How one advisor team turned a client's unexpected life event into a successful investment strategy

Learn how Lyle Langlois and James Brown empowered their client's charitable giving

Vancouver-based investment advisors Lyle Langlois and James Brown of Langlois Brown Wealth Management , iA Private Wealth first met over two decades ago while working at the former firm Great Pacific Management, where Lyle was an investment advisor and Director and James was an up-and-coming advisor.

"I had known James through the financial services industry for a few years and found him to be a diligent, energetic, and hardworking individual. Someone who I'd really enjoy being around," Lyle said. After hearing James speak at an industry event, he approached the young advisor with an idea – a business proposition to start a firm together.

“We had lunch at Il Giardino’s, and we talked about our practices and saw alignment between the two,” Lyle reflected on the meeting at the Italian restaurant. 

“My dad had passed away and James’ dad was in transition of retiring,” Lyle remembered. “It made me realize that we all have this finite ‘best before date’ on our planet. I thought we could have a great time building a brand together. Let’s see where this goes. He seemed like an honest guy. We shook hands, and that was the start.” 

At Langlois Brown Wealth Management, Lyle and James focus on wealth creation and management for their clients, including incorporating charitable giving into their financial strategies. In recent years, they’ve seen a growing interest in philanthropy among clients. 

“Our clients are financially comfortable, they’re in their highest earning years,” Lyle explained. “Kids are out of the house and they’re realizing it's time to start giving back.” 

Lyle and James help these clients integrate philanthropy through Charitable Impact’s donor-advised fund (DAF). By doing so, they’ve added a dimension to their services while giving clients a unique tool to reduce their taxes and fulfill their desire to give. 

An unexpected life event

"We had a client in her 70s who came from a very moderate-income family. She came into a significant windfall with the sale of a property she owned,” James said. “The Maple Ridge School District had offered her $6 million because they wanted to build a high school there." 

With the sale, James reviewed the client’s financial situation and, working with her accountants, determined that a $1 million cash donation would help offset a majority of the tax liability.   

Langlois Brown used Charitable Impact’s DAF for this donation. The DAF allowed Langlois Brown to invest and manage the donated assets until the client decided they were ready to give to charities. While they managed the assets post donation, the assets grew tax-free in the DAF and ultimately gave the client more money to give away. 

"She was always philanthropic and donated to her local church, The United Way, Scouts Canada – maybe $1000 a year. But she had no idea on the impact of giving $1 million," James explained. 

The DAF gave her and her adult kids time to plan how and when to give away the money. Since the donation, Langlois Brown has partially liquidated some of the assets in the DAF for the client to disburse to charities and qualified donees, while continuing to manage the rest.

"One of her children lived in Prince George and really wanted to support a charity in their community," James explained. The DAF allowed them to do so by giving the client and her family access to support every Canadian registered charity. “The client really liked the ability to donate to multiple charities from one simple platform,” Lyle said. “One of the first things we showed her was that there are over 86,000 Canadian registered charities. The financial information for each charity is available on the platform, so clients can see their charitable and administrative activities. She liked the transparency.”

Not only did Lyle and James give their client a solution that provided tax advantages and allowed her to give back, but it also let them build crucial relationships with the next generation of her family. “Because of the DAF, we now have a relationship with our client’s children,” James explained. “They know who we are and how we’ve helped their mother.”

To learn more about Charitable Impact’s donor-advised fund, contact advisors@charitableimpact.com 

Disclaimer: This information has been prepared by Lyle Langlois and James Brown, who are Senior Investment Advisors for iA Private Wealth Inc. Opinions expressed in this article are those of the Investment Advisors only and do not necessarily reflect those of iA Private Wealth Inc. iA Private Wealth Inc. is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization.