Twenty five HEC Montréal alumni have joined forces in a remarkable show of support for their alma mater, donating more than $830,000 toward a scholarship fund for finance students who are members of the HEC Montréal Student Investment Fund (FPHEC). This donation coincides with the 30th anniversary of the founding of the FPHEC.
The driving force behind this exceptional initiative is Marc-André Nantais (HEC Montréal 2003), a senior private wealth portfolio manager with Jarislowsky Fraser who sits on the FPHEC Board of Directors. “The HEC Montréal Foundation awarded a $1 million management mandate to the FPHEC in 2023 to ensure the fund’s long-term sustainability. The words ‘circular economy’ are on everyone’s lips these days. This donation was for us, as former FPHEC members, our way of thanking the School for their support over the years. We wanted to be the first association to give back like this.”
The names of the generous philanthropists who have made a donation to the fund through a life insurance policy, which lets them adjust their payments based on their age and their financial situation, are Akram Bencherif (HEC Montréal 2016), Philippe-Alexandre Bouchard (HEC Montréal 2010), Patrick Bui (HEC Montréal 2004), Jean-François Chaput (HEC Montréal 2006), Vincent Decary (HEC Montréal 2006 et 2007), Marcel Doyon (HEC Montréal 1996), Carl Dussault (HEC Montréal 2010 et 2013), Benjamin Elemond (HEC Montréal 2019), Maude Gagnon-Chalifour (HEC Montréal 2009 et 2011), Benjamin Lacourse Proulx (HEC Montréal 2007), Jonathan Laniel (HEC Montréal 2004), Marc-André Lefebvre (HEC Montréal 2003), Marc-André Lemieux (HEC Montréal 2012 et 2013), Jérôme Lessard (HEC Montréal 2004), David Lewin (HEC Montréal 2004), Jean-François Marcoux (HEC Montréal 1995), Philippe Martin (HEC Montréal 2004), Éric Morisset (HEC Montréal 1988), Marc-André Nantais (HEC Montréal 2003), Vincent Otis-Duhamel (HEC Montréal 2012 et 2015), Patrice Quirion (HEC Montréal 2004), Chloé Raby-Roussel (HEC Montréal 2013), Guillaume Roy (HEC Montréal 2003), Minh Thanh Tran (HEC Montréal 2008) and Heng Vuong (HEC Montréal 2003).
“These donations are in line with our association’s core values of community and collaboration — values that endure from one year to the next. This commitment is a source of inspiration that will encourage us to keep this tradition alive.”
A room in the Côte-Sainte-Catherine Building will bear the FPHEC’s name in recognition of this collective gift.
“It fills us with such pride and gratitude to see young philanthropists from the HEC Montréal community giving back in such a meaningful way through the student investment fund. It just goes to show how much of an impact their participation in the FPHEC had on them, both personally and professionally.”
For the past 30 years, the FPHEC has been providing business administration students with an opportunity to see how portfolio management actually works and hone their financial analysis and investment skills. They learn both from their peers and from investment specialists, making it a uniquely enriching experience.
The FPHEC is recognized as the School’s top financial association for undergraduate students. It embraces a hands-on and dynamic approach to making academic and industry opportunities available to the next generation of Montreal financial professionals.
Over the past three decades, more than 280 people have belonged to the FPHEC, many of whom now have thriving financial and business careers in Montreal and around the world.
Marc-André Nantais concluded by challenging other associations to follow the FPHEC’s lead: “If what we’ve done can inspire accounting, marketing or other associations to get a group together and make a donation to the School, that would be the best possible outcome as far as we’re concerned.”
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