Name: How Monique Leroux Is Shaking Up Quebec's Investment Arm
Uploaded: 2019-09-16
Duration: 20 min 25 s
Description: Monique Leroux has been described as proactive and energetic and is one of Canada’s most powerful women in finance. She spearheaded Desjardins’ revival from the financial crisis and today shares her vast experience with firms worldwide.

Lovely to meet you. How are you? I am good. We have an interesting bunch of questions lined up for you. And I think the first one kind of starts off with the question Nina had put to us about the situation around the world. We're all competing for who's got it worse. So in this kind of environment. [ LAUGH ] What do you do when when you're looking at investments around the world? Do you worry do you say it'll be fine? Well, let me first of all tell you that I hope that Canada will be the best. Not the worst. [ LAUGH ] And by the way it's an amazing group of people, I was listening to all of you backstage and well it's quite a powerful group of people and very pleased to be with all of you. When I look at the situation. And you know on a global basis. First of all, we need to recognize that the global economy is slowing down and that essentially you can go into a lot of details but they are two important trends. The first is certainly trade conflicts. And geopolitical tensions around the world. And it's very, very difficult to predict the way it will go. It will depend the ways some presidents will wake up in the morning and decide the way it will go that day. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] So it's, no, but that's the reality, unfortunately. When I look at Canada, to a certain extent, I feel a little bit more comfortable. I hope that we will not be going into that trend of populisms and protectionisms. I hope that we will continue to be a very open Country, inclusive country, innovative country compared to unfortunately the trends that we can see right now in Europe with the Brexit. The tension in the US with China [ UNKNOWN ] So that's, from an investment point of view. That's not easy and it's not easy but where do you put your money in an environment like this, if you're sitting in Canada and saying Where do I attract people to invest in my country? Do I put it in innovation? Do I put it in AI? Do I put it in natural resources? Where is the target for you? Well, I think that when I look at it, I like very much the Canadian story. And the reason is, I guess, this is a country where we have important natural resources and energy, which is important, water. We have educated people, a reasonable system for innovation. So when I look at it from An investment point of view, compared to other countries. And I have the privilege to travel a little bit. I like my Canadian story, and I like my Canadian, I would say, context to invest. However, I guess that You know. I would, I would certainly suggest to consider alternative investments because when we look at traditional fixed income. Opportunities or [ UNKNOWN ], we need to make sure to have a very well diversified portfolio, and by the way that's what I am doing myself. So looking at Canada first, but looking Looking also at the world. I do wanna ask all of you, this is our opportunity to ask Monique our questions, so if anyone has a question, do raise your hand and our mic- handlers will come to you. So at this point I just wanna go back to Monique with a question of my own but do raise your hand if you have a question, I'll come straight to you. Let's talk about competitiveness. What are the issues that we're looking at when we are looking at Canadian businesses versus other other countries in the Americas? Yeah. We're not even going to go as far as Europe at this point. So when we look at Canada versus not just the US but Latin America, South America. Where does Canada stand and where does it fail? Well, even though I'm a fan. I'm a fan of Canada as I said, there are things that we need to do better. And I think that right now when we look at the economy, the economy is doing well. And mostly because there is a positive consumer confidence level into the economy. That the labor trend is is also quite positive. However, when we compare Canada to the United States, and unfortunately we are not as productive, not as innovative. Not as entrepreneurial. So I think that and the level of business investment is not as significant. So I guess that when I look at our country and when I look forward in terms of what we can do to improve the competitiveness of the Kenyan economy, it is certainly To work and do better in terms of those three elements. These are productivity, business investment and innovation. But do you think that last bit in terms of innovation, there's been a lot of criticism that not enough investments are going into things like artificial intelligence in Canada? Do you agree with that analysis? I would say yes and no. I think that we are doing and, depending on where you are talking about in the country, we are doing well. If I think about some clusters in Montreal, for example, if I look at what's going on in Toronto, they're a very interesting initiative. Can w do better? Probably so compared to the US there's also in the US a very strong defense sector that we don't have per say in Canada it makes a very big difference. So I would say that I'm happy about the momentum but can we do more no doubt about it. Now There are some issues regarding artificial intelligence and some of those things in terms of new developments in the, you know, the technology and the question of data protection and so forth. And