Montreal-based Richter Family Office is set to open a Calgary office in the coming weeks, citing a growing base of Alberta clients as the driver behind its westward expansion.
The firm has signed a lease for 10,000 square feet of space at 400 Third, a building formerly known as the Devon Tower. Richter plans to hire between 20 and 30 staff in Calgary over the next year.
Richter manages roughly $12 billion in assets, most of it private wealth belonging to entrepreneurs and their families rather than public companies. Many clients hold between $50 million and $500 million in investable assets, and the firm typically requires a minimum of $25 million to $30 million to take on new clients. Richter also has offices in Toronto and Chicago, is owned by 77 partners, and employs about 700 people across Canada.
“This has been probably one of the most prolific wealth creation areas in the country,” partner Michael Kaumeyer said in an interview at Calgary’s Ranchmen’s Club.
New Partners Lead Western Push
Richter announced in a June 4 news release that Kaumeyer and Errol Kuszner had joined the firm as partners. Kaumeyer, who has roots in Calgary, was named to help anchor Richter’s expansion into Western Canada. The firm said it already served clients in Alberta and British Columbia.
Founded in 1926, Richter marked its 100th anniversary this year and describes itself as Canada’s only Business Family Office.
Ranks of Ultra-Wealthy Canadians Climbing
The expansion comes as the number of ultra-wealthy Canadians — those worth US$30 million or more — has climbed to close to 13,000 this year, up about 20% from 2021, citing figures from Knight Frank. Knight Frank’s 2026 wealth sizing model put the global count of such individuals at 713,626, up from 551,435 in 2021.
At the same time, Canada’s wealth gap has continued to widen. Statistics Canada, which measures the gap as the difference in net worth share between the top 20% and bottom 40% of households, put the figure at 62.7 percentage points at the end of 2025, up 0.6 points over the year. The top 20% of households held 65.7% of net worth, while the bottom 40% held just 3.0%. TD Economics reported in March that the gap had narrowed by five percentage points between 2019 and 2023 to a record low of 60, before stabilizing.
Serving Alberta’s Business Families
Kaumeyer said many of Richter’s Alberta clients are first-generation wealth creators who built businesses in the province and have since sold them or are preparing to pass them on to the next generation. He estimated that hundreds of Alberta families hold assets above $30 million.
“We need more of these families in Canada,” Kaumeyer said. “We need more people building businesses, more people staying here, wanting to be here – not leaving the country.”
Partner Justine Delisle said the firm’s approach prioritizes relationships over scale. “It’s not about the number of clients,” she said. “We have been very careful in our growth.”
Kaumeyer said many families want their success to carry forward to future generations. “This wealth can help empower that,” he said, adding that Richter tries to help families avoid turning wealth into “a thing of entitlement.”
Separately, DC Finance is set to host an invitation-only Alberta Family Office and High Net Worth Conference on Oct. 13.
Cost Pressures for Other Households
While wealth accumulates at the top, other Canadians are contending with rising costs. Higher energy prices tied to the war in Iran have pushed up expenses for many households, with the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s June outlook noting the conflict had inflated fuel pricing.
Eric Wulder, a personal financial advisor at Edward Jones in Calgary, said some clients are feeling financial strain. “There’s a big question mark hanging over a lot of people in terms of what things are going to look like a year from now,” he said.
Wulder said even middle- and upper-middle-class clients are feeling pinched by higher costs, debt loads and incomes that don’t stretch far enough. “We’re seeing a lot of people make choices to fix instead of buy something new,” he said.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.
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