How to Get Brokerage That Actually Understands Your Business
Five core services. Each one built because we watched startups get burned by the alternative. Since 2007, we've refined these offerings across 120+ emerging company clients and $340M+ in assets under administration.
Just Ask Us a QuestionStartup Treasury Brokerage — Put Post-Raise Capital to Work Within the First Week
Most startups close a round and leave millions sitting in a business chequing account for weeks — sometimes months. Your bank earns the float. You earn nothing. We fix that. Our founder, Marc-Antoine Delisle, built this service because he watched brilliant companies make million-dollar allocation decisions based on weekend spreadsheets while their brokers didn't even know their burn rate.
Within the first week, we map your cash needs against your burn rate and deployment schedule. Six months of operating expenses go into highly liquid instruments — HISAs, money market. The next 6–12 months' spend goes into short-duration fixed income timed to your drawdown schedule. Only capital you genuinely won't touch for 18+ months gets anything beyond GICs and government bonds. This tiered approach is what we call a structured liquidity strategy — and it's the backbone of how we manage post-raise capital.
Monthly. Your financial picture shifts faster than a quarterly review can capture. A new hire, an accelerated timeline, an unexpected contract — any of these change the plan. Each review includes a written summary of portfolio positions, maturity schedule, and any recommended adjustments. You'll always know exactly where your capital sits and why.
That's what the liquidity ladder is for. We structure maturities so capital is always becoming available. Zero forced liquidations across every client since 2007. When Voxel Robotics accelerated their hiring plan by three months, they didn't break a single position — because the portfolio was already built for exactly that kind of shift.
Our standard brokerage fee ranges from 0.45% to 0.85% annually based on account size and complexity. No front-end loads. No back-end loads. No trailer fees. For accounts under $500K, there's a minimum annual fee of $3,500. Full fee schedules are disclosed before you sign anything.
Deliverables include monthly market analysis briefs, term sheets for every instrument placed, risk assessment reports, and a custom maturity calendar tied to your operational cash flow projections.
Corporate Investment Management — Stop Leaving Six Figures on the Table
If your corporation has retained earnings sitting in a savings account earning 1.3%, you're quietly losing money every quarter. This service is built for established and growth-stage companies — particularly Canadian-Controlled Private Corporations — where the intersection of investment returns and tax optimization creates real, measurable value. Nordaq Composites came to us with $3.1M in a savings account. Within a year, they'd earned $228,000 in investment income at a total fee of 0.65%.
At 1.3% interest, you're leaving roughly $100K per year on the table compared to a properly structured corporate portfolio. And that's before we optimize for CCPC tax treatment — eligible dividends, capital gains preferences, RDTOH mechanics. Over three to five years, that gap compounds into serious money. A corporate portfolio built with the right instruments can generate meaningfully higher after-tax returns while maintaining appropriate risk levels for your business.
We'll review it — no charge, no obligation. Most bank-managed corporate portfolios we audit carry blended MERs of 1.5%–2.0% through bundled mutual funds. Our total fee structure averages 0.65%. That gap compounds aggressively. On a $3M portfolio, the fee difference alone is $25,500–$40,500 per year. Over five years, you're looking at six figures in savings before we even talk about better instrument selection. Read more about how embedded fee structures cost more than you think.
We coordinate with your accountant. Every instrument is selected with the $50K passive income threshold, SBD clawback mechanics, and RDTOH balance in mind. Tax-aware construction is the default — not a premium add-on. We handle the portfolio design and instrument selection; your accountant handles the reporting. Together, the result is a portfolio that grows without triggering tax traps. Learn more about our approach to CCPC tax-optimized portfolio design.
Depending on your situation, we construct portfolios using Canadian dividend-paying equities (selected for the CCPC dividend tax credit), investment-grade corporate bonds, Government of Canada bonds, GICs, REITs for diversification, and in some cases, private debt allocations. Every position is documented, every return traceable. We don't use mutual funds — ever.
Liquidity Ladder Construction — Cash When You Need It, Returns When You Don't
A liquidity ladder is the backbone of responsible treasury management for companies with variable or seasonal cash needs. It ensures you never face the worst-case scenario in corporate finance: needing cash and having to liquidate a position at a penalty. We've built these structures for companies ranging from pre-seed startups to growth-stage businesses with $30M+ in assets. Explore our strategy framework to see how liquidity ladders fit different company stages.
A staggered schedule of fixed-income instruments — GICs, T-bills, bonds — with maturities timed to when you actually need the cash. Think of it as a conveyor belt: capital matures and becomes available at predictable intervals, without forcing early redemptions. For example, if you need $200K in March, $150K in June, and $300K in September, we place instruments that mature on or just before those dates. The capital earns a return right up until you need it.
It's specifically designed for that. We build what we call a "breathing portfolio" — it expands during accumulation months and contracts naturally as instruments mature during high-spend periods. GreenField AgriTech captured $189K in investment income over three seasonal cycles from capital that would've sat idle in a chequing account. Their revenue was 80% seasonal (April–September) but costs were flat year-round — the breathing portfolio handled that rhythm perfectly.
Typically within 24–48 hours for the liquid tier. The whole point is that you never have to break a position at a penalty. We always maintain a liquid reserve layer — usually in HISAs and money market instruments — that acts as your first line of access. Beyond that, Government of Canada bonds can be sold on any business day without penalty, providing a second layer of rapid liquidity.
A HISA is one rung on the ladder — not the whole thing. HISAs offer flexibility but typically lower rates than GICs or bonds with fixed terms. By staggering maturities across multiple instrument types, you capture higher yields on the capital you won't need soon while keeping near-term funds fully accessible. The blended return across the ladder is meaningfully higher than an all-HISA approach, especially in the current rate environment.
