Newsmaker: Marc Doré reaching for the Peak as COO

The role was created so that Robert Frances, Peak’s founder, can step back from daily operations and focus on the strategic growth of the company, which will celebrate a quarter-century in the industry in 2017.

“I’ve been with the business 25 years and this is the first promotion I’ve ever had,” jokes Frances, whose official title now is CEO and chairman.

More specifically, Frances hopes to increase the company’s presence across the country, both from an organic standpoint and through mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Currently, Peak has 1,500 employees, $7.5 billion in assets under administration and offices in Vancouver; Weyburn, Sask.; Montreal; and Quebec City.

Doré knows that he has his work cut out for him in learning the ins and outs of the retail investment market, but he also sees his new role as an opportunity.

“I wanted to have another challenge and to manage a business,” he says. As well, Doré, who is a chartered professional accountant, says he was drawn to the independent dealer’s entrepreneurial culture and ability to adapt quickly to change, whether that’s in regard to products or to the industry as a whole.

Furthermore, and perhaps most important, Doré knows that his first priority will be to earn Frances’ trust to run the company the latter founded.

“[Peak is] a private company,” says Doré, age 50, “so it’s a very bold move for [Frances] to decide to let somebody else manage [it].”

Yet, the new COO also believes he is well prepared to meet that challenge because of his extensive management experience. For the most part, Doré has worked outside of the investment industry, but he believes this fact will be a point of strength for him in his new role rather than a detriment.

“I have a very diversified experience [and I have] no preconceptions regarding the industry,” Doré says. “I think I’m coming in with new eyes that could help bring new ways to work.”

That different point of view is exactly what Frances and the rest of Peak’s management team were interested in when they decided to hire a COO.

“We wanted someone to come in and tell us what to do differently in the industry,” says Frances. “We needed someone to co-ordinate and bring the best out of people that are there.”

Much of the experience that Frances praises comes from Doré’s 10-year tenure with Montreal-based Quebecor Inc. During Doré’s time with the media company, he held several executive roles, ranging through tax to information technology to real estate to M&A and administration. Doré also worked for smaller companies in Quebec, including Sette Inc., a video post-production business.

Doré’s first foray into the investment industry came when he joined the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec in 2006. Starting out as a global asset manager for the caisse, a large pension fund manager, Doré eventually became global managing director for all of the caisse’s institutional accounts.

In 2012, Doré continued his work in the pension space as managing director of a real estate fund with Fengate Capital Management Ltd. in Toronto. At the same time, Doré was also CEO of Oakville, Ont.-based Seasons Retirement Communities.

Doré’s varied management experience will not only help Peak maintain its current level of operations, but also will prepare the firm to bring new financial advisors into the fold, according to Frances.

“[Doré] knows how to handle fast growth; he knows how to deal with a merger or an acquisition,” Frances says. “Every time we bring in new advisors, new branches, you have to handle the ‘onboarding’; you have to handle the cultural transition.”

Another transition Doré plans to focus on as COO is a move toward a more technology-focused business. Indeed, Doré says, he intends to make technology development a priority in order to improve Peak’s client experience and ensure that advisors have the right tools for their jobs.

“Some people see technology as being disruptive,” says Doré. “I see this as being a tool to make our advisors [spend] less of their time on paperwork and more time being effective with their customers and growing their portfolios, delivering better results to their ultimate customers.”

To that end, Peak will take a multi- faceted approach in improving platforms, from the client relationship management system to financial planning tools. As well, Peak executives also are considering the adoption of robo-advice technology, Doré says.

“We want to enhance our advisors’ and ultimate customers’ experience,” he says, “and that means that we’re going to have to monitor new technology [and] either develop it or acquire [it].”

For Frances, Doré’s appointment also emphasizes Peak’s forward-facing vision: Doré represents a clear succession plan for the dealer – although, Frances says, he has no intention of hanging up his spurs quite yet.

“There always was [a succession plan] with the management team,” says Frances, “but now a COO makes [the plan] even easier for the advisors to see internally as an entrepreneurial firm that’s privately owned. [Hiring a COO] shows that we’re pretty serious about setting up the right team long term.”

Doré, when not focused on Peak’s long-term operation and management, enjoys sports such as skiing and cycling, and spending time with friends, his wife of 20 years and his two teenaged daughters.

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