Alan Harman

Alan joined ScotiaMcleod in 1987 after completing a M.B.A. at York University. He has been awarded the J.G. Weir Award for excellence in Client Service and was nominated for the Investment Dealers Association Award of Distinction. He was made a Director in 1994 and became a Portfolio Manager in 2011. Alan has been an 11 time member of ScotiaMcLeod’s “Chairman’s Council”.

Alan has been involved in socially responsible investing and impact investing since the late 1980’s. He was a founding member of the Social Investment Organization (later the Responsible Investment Organization) and sat on their inaugural Board of Directors. He is an original client and partner of Jantzi Research Associates (later Sustainalytics) and was a judge for the mutual fund industry’s “Socially Responsible Fund of the Year” award.

Alan has been featured on television and all of Canada’s national newspapers in regards to socially responsible investing, fossil free portfolios and impact investing. Alan has audited 13 year performance returns for his socially responsible investment portfolios.

Alan’s passion is the environment. In the early 1990s he hosted public seminars on environmental investing featuring leading environmentalist of the day. In 2000 he had his office “zero-footprinted” and “bullfrog powered”. He was a campaign manager for the Green Party of Canada and has sat on a variety of environmental not-for-profit boards including the Environmental Industry Association and Small Change Fund. Recently Alan helped craft Ontario’s first community solar energy project under the Green Energy Act (nominated for a Green Toronto award), which has since been used by 23 churches in Toronto.

Alan has played an active role in many social change organizations in Toronto. He recently sat on the boards of Variety Village and Bereaved Families of Ontario. He is the founder and President of the Alma Children’s Education Foundation (www.almafoundation.ca).

Investment Philosophy and Process

It has been Alan’s experience that applying a socially responsible screen to portfolios not only aligns one’s investments with their values but provides for lower volatility and higher returns.

Service Approach

Alan has a limited and particular client base (socially responsible investors) so he is able to provide excellent client service. Alan has a minimum account size of $1,000,000. Eleanor Martin has been his administrative assistant for 30 years and enjoys a stellar reputation within the firm and amongst his clients.