Richard DeLuca and Jonathan Veale know how to make good investments. It’s why the Comox-based investment firm partners have chosen Victoria as their next venture. It’s also why they have elected to set up their 14 year-old firm in the highly-visible King Professional Building on the corner of Tillicum Road and Highway 1 – a physical representation of the way they do business: unique, upfront, and totally accessible.
DeLuca Veale Victoria opened their South-island location in October 2018 and the company is also pleased to offer its 11-property real estate portfolio known as RealStream Income Properties, a package led by Jim Stewart who was born and raised in Victoria.
“Victoria is a second home to us and we have been steadily building a clientele here over the last 14 years,” said Veale “We have all lived in Victoria at different times; two of us graduated from UVIC and now two of us have children attending UVIC so the timing to expand here is right on all counts.”
DeLuca and Veale bring a combined 44 years of investment management experience and Veale has been a portfolio manager since 2000 when he received his CFA charter.
The firm built its business on the notion that offering customized, independent and approachable financial advice would earn customer trust and loyalty. It was a good bet. Since opening its doors in 2006, DeLuca Veale has grown its business to a team of 12 working for more than 850 clients and offering investment portfolios that include stocks, bonds and commercial real estate.
RealStream allows investors the opportunity to invest in a predominantly Vancouver Island group of income-producing properties. Earlier this year, the portfolio hit the $100 million mark and it includes buildings in the Comox Valley, Nanaimo, Campbell River, Kamloops and Victoria. Performance over the last year is 11.6 percent while the annual return since inception has been compounding at 11.2 percent – a testament to the firm’s unique approach.
“We knew when we started that we wanted to do things differently; not in the usual impersonal, prescriptive ways,” said DeLuca. “Our clients are unique. Their circumstances are unique. The major things that happen in their lives are unique.”
Stewart couldn’t agree more. “Good advisors should meet people where they are in life; recognizing that where they are will change as time passes and that their financial planning partner should be there along the way,” he said. “it’s very exciting to be bringing RealStream directly to Victoria investors from our new offices less then 10 kilometres from where I grew up. I love Victoria and I look forward to working with our clients there.”