Joanne Goodrich, an advisor with RBC Dominion Securities Inc. in Burlington, Ont., and her business partner, Rick Livingstone, say their 50/50 sharing model sets their business up perfectly for growth.

“The perception of equity has to be there — and that we are working together,” says Goodrich. “We believe we can create more value together than we can on our own.”

Although they divvy up certain roles — generally, he’s the number cruncher and she’s the communicator — they share portfolio-building strategies. It’s important that their approach in that respect is the same.

“I’ve found it helpful that we have the same investment philosophy,“ says Livingstone. “We didn’t partner up because one is more conservative and the other is going to jump into more options and derivatives strategies.

“We never have an argument on the investment side,” he adds, “[such as] about where the clients’ money should go.”

— GAVIN ADAMSON