CCPC Tax-Optimized Portfolio Design — Grow Your Portfolio Without Triggering Tax Traps
Canadian tax law creates a minefield for corporations that invest their retained earnings. The passive income rules introduced in 2019 mean that an extra dollar of investment income can cost your corporation more in lost small business deduction than the income itself is worth. Most brokers don't think about this. Most accountants only flag it after the damage is done. We design portfolios to navigate these thresholds before year-end — not after. Read our detailed analysis on how the $50,000 passive income line affects your CCPC.
Once your corporation earns more than $50,000 in passive investment income, the small business deduction starts shrinking — $5 lost for every $1 over the threshold. By $150,000, it's gone entirely. An extra dollar of passive income can cost more in lost SBD than it earns. For a corporation with $500,000 in active business income, losing the full SBD means an additional tax burden of roughly $38,000 per year. That's why portfolio construction must be tax-aware from day one.
Your accountant reports what happened. We design what happens. Instrument selection, timing of realized gains, managing the RDTOH balance — these decisions need to be made before year-end, not after. We collaborate with your accountant to get it right. That means sharing portfolio projections, coordinating on dividend timing, and ensuring the investment strategy aligns with your overall corporate tax plan. Our team — particularly Nadia Kourchid and Philippe Tran — handles this coordination as a standard part of every client relationship.
Absolutely. One client — Nordaq Composites — was at $48,200 in passive income, just under the threshold, because we restructured mid-year. That single adjustment saved roughly $17,000 in tax. The math works at almost any portfolio size. Even a $500K corporate portfolio generating $25,000 in annual income benefits from tax-aware instrument selection — choosing capital gains over interest income, for example, or timing when gains are realized.
We select instruments that generate income taxed at preferential rates — eligible Canadian dividends rather than foreign dividends, capital gains rather than interest income where appropriate. We time the realization of gains to manage the annual passive income total. We monitor RDTOH balances and coordinate dividend declarations with your accountant. And we track the aggregate passive investment income across all corporate accounts, not just the investment portfolio, to avoid surprises from multiple income sources.
Pre-Fundraise Financial Structuring — Close Rounds Faster With an Audit-Ready Treasury
Due diligence kills deals — not because the company isn't investable, but because the paperwork is a mess. When investors review your treasury and see a disorganized spreadsheet with unexplained positions, it signals risk. When they see a clearly documented portfolio with traceable returns and professional structure, it signals discipline. That distinction can mean the difference between a smooth close and months of legal back-and-forth. Luma Health Technologies learned this firsthand — their lead investor spent 20 minutes on treasury review instead of two weeks.
Get your treasury audit-ready. That means clearly documented investment accounts, organized balance sheet, and treasury summaries that can be presented to incoming investors during due diligence. We produce investor-ready documentation that includes a complete position inventory, return attribution, maturity schedules, and risk categorization. One client's lead investor spent 20 minutes on treasury review instead of two weeks — saving an estimated $30K in legal fees. That efficiency signals to investors that your financial operations match the quality of your product.
No. Your accountant handles the books. We handle the investment side of the house — making sure every position is documented, every return is traceable, and the story your balance sheet tells is one of discipline and intentionality. We coordinate with your accounting team to ensure the investment records and financial statements align perfectly. Think of us as the investment counterpart to your accountant — they record the numbers, we make sure the numbers are worth recording.
Typically 4–6 weeks if your existing records are reasonably organized. Longer if we're untangling a spreadsheet someone built on a weekend. (We've seen that. More than once.) The process includes a full audit of existing positions, restructuring into a clean and defensible portfolio, building the documentation package, and a dry-run review to catch anything an investor's counsel might flag.
That's common for early-stage companies. Nadia Kourchid personally onboards every new client and walks founders through the process step by step. Account setup typically takes 5–7 business days. From there, we can have your treasury structured and documented within the 4–6 week window. Start a conversation and we'll map out a timeline specific to your fundraise schedule.
Deliverables include investor-ready treasury summaries, compliance documentation, position-level reporting with return attribution, term sheets for all instruments held, and a maturity schedule aligned to your projected cash needs.
What Every Service Has in Common
Monthly Reviews, Not Quarterly
Your business moves too fast for 90-day check-ins. Every client gets a monthly portfolio review tied to their operational cash flow. When your situation changes — a new hire, an accelerated timeline, a delayed contract — the portfolio adapts within the same review cycle.
Direct Access to Your Team
No call centers. No layers. When you call (579) 695-9490, you reach Marc-Antoine, Nadia, Philippe, or Camille — the same four people who actually manage your account. Our average client relationship lasts 5.2 years. That kind of continuity is only possible with a small, dedicated team.
No Contracts, No Lock-In
Zero long-term contracts. Zero termination fees. You can leave anytime with written notice, and we'll facilitate an orderly transfer. We earn every quarter or we don't deserve the next one. Our 98% client retention rate (2021–2025) tells you how that approach is working.
Transparent, All-In Fees
Our standard brokerage fee ranges from 0.45% to 0.85% annually. No front-end loads, no back-end loads, no trailer fees, no embedded mutual fund commissions. Accounts under $500K carry a minimum annual fee of $3,500. Full fee schedules are disclosed before you sign anything and visible in every quarterly statement.
How to Find Out If We're the Right Fit
Thirty minutes. No pitch. No pressure. We'll listen, ask questions, and tell you honestly whether we can help. No minimum asset size to start a conversation. No contracts. No obligations. Just a direct line to the people who actually manage your money.
Marc-Antoine or Nadia will be on the call — not a junior associate, not a sales rep. The same people who'll manage your account if we move forward.
See If We're a Fit