan:

- Mr. Joseph Canavan serves as Board Member & Chief Executive Officer at The Next Canada.

- Also an Advisor at Koho.

- Was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Assante Wealth Management and United Financial Corporation, an affiliated asset management firm until November 2009.

- Prior to joining Assante, Mr. Canavan was the President and CEO of Synergy Asset Management, a wealth management company he founded in December 1997 an organization that quickly became known as one of Canada's most innovative mutual fund companies.

- Synergy was acquired by CI Financial in October 2003.

- He began his career as a financial advisor with Burns Fry Ltd.

- In 1994, he launched GT Global (Canada), which became the fastest-growing mutual fund company in Canadian history. Under Mr. Canavan's leadership, the company gained $2.4 billion in assets in less than 30 months. GT Global is now part of AIM Trimark.

For decades, Joe Canavan had a reputation on Bay Street for turning around languishing asset managers.

But over the last 10 years, he has pivoted from managing to investing, piling millions of dollars of his own money into early-stage technology companies. This has quietly helped launch a slew of startups, even as the tech sector faced a steep downturn.

Mr. Canavan’s portfolio consists of more than two dozen startups - about 80 per cent of them are so-called fintechs.

“many companies out there that are going to be game changers, companies that are going to disrupt”

Michael Katchen – the CEO Wealthsimple.

he spends most of his time advising the chief executives of five new startup companies.

CEO is James Rockwood, the founder of CapIntel, a digital software company that helps investment advisers create financial plans

Mr. Canavan believes the insurance industry will be next to see major disruption from fintech competitors known as “insurtech” companies.