Stephen A. Jarislowsky, admired Canadian fund manager, dies at 101

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Jarislowsky, admired Canadian fund manager, dies at 101A recipient of the Order of Canada, Jarislowsky was also inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame in 2007Author of the article:Frederic Tomesco and Mathieu Dion"You should not be motivated by greed. Be motivated by preservation of capital and realistic growth" said Stephen Jarislowsky in a 2010 interview. Photo by Dave Sidaway/PostmediaStephen A. Jarislowsky, who founded one of Canada’s largest fund-management firms and took on large corporations on behalf of small shareholders, has died. He was 101.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountHis family announced his death in a statement calling him “a visionary investor, philanthropist and committed citizen” who “dedicated his life to promoting education, ethics, and excellence across Canada.”This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.A Harvard-educated Canadian, Jarislowsky led Montreal-based Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd. for almost six decades and helped manage as much as $60 billion (roughly US$51.5 billion at beginning of 2007) in assets before the global financial crisis of 2007-2008. An outspoken advocate for the rights of small shareholders, Jarislowsky supported an unsuccessful effort to create a national securities regulator and fought to trim executive compensation.SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE: FP West: Energy Insider brings you behind the oilpatch’s closed doors with exclusive insights from insiders every Wednesday morning.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of FP West: Energy Insider will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againIn late 2012, the company announced that Jarislowsky, at 87, would step down as chief executive officer while remaining chairman. “I had to fire my CEO,” he said about himself while trying to explain why client redemptions increased after his departure, Forbes reported at the time. “Some people didn’t like that.”In 2018, Bank of Nova Scotia acquired Jarislowsky Fraser for about $950 million (about US$739 million at the time). Jarislowsky’s advanced age — he was 92, and still a director — was a factor in the decision to sell, then-chief executive Pierre Lapointe said at the time.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.In his later years, he donated millions of dollars annually in the areas of higher education, medicine, science, the arts and the environment through his Jarislowsky Foundation, the Financial Post reported when he turned 100 in 2025.Blue-Chip FocusJarislowsky founded his company in 1955 with partner Scott Fraser. He took a low-risk approach to long-term investing while managing large pension and endowment funds. The company’s holdings — including Toronto-Dominion Bank, Royal Bank of Canada and Suncor Energy Inc. — reflected a shunning of alternative investments and a focus on blue-chip stocks with a low portfolio turnover to reduce transaction costs and taxes.“When Stephen invests, it’s not for six months,” Claude Lamoureux, who co-founded the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance with Jarislowsky in 2002, said in a 2012 interview. “Many of his investments he made at the start of his career. He will often build up a 15 per cent company stake and stay there. He is going to give management his opinion.”Jarislowsky had eight rules of investing, which included buying large-company stocks with good management; choosing stocks rather than real estate, bonds or gold; starting your portfolio early in life; holding firm in market fluctuations; and keeping informed on the companies in which one invests.This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.He shared his philosophy in a 2005 book, The Investment Zoo: Taming the Bulls and the Bears.In one of his battles on behalf of small investors, Jarislowsky joined other dissident shareholders in 1978 to challenge a buyout by Consolidated-Bathurst Inc. of Domglas Ltd. In the end, according to a 2004 account in Canada’s Financial Post, the minority shareholders were awarded $36 per share, compared with the initial offer of US$20.“I don’t ever ask for anything I think is unfair,” Jarislowsky told the Financial Post. “I want a fair deal, no more, no less. I don’t want to be cheated. I don’t want to be made a fool of.”Berlin BirthStephen Arnold Jarislowsky was born on Sept. 9, 1925, in Berlin. He attended schools in the Netherlands and France before emigrating to the United States in 1941, according to a profile on the website of Trent University, where he endowed a faculty position on government and public service.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Jarislowsky earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at Cornell University before serving in the U.S. Army, where he worked in counterintelligence in Japan after World War II.Back in the U.S. in 1946, he earned a master’s degree at the University of Chicago and an MBA at Harvard Business School. He then worked for three years at Alcan Aluminum in Montreal.The recipient of the Order of Canada, Jarislowsky served on the boards of about 30 companies, including SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., the United Kingdom’s Daily Telegraph newspaper and Goodfellow Inc., a timber company. He was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame in 2007.“You should not be motivated by greed,” he said in a 2010 interview with the Globe and Mail newspaper. “Be motivated by preservation of capital and realistic growth.”With Gail Jarislowsky, who served on the board of his investment firm, he had four children.We apologize, but this video has failed to load.This advertisement has not loaded yet.Notice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.