Establishing early: a new advisor buys in

Opera singer turned financial advisor, Adam Malcolm bought in early to the win-win promise of philanthropy. He wanted to cement his commitment to the arts community, home to his first career, while also building up a financial advisory practice that demonstrated clients had lots to gain by prioritizing both financial and philanthropic planning.

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO START A FOUNDATION?

YOU ALREADY GIVE TO ARTS ORGANIZATIONS. WHAT MAKES YOU WANT TO DIVERSIFY YOUR GIVING?

Right now, I would not necessarily need help figuring that out who to give to, but there’s also the “you don’t know what you don’t know.” There will inevitably be groups I don’t know.

I also want to support organizations led by and serving Black and Indigenous communities. As a white settler, colonial person, I need to humble myself a bit. I don’t want to come in just waving a cheque. There’s some education that I wish that I had before, but I also know that the old white guilt way of doing things isn’t helping anyone either.

And then there’s my legacy. When I’m gone, my arts and culture fund will be set up as a permanent endowment. Future needs of the community will change and Toronto Foundation staff will be best positioned to steward that money.

WHY ESTABLISH YOUR FUND WITH A COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INSTEAD OF A PRIVATE FOUNDATION OR WITH YOUR OWN COMPANY?

We have in-house donor advised fund and for a lot of folks that’s the right option. While I would have been able to directly manage my money and technically would have paid myself a commission to do that, I opted not to very purposefully.

I would consider myself an expert in many aspects of philanthropic planning: financial impact, integration with financial planning, best financial vehicles to advance my plan. But then the money sits in the account. And truthfully, I don’t have the expertise or the time to really know who the best people are to get these dollars. It’s not to say that I don’t have personal charities that I always want to support, we all do. However, Toronto Foundation’s best work is helping enable philanthropists to know the best charities to give to.

Hear more about why Adam set up his fund at Toronto Foundation.

Adam is 1 of 58 fundholders that are also professional advisors (1)

Adam is 1 of 58 fundholders that are also professional advisors. Often, a professional advisor's first exposure to Toronto Foundation is when they are looking for ways to support their client’s philanthropic goals. Through ongoing collaboration, professional advisors discover that working with TF not only benefits their clients, but also helps them as individuals achieve their philanthropic goals. We often find that many advisors not only become advocates for TF by consistently referring clients within their network, but also become fundholders themselves.

For more information in setting up a fund reach out to Laura Torres.