I think that in parallel that we do more, we need to also increase the level of Work that we do in terms of ethical conducts. Because there was an article, I guess, two or three weeks ago in The Economist talking about artificial intelligence in warfare. And when you read those articles, you start to be a little bit nervous about the state of the world because you realize that something could happen. Some machine could decide to launch something somewhere in the world without having the usual check and balance that you have with people. So you know, you need to make sure that in parallel that you increase the level of investments that you do in the artificial intelligence that- Are you doing with investment k back? Are you pumping in the money in that direction? Yep, yeah, I guess that the federal government but also the Quebec government was very keen in investing into the crossroads we have in Montreal. There are some interesting initiatives, but still some work to make sure that we can Do something meaningful with it. We have a question from the chair of MBW International [ CROSSTALK ] To say that. Sorry. What you think for being herem, could you describe how Canadian relates the economic relationship with China. Has changed, changed and shifted as the US economic relationship with China has shifted? Well, that's a very interesting question because if you look at the history of our country, Canada was one of the first country to have official relationships with China. And, and I guess that, many prime ministers were able over these three to get some, ongoing positive relationship with China. And, of course with what's going on with. Stand all the conflicts between the US and China, it's much more delicate and complicated than that. That's a big issue in my mind. We need to recognize that we have some important Canadian values. But at the same time, we need to recognize that We need to diversify our trade partners around the world and China is certainly an important country for us. One important aspect, I hope that Dominic [ UNKNOWN ] was the new ambassador from Canada to China. Highly experienced person with large connections around the world. Large connection with China will be able to help a little bit to resolve this kind of very intense situation. Do we have any other questions from the room? Right there [ BLANK_AUDIO ] No, this mic coming. I just build a note, my question thanks Monica it's good to see you again. I'm Marcy from Black Rock. One question that I want to have and I think that this really is to your role as because you have a particular bird's eye view as chair of investment. Yes. Back and this will be more relevant to my Canadian colleagues in the room than the US but maybe it'll resonate for the US colleagues as well is I look at Canada as being a small country, not geographically but in terms of number of people. And I wonder what you think the opportunities are for us to get some scale behind some initiatives as a country with a less regional approach if you will. And I think that could be the same as true in other countries where we splinter. Into these smaller groups and we're not really accomplishing the big exciting- Yeah, well, a very- [ CROSSTALK ] This part of Europe. Yeah, very interesting, yeah. I think that one of the risk that we're facing in Canada, and we need to be very careful about that, and we are not isolated from the big trends around populisms around the world. Is that we need to make sure that we keep the unity of the country we need to keep the country together from a political point of view. So far, you know, we've been able to do that we have some conversations of course between Quebec and the other part of Canada, but we've been able to do that. With respect and we were able to progress in that journey, and I hope that it will be the same thing going forward. With some of the issues that i'm listening to from the western part of Canada, I hope that we can keep things together. I think that from a pure economic point of view there are a lot of opportunities to do more trade across this country. We have provincial barriers that doesn't make sense any more. So we'll need to correct that and adjust that. And to a certain extent, I guess that I'm not Uncomfortable with this kind of middle power country. So we are not as huge as the US, we have to deal with a huge partner. And in fact with, of course, the change in directions coming in the US that we had to manage with when it was time to renegotiate NAFTA. I think that we were able to do it right. And I think that Canada should continue on the global scene to be, I would say, a country of inclusivity, country where we respect people and a country where we have strong social values and hopefully this As something that will keep the country together. How much does business end up playing a role in bringing that to fruition because you're seeing the same issues in Europe as well. where businesses seem to be taking this on as almost a purpose a cause and some of it would be walk washing and some of it is actually a reality of out of born out of necessity for talent. Well Personally, I am a very strong believer and the fact that business is there to create value not just for shareholders, not just for the economy, but for society And when you look at some of the successful corporations with long history of success, you will see that those companies have a very balanced way. To deal with the responsibilities but also most of the time, have a purpose. And I found very interesting this evolution in the US of the US business roundtable at to move from