In 2021, ScotiaMcLeod® proudly celebrates its 100th anniversary. Originally founded in 1921, McLeod Young Weir was built by four young entrepreneurs who established a culture of trust, teamwork, financial expertise and innovation. Though our name has changed, we remain true to the spirit of our origins – our advisors continue to exemplify the core values and entrepreneurial spirit that our firm was founded upon a century ago.
A distinguished history
Our founders: Leaders to the core
In February 1921, four young entrepreneurs – Donald Ivan McLeod, William Ewart Young, James Gordon Weir and John Henry Ratcliffe – started a partnership called McLeod Young Weir Limited with nothing more than $40,000 in capital and a bold vision.
Donald Ivan (D.I.) McLeod, an avid painter and supporter of the Arts, was born in Owen Sound, Ontario, in 1886. He was a sketch partner to many of Canada’s most significant artists: A.Y. Jackson, Fred S. Haines, J.W. Beatty, Manly MacDonald, Robert Pilot, Thomas Garside, Andre Lepin, and even Sir. Frederick Banting, Nobel laureate for his groundbreaking insulin research.
William Ewart Young, the grandson of a Scottish settler who landed in Toronto’s Scarborough area, was born in 1886 in a small farmhouse near the high point of the Scarborough Bluffs. He was the hero of McLeod Young Weir’s first day of operation. While Mr. Weir was visiting financial institutions and the other partners were buying second-hand office equipment, Mr. Young was busy on their only telephone making trading profits of about $650–a substantial sum at that time.1
James Gordon Weir, also of Scottish descent, was born in Flamborough, Ontario and served in a machine gun battalion in WWI. He was gassed twice, awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order, and rose to Colonel’s rank. His son, John Gordon Weir, became a famous WWII air force bomber, a POW, the mastermind behind the real-life “great escape” from Stalag Luft III in 1943, and a spy.
Bold vision, strong principles: The early success of McLeod Young Weir
While three large investment houses dominated the industry a century ago, the “Holy Trinity” of McLeod Young Weir prospered and grew into one of Canada’s largest brokerage firms. Our founding partners took a distinctively ethical approach to investing long before today’s regulatory scrutiny existed. This principled culture has served us well and has helped build and maintain our clients’ trust. Our heritage gave rise to decades of rapid growth – the firm grew to 1,600 employees in 43 offices throughout Canada, with others in Britain, Europe, the US, and Asia.
Growth and acquisition
By the 1970s, McLeod Young Weir had diversified to offer a full range of investment services. These included bond, stock, and money market trading, corporate and government financing, M&As, commodities and futures, personal investment services, and advice on mutual funds and other specialty products.
The firm was noted for its involvement in the bond market. Several bond indices still quoted today originated at McLeod, and McLeod Young Weir Bond Averages, a yardstick of bond yields that they maintained and perfected, served investors and the industry for many years. As well, the firm pioneered several new investment products that are now commonplace.
In 1988, the Bank of Nova Scotia purchased McLeod Young Weir, which had become one of the industry’s most established and respected firms. Renamed ScotiaMcLeod in 1988, we launched our self-directed, full-service RRSP (in 1991) and have grown to become one of Canada’s premier wealth management providers. ScotiaMcLeod is one of the investment arms of Scotiabank, a division of Scotia Capital Inc., one of Canada’s largest financial institutions.
Scotia Wealth Management launched in 2015 with this promise to their clients, which is rooted in the concept of Enriched Thinking®: Scotia Wealth Management is an innovative team-based approach to wealth management that addresses the entirety of your life —your family, your business, your future —one facet at a time. Together with your Wealth Advisor, our Scotia Wealth Management specialists bring their skills and expertise to the consideration of what you’ve accumulated —and how best to administer it through life’s changes. From financial counsel on managing your wealth to careful contemplation of how to transfer it to future generations, it’s your thinking combined with our thinking, to create Enriched Thinking.
To enhance the Enriched Thinking promise to our clients, Scotia Wealth Management developed the innovative Total Wealth approach, designed to satisfy a client’s needs from simple to complex. Each client’s Total Wealth Plan considers every facet of their financial life, resulting in a dynamic, cohesive strategy. We bring all of our specialists, strategies and tools together in one place, with the client’s goals at the centre, to provide holistic investment management, private banking, estate and trust services, insurance solutions, business and family advisory services and more.
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Our culture: Standing out, working together
The “Loud McLeod” tartan
Before 1997, when live trading still took place at the Toronto Stock Exchange, McLeod traders wore our trademark bold yellow McLeod tartan jackets to recognize each other easily, trade efficiently and stand out from the crowd. This idea was born because, at the time, Trevor Dixon (McLeod Young Weir 1970–1989) wanted to give his traders more visibility. When his Scottish wife was flipping through fabrics to make their son a tartan jacket, she showed Trevor the McLeod tartan, and he had a brainstorm.
The Chairman of the Board, our legendary Austin Taylor (famous for knowing each of his 2,300 employees by their first name), approved Trevor’s proposal of bold tartan jackets and asked Trevor to launch them by leading his traders onto the floor with live bagpipers. The spectacle was greeted with applause and for many years, the Loud McLeod jackets distinguished our traders at the TSX.
To this day, we wear our spirit on our sleeves. ScotiaMcLeod’s famous tartan jackets are presented to branch managers of exceptional calibre and advisors across Canada each year. The tartan symbolizes our strong culture of distinction, leadership, unity, and team pride.
Driven to support our communities
ScotiaMcLeod Charitable Foundation
We are incredibly proud of our ScotiaMcLeod Charitable Foundation (SMCF) and the support it provides to ScotiaMcLeod staff. Established in 1987 to celebrate McLeod Young Weir joining Scotiabank, it promotes philanthropy and recognizes ongoing community involvement and volunteerism. For 34 years, the Foundation has contributed to registered charities across Canada, specifically in the areas of health and social services.
Share the Wealth advisor-led program
In 2015, we launched Share the Wealth—a formal, advisor-led program that encourages and celebrates employee involvement and community engagement. Funded by our teams’ philanthropic efforts, it implements the values of wealth distribution, active community participation and charitable involvement with organizations and programs that align with our goals and values.
Contributions to the Arts in Canada
Today, the artistic spirit of D.I. McLeod lives on through our significant support of such notable events as the Scotiabank Photography Award, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and Scotiabank Group’s Fine Art Collection, which invests in Canadian artists.
The next century
Thank you to each and every one of our employees and clients through the years who have helped us to achieve this monumental milestone. We could not be more proud of who we are and what we have become.
How will we evolve by 2121? One thing is certain: the founding principles of McLeod Young and Weir will live on and continue to guide our firm.
1 The Scarboro Heights Record
