Voices of RPIA - 2021

Voices of RPIA - 2021

VOICES OF RPIA

2021

RPIA

www.rpia.ca

General Line: +1 647 776 1777

39 Hazelton Ave. Toronto, ON M5R 2E3

Investor Services: +1 647 776 2566

CONTENTS

About Us | Core Values

2

A Letter from Our CEO

3

In Our Firm

4

Working at RPIA

5

The Allyship Committee

7

Our Events

8

Charitable Giving

10

In Our Work

12

Excellence in Client Services 

13

A Closer Look: Women in the Workplace 

15

In Our Community

18

Andy Pringle - CANFAR

19

Allyson Watson - Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21

21

Caroline Cathcart - UNICEF & Nature United

22

David Matheson - Covenant House Toronto

24

Martin Erasmus - Ride to Conquer Cancer

26

Tania Henriquez - Girls E-Mentorship

27

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ABOUT US

RPIA is a specialized fixed income manager with deep expertise in corporate bonds and active interest rate management. The firm was founded in 2009 by a highly experienced team that previously ran the global fixed income arm of Canada’s largest bank. Based in Toronto, RPIA now has over 80 employees including investment and risk management professionals with a collective experience set complementary to that of our founders. More than ten years in, we are now managing over $6 billion for a broad investor base of institutions and private clients. RPIA remains independent, privately owned by employees who have $170 million invested alongside our clients. We take an active, innovative approach to fixed income to offer our investors what we believe is a better way to meet their objectives.

CORE VALUES

Partnership Unwavering alignment of interests with our clients. We are invested alongside them.

Excellence High-quality work produced by talented, driven people.

Transparency Complete accessibility to our clients. We want them to understand and feel comfortable with their investments with us.

Community Creating meaningful change through ESG, philanthropic giving, and active volunteerism.

Integrity A steadfast commitment to honesty and accountability. We believe this is the path to lasting success.

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Voices of RPIA

A LETTER FROM OUR CEO

Richard Pilosof Principal, Chief Executive Officer

As we enter the final quarter of 2021, I look back with gratitude at what we’ve accomplished during the past 12 years, especially in the face of recent challenges in the last few years that required us to grow and adapt at an unprecedented rate. As an executive team, my partners and I have always wanted this firm to be a collection of talented professionals working together to help our clients. We highly value maintaining a flat corporate structure because it allows us to remain agile and collaborative. We achieve this by promoting open collaboration, mentoring one another, pushing ourselves to be in a constant state of learning, and bringing our best to work every day. I believe this is the optimal way to grow our team – investing in talent and nurturing them to thrive within the firm. Over a year and a half ago, the world shifted in so many ways. Since then, we have experienced what seems like decades of change and growth compressed into a short period. In the face of these challenges, we adapted to working from home while maintaining the high level of collaboration that I think makes this firm great. I am tremendously proud of the team for all that we’ve been able to accomplish despite the restrictions and distance. What started as a handful of investors has grown into a firm with over 80 full-time permanent team members, bringing their expertise from various fields to help us grow and continue to serve our clients with best-in-class products and services. Throughout all of these changes, we’ve remained true to who we are. Our goal continues to be developing partnerships with our clients, serving with excellence, integrity, and transparency as they entrust us with their capital. Our teams help bring this mission to life with a strong dedication to their roles as we continue to think ahead and adapt to the evolving world around us. At RPIA, community is very important to us, both within and outside the firm. We strive to give back to our community by supporting the causes that our employees and clients hold dear to their hearts. We believe it is our duty to support and enrich the world around us, not just with our money but also with our time, talent, and voices as we volunteer, educate, and speak up for what matters. This publication illustrates RPIA’s passion for having an inclusive and open culture, doing good through our work, and empowering our employees as they become leaders in the causes they care about. I hope you enjoy learning more about what we do and how the many voices of RPIA are speaking up for what they believe in.

Best Wishes, Richard

IN OUR FIRM

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Voices of RPIA

In Our Firm

WORKING AT RPIA

Mentorship Program Our mentorship program focuses on building cross- functional relationships between senior leaders and junior members. This program has become the bedrock of a myriad of growth and learning opportunities. Virtual Counseling Our employees are so much more than their work, so we offer virtual counseling Lunch & Learn Series Our firm consists of talented and passionate people who love to share their knowledge. Our Lunch and Learn series allows that expertise to be passed on as we continue to work towards excellence. employees through socials, volunteering opportunities, weekly Spotify playlists, a monthly Book Club, and much more! Social Committee Our Social Committee comes up with fun ways to engage all services to all team members to help them manage Work- From-Home and personal priorities.

