Episode Details

Richard Abboud dropped out of university to pursue entrepreneurship. Today, he’s the Founder & CEO of Forum Asset Management, a $4 billion asset management business—and one of the country’s most vocal advocates for a more ambitious Canada.

In the final installment of Can Canada Meet the Moment?, Amber Kanwar sits down with Abboud to trace his journey from running teenage dance venues to building one of Canada’s largest student housing businesses. He explains why Forum is betting on student housing and self-storage, where he sees opportunity in Canadian real estate, and why his investment philosophy starts with finding an “unfair advantage.” He also breaks down how Forum offers investors access to these private-market opportunities through a range of funds designed for different risk appetites and needs for income and growth.

But Abboud is also thinking beyond his own business. He founded Shift Canada to help change Canadian culture around risk, innovation and the fear of failure. Its Shift Failure program is taught in junior high and high schools across the country and has reached 600,000 students in three years, encouraging young Canadians to see failure as part of growth rather than something to fear. Shift Canada also tracks Canadians’ willingness to take risks and be ambitious through its Bold Ambition Index.

Can Canada become more ambitious, take bigger risks and seize the opportunity in front of it? Abboud believes there’s no reason Canada shouldn’t be at the top of the world—but Canadians need to be willing to speak up, take risks and get on with it.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

00:09 Sponsor message and disclaimer

00:33 Welcome to the final installment of the innovation series

01:01 Richard Abboud’s background and what this conversation covers

01:54 Richard’s origin story and entrepreneurial journey

03:37 First business: teenage dances and early lessons

04:46 From broker to Forum Asset Management

05:22 Forum today: assets, student housing, and self-storage

07:15 Why student housing and self-storage still make sense

08:49 Immigration, population trends, and student housing demand

10:04 How the fund is structured for investors

11:42 Retail investor access and current opportunities

13:07 Long-term outlook for the asset class

14:51 Why Richard got involved in Canadian innovation

15:43 Midlife pause, then back to building

16:38 Canada’s innovation problem and cultural barriers

17:57 Shift Canada and the Shift Failure program

19:00 Teaching kids to embrace failure

21:44 Can Canada celebrate entrepreneurs better?

23:24 Why CEOs are speaking up now

25:26 What still needs to happen in Canada

26:24 Tariffs and consumer confidence

27:03 How the business is adapting

27:37 Fun, hobbies, and travel

29:00 Closing remarks and next episode teaser

Sponsors

This show is brought to you by Forum Asset Management, presenting sponsor of our Innovation Special: Can Canada Meet the Moment. Learn more at https://forumam.com.

Thank you to our partners at ATB Financial. ATB Cormark Capital Markets is a leading North American investment firm providing holistic corporate and capital markets advice and full-service financial solutions. Visit https://ATB.com/inthemoney for more information.

For over 25 years, Raymond James has been helping Canadians achieve their financial goals. Visit https://raymondjames.ca today to discover how you can live a life well planned.

Thank you to our partners at Hamilton ETFs. For more information visit https://hamiltonetfs.com 

Support for this podcast is brought to you by EQB – the company behind EQ Bank, Canada’s Chall