One of the founders of well-known wealth manager Gluskin Sheff says the firm “really deserved to go out of business.”

Last month, Gluskin Sheff owner Onex Corp. transferred the entire wealth management advisory division to Royal Bank of Canada.

Ira Gluskin, the corporate director and founder of Gluskin Sheff, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Thursday the transfer left him with mixed emotions. 

“Gluskin Sheff was worth a billion dollars… [around] 12 years ago, then Onex bought them for $400 [million] and change. Now it's worth zero,” Gluskin said. 

The firm “really deserved to go out of business,” he said. 

“We had, in the old days, high fees and high performance and periods when it wasn't so great. But then we'd come back. We had a very lot of very smart people.” 

However, key departures hurt the business, Gluskin said, which included Brad Dunkley, a former vice-president and portfolio manager at Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc.

“Ultimately they left, they all left. Why did they leave? Because the culture was bad,” he said. 

Onex purchased Gluskin Sheff in a 2019 deal worth $445 million. According to Gluskin, the acquisition was not a good fit. 

“Onex had one agenda. They wanted Gluskin Sheff to be their distribution arm to the high-net-worth world. They wanted the Gluskin Sheff clients to buy Onex products. That's perfectly legitimate, but it's not why the people came to Gluskin Sheff in the first place,” he said. 

At the time of the acquisition, Onex Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gerry Schwartz stated the deal was complementary for both firms and that it planned to maintain the existing management team and brand.

“They [Gluskin Sheff clients] came for public stocks and hedge funds and bonds. I don't think the performance of these private equity and credit funds was spectacular,” Gluskin said. 

Gluskin said he doesn’t think RBC’s wealth management arm will be a good fit either.

“The clients who came to Gluskin Sheff, they always knew about banks, [if] they wanted to go to a bank they would have gone to a bank. They like the idea of independence,” Gluskin said, adding that some clients will stay.

David Agnew, CEO of RBC Wealth Management Canada, said in March that Gluskin Sheff would bolster the firms "investment solutions."

Dave Kelly, the head of Gluskin Sheff, also commented at the time, saying investors: "will now have the opportunity to benefit from the full breadth of RBC WMC’s investment management and wealth planning capabilities while maintaining the Gluskin Sheff relationships they value."