Yesterday, I wrote up what I had been hearing about a major move of Gluskin Sheff advisors to RBC Wealth Management. It turns out it's not a typical advisor defection: Onex is officially winding down its wealth management division and all Gluskin Sheff advisor teams are being offered jobs at RBC. They used the term "wind down" in the official update.
The press release also uses the term "excited", but it's clear that the 2019 acquisition of Gluskin Sheff has been a debacle and Onex has very little to show for it. The only fig leaf is RBC agreeing to distribute Onex products on its wealth management platform. There will be an impairment of goodwill and restructuring charges to be quantified when Onex reports results in May.
If I had to guess, it seems likely that Onex's hand has been forced and it is merely recognizing the will of Gluskin Sheff rainmakers. The storied Gluskin Sheff name will not be around to see its 40th anniversary.