that focus on shareholders. To stakeholders. And I feel comfortable with that because as the former chair of the board and CEO of digital day, when I was thinking about the strategy of the organization when I was thinking about the future of the organization, it was about Customers, of course members will ask, but customers, if you are not aligned with your customers today and tomorrow, if you are not able to understand the evolution of the customers going forward, you will not be any more in business, so sometimes you need to adjust and you need to invest into the future. To make sure that your customers will be getting value from your organization. Employees, it has to be there because the success of an organization is people. Without people you don't have a business. So by definition I felt comfortable with that and the best ideas, the best Strategy will come to friction that the condition that you will be able to implement and you implement how with people, your employees. By the way, this connection with suppliers are very, you know, are essentially partners of your organization. So it makes, you know, a lot of sense to include them Communities, it makes sense also. And, eventually, shareholders. So, in which order you need to position all of that. Some people will start with shareholders. And, I know that there are some debates. There was a very interesting article in The Economist, I think it was, last week, about You keep quoting The fact Competitors that, yeah, well, I know. But, you know, I'm a fan They do a damn good job. of that. Magazine I have to admit, but the point is that there was a very strong argument against this position of the US business roundtable but personally I feel comfortable even though I have to admit that it is a little bit unclear to me How you want to define a company with a purpose. That's not easy. And we had a few minutes before this session, a small round table talking about that, when you think about it, how to define a company with a purpose, is not something easy to do. You can't define a company with, an appropriate corporate responsibility approach. But defining a company with a purpose is something much more demanding in my view. Well it- Pull off the rest. It sounds a bit like writing a piece of music, and I know that you're Background as a musician helped to you to almost look at your companies and business you deal with [ UNKNOWN ] almost like an orchestra. It is, it is. So how has that entire life journey really helped you to figure out what is critically important At a level of a Desjardins or at Investment Quebec or if you're looking at Canada as a whole or in the companies that you're going to and advising or investing in. How do you draw that perfect musical piece together? What do you You put first and second and third. [ LAUGH ] Well my background in music and arts is very important to me that it gave me. I guess when I was very young. Quesion, a sense of discipline, rigour but also being. Comfortable with emotion and emotion is about people. So I realized very quickly that when I was with different organization, and that when you want to bring people to, I guess to realize or to execute the strategy, it's about bringing some sort of positive emotion. Positive energy. And it's like a little bit like conducting an orchestra. It's very, very similar or it's like playing music with a lot of people. And at the end of the day, I guess that I was able from time to time to bring a little bit of that. Experience musical experience into what I was doing, bring people into one direction with not one voice, very different voices but at the same time we have the same song or the same kind of music and that's you know what you need to do with large organizations if you want to be successful. If you had to. Think about the current political situation in Canada and you to put that into a piece of music. Would you say that this election is going to be, well in tune? It's going to end up with a beautiful piece of Mozart style music or is it going to be more underground? [ LAUGH ] Where would you go with this? [ LAUGH ] You know what? That's a really good question. [ LAUGH ] Thinking about the election from a music point of view, well, it is certainly maybe something like a very long symphony. Funny. [ LAUGH ] There will be some emotion in the middle, but hopefully at the end we will be going with Andalusia. So hopefully, [ LAUGH ] at the end of the day we will be able to keep the country in the right direction. And nothing's keeping you awake at night worried? I'm a little bit as I said worried about the fact that, there could be a trend to some populism into the campaign. And I don't think that this is something, that could contribute to the well being of the country. So hopefully the typical Canadian well balanced style, more to the center will, the result of this election. So my last question to you and you can answer in one line one word however you want. I was told by friends of mine in Quebec that there was a lot of chatter about you Thinking about a political role in Canada, is that true or is that just gossip? Let me think about it. [ LAUGH ] There couldn't be a nicer answer to that question. Monique, thank you so very much for giving us your insight. Thank you so much. [ BLANK_AUDIO ]

How Monique Leroux Is Shaking Up Quebec's Investment Arm

Leadership

Monique Leroux has been described as proactive and energetic and is one of Canada’s most powerful women in finance. She spearheaded Desjardins’ revival from the financial crisis and today shares her vast experience with firms worldwide.