Mike Vanderburgh : Creating Opportunities

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Mike Vanderburgh

As a Managing Director of Newport Partners, Mike Vanderburgh focuses on providing individuals and families with investment and wealth management services. He has more than 20 years of experience dealing with successful entrepreneurs, business people and 11 of the top 100 wealthiest families in Canada.

Prior to joining Newport Partners, Mike was Vice-President and Portfolio Manager of BMO Harris Investment Management and its predecessor, Jones Heward, managing the investment needs of clients. His responsibilities included acting as a member of the investment policy committee, overseeing the management of the firm’s pooled funds and sitting on the steering committee responsible for setting the firm’s growth and strategic goals. Previously, Mike was Director, Investment Services for Wittington Financial the Weston Family’s private holding company responsible for managing in-house portfolios and overseeing external portfolio advisors. He was also an investment executive with Burns Fry (now Nesbitt Burns) and an analyst with Manulife Financial.

IPPs: a better way for entrepreneurs to build retirement capital?

Posted on June 8, 2010 by Mike Vanderburgh

A few weeks ago, my colleague David Lloyd wrote about how much money is needed for retirement. Most people have a number in their head. Maybe it’s sufficient. The next question is, how do you make sure you meet this number?

As a business owner, you have a unique savings opportunity you may not even know about. It’s called an Individual Pension Plan.

Imagine for a moment, the federal government gave you the opportunity to create a corporate pension plan, just for you. A plan that would provide you with dependable income in retirement – much like that enjoyed by teachers or civil servants – funded by your corporation.

How would you design the plan? Maybe something like this?...

Tags: Individual Pension Plan, Investing, Retirement Planning, Tax Planning

Yearning for Yuan, China's inflation problem

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Mike Vanderburgh

As markets get whipsawed by news coming out of Europe and the Far East, we often get asked by our clients, “How does this affect me?” Last week, my colleague, Peter Churchill-Smith wrote about the effect that Greece can have on business owners in Canada. This week, we turn our attention to China.

As investment managers, we have no shortage of pundits willing to tell us their views on the economic landscape. One of the advantages of working with entrepreneurs is being able to speak to people who are on the ground and experiencing firsthand the massive build up in production and pent up demand for goods in China.

Tags: China, Economic News

Group RRSPs: Do you know your liability?

Posted on April 6, 2010 by Mike Vanderburgh

I just finished reviewing the annual reports for a Group RRSP and Deferred Profit Sharing Plan (DPSP) on behalf of a client who has one in place for his employees. On paper everything seems just fine. The investment climate is improving and on average every employee seems to be doing much better this year than last. But once I got beyond the glossy graphs certain issues started to become apparent.

Tags: Business Ideas, Corporate Benefits, Deferred Profit Sharing Plans, Group RRSPs

Who's minding the store?

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Mike Vanderburgh

An article in the Globe and Mail by Wallace Immen, “Getting serious about succession” discusses the difficulties faced by many businesses in ensuring there is a process in place to groom future leaders of the company.

What about entrepreneurs? It’s not that simple when leadership also involves owning the company!

Recently, McKinsey Quarterly published an article, “The five attributes of enduring family businesses” which describes the succession pitfalls faced, specifically, by family businesses. According to research, “less than 30 percent of family businesses survive into the third generation of family ownership. Those that do, however, tend to perform well over time compared with their corporate peers”.

As advisors to entrepreneurs, we’re often asked how to ensure there is a smooth transition of the family business to the next generation. I thought the McKinsey article did a good job of organizing the challenge of succession planning into five attributes integral to a successful and enduring transition.

Tags: Charitable Foundations, Family Businesses, Succession Planning