Celebrating 15 Years of Excellence

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Our Story

The fixed income market is vast and complex, spanning across global markets and typically very difficult for individual investors to access. In the early 2000s, while managing global debt markets at Canada’s largest bank, RPIA’s CEO, Richard Pilosof, noticed the glaring lack of specialized and sophisticated fixed income solutions in Canada that he saw in abundance in New York and London. He wanted to bridge this gap and offer Canadians innovative investment solutions to help them achieve their goals, whether it be stability, capital preservation, growth, or diversification.

In 2009, Richard partnered with some of his trusted colleagues to form RPIA with the goal of offering Canadians a better approach to fixed income. The founders set out to deliver innovative and active fixed income solutions to Canadian investors, and we remain steadfastly committed to this mission.

From humble beginnings of around $50 million under management, the firm began to grow as the performance of our flagship strategy gained the attention of a wider group of investors. Soon, RPIA expanded to a modest team working out of a small office in the beautiful Yorkville neighbourhood of Toronto. Within a few years, we were managing over $1 billion and had grown our investor base beyond private investors to include major Canadian institutions.

Over the years, as assets under management increased, so did our commitment to excellence in both performance and client service. The firm invested in talent and technology to continue adding value for investors, expanding the team and our capabilities.

Today, RPIA manages $13 billion for a wide range of investors, with over 100 professionals, including 27 investment specialists overseeing 12 strategies. We are aligned with our investors’ success with 60% of the team personally invested alongside our investors.

Since the very beginning, RPIA has been rooted in a strong sense of community with a continuing commitment to supporting causes that are dear to the hearts of our investors and employees. Everything we do is rooted in our core values of excellence, partnership, transparency, and integrity.

As we reflect on our journey, the past 15 years tell a story of resilience, innovation, and dedication to investor satisfaction. Our aim is to continue delivering best-in-class service and performance excellence for our investors through our deep expertise in active fixed income.

RPIA Throughout the Years

2009-2012

2009

Launched the firm to serve Canadian investors with active global fixed income solutions, beginning with our flagship long/short strategy, RP Debt Opportunities. In that first year, we were managing around $50 million for family and friends.

2010-2012

We partnered with a family office to help them achieve their traditional fixed income needs through a long-only solution. Due to increased demand for this product, we launched this mandate as the RP Fixed Income Plus strategy in 2012.

2013-2015

2013

We celebrated our first “yard” party with $1 billion of assets under management. This achievement was a result of a growing, high-caliber team and a new institutional quality infrastructure. This required a larger office space, and we moved out of our office on Yorkville Avenue to just around the corner at 39 Hazelton Avenue, where we still operate.

2014-2015

We identified a gap in active credit solutions available to Canadian investors and launched our highly opportunistic credit strategy, RP Select Opportunities, in 2014. The team continued to grow as we increased the scale of our investment operations and business development endeavours.

2016-2018

2016-2017

We decided to expand our product offerings beyond hedge fund strategies and launched our first mutual fund, RP Strategic Income Plus Fund, in 2016 to provide retail investors with an active core bond strategy. At this point, we were managing close to $4 billion for Canadian investors, including high-net-worth individuals, institutions, and investment advisors.

2018

As our investment capabilities grew, we began to recognize the importance of conducting ESG analysis as a supplement to our fundamental financial analysis. As a result, we became a signatory of the UN Principals of Responsible Investment in 2018. At this time, we were managing $5 billion of investor capital with 5 different investment strategies.

2019-2021

2019

To further institutionalize our investment capabilities, we began searching for trading software that can aid with security selection in the vast and complex bond market; however, we found none that fit our unique, highly dynamic investment style. We decided to invest in our technological capabilities and developed our own custom trading platform called SANTA (Structing Analysis & Trading Assistant). In 2019, we also launched our first ESG-themed mandate, the RP Broad Corporate Bond (BBB, Carbon Reduced) strategy, in line with our commitment to ESG.

2020-2021

In 2020, the Allyship Committee was formed to foster a deeper understanding of the diversity and representation within the firm, bringing together employees through events and volunteerism. Our team grew significantly during this period, and we expanded our office space into a neighbouring building, 43 Hazelton Ave., which included more meeting spaces for our team to better serve our investors.

2022-2024

2022

In 2022, we launched our second ESG-themed mandate, the RP Broad Corporate Bond (Fossil Fuel Exclusion) strategy, developed in partnership with one of our institutional investors and in collaboration with the index. We also became Great Place To Work certified, which highlighted our culture of partnership and community.

2023-2024

Today, we are celebrating 15 years of RPIA as we continue to produce strong returns and provide highly personalized service for investors across Canada. We currently manage $14 billion across 12 investment strategies with a team of 100 employees, 27 of whom are investment professionals. We remain independently owned, and our employees have over $250 million invested alongside our investors.