Canadian investment manager, advocate for ethical business practices, and philanthropist Stephen Jarislowsky has passed away at the age of 101. Born in Germany in 1925, Jarislowsky established Jarislowsky Fraser & Co. in 1955 from the ground up, transforming the Montreal-based firm into Canada’s largest pension fund manager at one point.
After gaining experience in Kingston, Ont., Montreal, and New York, he returned to Montreal where he launched his namesake firm with an initial investment of $100 of his own funds and $50 from a partner. Over a span of more than six decades, Jarislowsky led Jarislowsky Fraser until his retirement in 2012, during which time the firm managed approximately $40 billion in assets.
In 2018, Scotiabank acquired the firm for $950 million. Jarislowsky’s business acumen elevated his net worth to an estimated $3.9 billion US, as reported by Forbes, which he generously utilized to contribute millions of dollars towards numerous philanthropic endeavors, including the establishment of numerous research chairs at Canadian universities.