In March, Julie Gallagher was named head of Richardson Wealth, a $46-billion wealth management firm — and the newest piece of iA Financial Corp.’s multi-pronged wealth business.
The role is a critical one for Richardson, which has built a strong brand in wealth management. It’s also critical for iA Financial, which completed the acquisition of Richardson’s parent company, RF Capital Corp., for $691 million in cash last fall.
For iA, the acquisition filled a hole in its wealth division, which previously lacked a full-service dealer model that provided a more corporate structure for advisors who preferred greater internal resources and guidance, and who didn’t want to run their own practice completely independently. It also pushed iA Wealth’s advisory network — comprised of iA Private Wealth, Investia and now Richardson — to $175 billion in assets under advisement (AUA).
Finally, it’s also an important step for Gallagher, who only five years ago was a director-level compliance professional with National Bank Financial. Before being hired as president and CEO at Richardson, she was senior vice-president of investment products & solutions and capital markets at iA Wealth.
The 47-year-old Montrealer’s career has given her exposure to firm strategy, digital transformation, operations, products and advisor teaming and experience.
“I’ve always been very much involved and active with the dealers at the companies that I worked for,” she said. Her projects involved supporting advisors with teambuilding and providing guidance on selling their books. I was “answering all sorts of questions,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher said her understanding of dealers and advisors, alongside her legal and compliance background, gives her a nuanced understanding of how to navigate regulatory changes. “Regulations or rules are never black or white,” she said.
Gallagher joined iA in 2021 as vice-president and chief compliance officer, before moving into a newly created role last April as senior vice-president and head of investment products.
“Well received”
Gallagher’s background, while different from Richardson’s former leader Dave Kelly — who climbed the executive ranks after building his own practice as an investment advisor — has been “well received” by the Richardson advisors she’s been meeting with during a cross-country listening tour, she said.
“It’s a background that is timely, if you look at everything that’s going on in regulation,” she said.
In addition to the implementation of total cost reporting, for example, the industry is wrestling with decisions about how to incorporate AI and the introduction of new and complex products. Advisor incorporation, currently being advanced by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) and something Gallagher lists as a priority, could soon join the list.
Gallagher’s background and appointment “is telling and signals industry direction,” said Laura Paglia, president and CEO of the Canadian Forum for Financial Markets, in an email. As a lawyer, “her legal skills will provide enterprise-wide vantage points that can positively contribute to major corporate decisions, strategic vision, policy, risk and compliance.”
Stephan Bourbonnais, executive vice‑president of iA Wealth, who hired Gallagher after a nine-month executive search that reviewed around 30 candidates, said he wasn’t looking for a leader with all the answers.
“I did not want to bring in somebody that has been in this business and thinks they know it all, because I think we need … new ways of thinking now, with everything happening in the industry.”
What’s important is that Gallagher has the “future skill set” needed to lead the firm through new challenges.
Gallagher is “somebody that is curious, somebody that will ask the right questions, somebody that is connected with the advisor and somebody that has a very amazing skill set to bring people around her and align them to the vision,” he said.
Bourbonnais first met Gallagher when she was president of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization’s Quebec district council. Over more than a decade, she worked on dual registration and the use of digital technology for document approvals.
He describes her as a change agent — not the kind of language normally associated with legal and compliance leaders.
He was impressed by her leadership skills and brought her into the iA fold in 2021 as the firm was going through a “significant transformation and turnaround,” which resulted in the rebranding to iA Private Wealth. Gallagher’s experience leading iA’s product team was also valuable in winning the CEO gig, he said. Richardson advisors “want to have access” to iA’s global asset management expertise, unified managed accounts and separately managed accounts.
Gallagher has always been aware of Richardson’s “amazing reputation” in the industry, but said that through the due diligence process, she also came to understand its challenges.
“It was always a great [firm], but it lacked a little bit [in terms of the] capacities that really bring it to another level, and that really made me wish to be part of it,” she said.
In this year’s Investment Executive Brokerage Report Card, Richardson underperformed the 2026 benchmark performance average in four of the seven technology suite categories this year (meeting the industry average in one and outperforming on two occasions). The firm’s performance in that technology group, based on Richardson advisor reviews, slipped in five categories from its ratings last year. This was most notable in the client account statements & portals area, where its rating fell to 7.7 from 8.4 in last year’s report.
However, the advisors surveyed generally ruminated on the firm’s ongoing digital transformation, discussing their back office, client-facing tools and reporting infrastructure. With the acquisition having occurred and the firm looking toward the future, advisors suggested they’re aware of improvements in the works.
It really comes down to change management and ensuring advisors can see the light. As one Richardson Wealth advisor in British Columbia said, “We’re in the midst of a digital transformation and we’d like to get to the end of that road.” They said the firm has what they need to run a practice, catering to ultra-high-net-worth clients, and they’re now “hopeful” that their technology growing pains will be addressed and solved by systems that speak to one another.
“Our strategy includes a digital and operational transformation to make it easy for our advisors to service their clients and grow their business, using digital tools and AI to drive efficiencies and add value,” Gallagher said when asked to respond to the capacity and technology challenges flagged by advisors. “IA brings the additional capabilities to make this possible … which we are now in the process of integrating. We will double down on advisor support and training to make sure they adopt these tools fully and with impact.”
Survey says
Of the 50 Richardson advisors who participated in this year’s Brokerage Report Card interviews, 47.7% said they were “excited” about the iA deal, with six advisors mentioning the technology they’d have access to and nearly two dozen alluding to the benefits of increased scale.
“I think everyone is willing to work together and make this work, and they’re happy about the acquisition because it gives us the capabilities to finally deliver our plan,” Gallagher said.
Her top priority this year — and that of the firm’s 178 advisors — is a rebranding of Richardson, a condition of the purchase. Gallagher has pledged to protect the firm’s culture. “There’s a high sense of family and a belonging” at the firm, she said, adding, “I don’t want to change that, I want to protect that.”
Richardson has enjoyed a solid firm culture for years, and Kelly received a lot of credit on that front. An Ontario advisor with Richardson Wealth said during their survey interview that, “Dave Kelly fixed everything that was wrong with the company in the last 10 years.” Another respondent, with the firm in the Prairies, said, “We’ve had the strongest leadership team that we’ve ever had.”
These comments were collected before Gallagher was appointed CEO.
However, Gallagher is listening to advisors and has worked closely with Kelly through the iA acquisition. He’ll serve as vice-chair of Richardson until the end of June and as a board director after that.
“Julie is the right leader to take this amazing business forward,” he said in an email to Investment Executive.
Julie Littlechild, founder and CEO of advisor consultancy Absolute Engagement, said Kelly was “masterful” at making advisors feel he understood them.
“Anything that [Gallagher] does to listen and demonstrate that she understands their needs and challenges and can help them grow is going to be well received,” she advised.
In an industry where few women have landed top roles, Gallagher’s appointment is notable, Littlechild said. “Seeing that kind of representation at that level for a firm of that size is pretty significant.”
While Gallagher is happy that means something to people, she said, “I think it’s not enough, for sure. It’s not just about women — it’s about making sure that the team that is surrounding you bring something different to the table.”
“We do need role models in our industry, Bourbonnais said. “Julie is proving that leadership is there for the taking, for those that have the ambition to take them.”