General Investing >> Money Manager Interviews >> May 23, 2005
J. SEBASTIAN VAN BERKOM is President and CEO of Van Berkom and
Associates Inc. He commenced his investment management career at Bell
Canada pension fund in 1971 as an Investment Analyst, Canadian Equities.
In 1973, he was appointed Manager, and during his first year, he
recommended a long-term policy commitment toward smaller sized Canadian
growth stocks as part of the overall Canadian equity investment policy.
In 1977, he was appointed Assistant Director, Financing and later,
Assistant Director, Financial Analysis in the Bell Canada Finance
Department. In 1979, he became a partner of LRM Investment Management
Limited. At LRM he continued to develop his expertise in mid- and small
cap Canadian equities, and late in 1984, Mr. van Berkom was invited by
Montreal Trust to become one of the founding partners of Montrusco
Associates Inc. in Montreal and was appointed Vice President and
Director. His prime investment management responsibility was to manage
the Montrusco Select Canadian Small Cap Growth Fund. In April 1991, he
sold his significant shareholding in Montrusco to build VBA into a
specialized small cap investment management company. In addition to
serving as President and CEO, he is a member of the Montreal Society of
Financial Analysts, the Acorn Society, the Cercle finance et placement
du Qubec and is on the Securities Review Board of the Canadian
Shareowner Association. In 1997, Mr. van Berkom was awarded the Small
Cap Manager of the Year Award at the third annual Canadian Mutual Fund
Awards Gala in Toronto. Mr. van Berkom was also nominated in 1998 as a
finalist at the fifth annual Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Montreal
sponsored by Ernst & Young. On November 25, 2003, Mr. van Berkom endowed
the Van Berkom Chair in Small Cap Equities at the John Molson School of
Business at Concordia University. Profile
Associates and its investment philosophy?
Mr. van Berkom: I started the firm in 1991 as a firm that was 100%
focused on small