Investment Committee The Investment Committee sets the investment strategy for each of the funds RPIA manages. The committee consists of senior professionals from the Portfolio Management, Risk, and Client Relationship teams. As part of their regular monitoring, the Investment Committee reviews risks across portfolios, evaluates changes to the funds’ positioning, and determines future risk parameters the portfolios should have to achieve their goals. Risk Committee The Risk Committee consists of senior Risk, Portfolio Management, Compliance personnel, and management advisors. The committee sets the risk frameworks for each of the funds and evaluates all risks faced by the funds and the firm. Risks may be economic (e.g things that may cause a decrease in the value of the funds’ investments), or non- economic (e.g. things that may impact the reputation of the firm or cause operational or ESG concerns).

Allyship Committee The Allyship Committee is grassroots volunteerism at its core. It is a safe place where all RPIA employees can listen and learn to become better allies. Each month, we focus on a different cause through presentations from organizations, individuals from equity seeking groups, or engaging with the local community through acts of kindness and volunteer work. chaired by Mike Quinn, Chief Investment Officer, and helps set and update the firm’s ESG Philosophy, research and recommend new beneficial industry associations, and consider the adoption of new industry standards. IT Steering Committee The IT Steering Committee is chaired by Dannielle Ullrich, Chief Operating & Financial Officer. It determines the strategic vision for Information Technology at the firm, approves ESG Committee The ESG Committee is the implementation set forth by Cezar Gheorghe, Head of Technology, and provides the Technology team with feedback on IT Operations.

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In Our Firm

7

Voices of RPIA

In Our Firm

The Allyship Committee’s goal is to inspire all of us to do our part and act against social inequality and injustice. Our combined efforts will help activate our mission to learn more about the topics we discussed with the purpose of becoming better allies in both our personal and professional lives.

How we fulfill our promise

Who we are

We are a group of passionate individuals, and our promise is to help amplify the voices of those who are disproportionately disadvantaged and marginalized based on their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and disabilities.

• Through acts of solidarity when we witness an injustice. • Through active educating and learning by sharing and listening to the perspectives and lived experiences of others. • Through organizing and mobilizing our work community in acts of voluntarism in support of causes we believe in. Each month we host learning events with guest speakers. We work with not-for-profit organizations and community partners to coordinate volunteer and charity work opportunities for our employees to take part.

Some topics and causes that individual members have committed to acting upon are:

• Diversity and Inclusion in the alternative investment industry. • Providing a learning forum on non-binary inclusivity. • Educating ourselves on the topic of Truth and Reconciliation. • Promoting ways to support local businesses. • Finding ways to provide mentorship to women and individuals from minority backgrounds entering finance. • Providing a learning forum on addressing and accommodating individuals with visible and non-visible disabilities. • Volunteering time and resources to support new Canadians. • Provide a forum for open and safe discussion around gender bias and inequality in the finance industry and what we can do to help move the dial.

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In Our Firm

OUR EVENTS

Breaking Barriers: Diversity & Inclusion

Kripa Kapadia, Director, Client Portfolio Management, spoke on AIMA’s Breaking Barriers: Diversity & Inclusion Panel on December 8, 2020. She was joined by minority leaders from other organizations in the industry to discuss race, ethnicity, and culture, and how these topics factored into some of the challenges faced by minorities in the investment industry. On this panel, Kripa shared her personal experiences and provided some insight on actionable ideas for improving allyship, education, mentorship, recruitment, and authentic leadership at firms of all sizes. After this panel, Kripa also shared her thoughts and experiences internally at the firm by hosting an open, firm-wide dialogue about how everyone can be an amplifier of inclusion and diversity at RPIA every day.

The Equity Workshop

Equity Leaders, Next Gen Men hosted a thought- provoking workshop to help us understand, identify, and acknowledge the different forms of individual, organizational, and societal power and privilege. From there, we worked towards strengthening self- awareness and gaining practical strategies and approaches to share power and increase equity in the workplace. As a group, we defined allyship and considered practical examples and approaches, limitations and concerns, and the value of sharing and using power and privilege to actively support and defend the rights and dignity of others within and outside of RPIA!

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Voices of RPIA

In Our Firm

International Women’s Day

On March 8th, International Women’s Day, Katie Squires-Thompson, President of Women in Capital Markets (WCM), shared a special presentation on The Equity Equation and how we can contribute to the acceleration of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the Canadian finance industry. The presentation included key >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32

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