Sydney Mascard

Sydney’s Dream To Make An Impact

“I didn’t want to be a cog in a big wheel. I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives.”

Sydney Mascard became an Investment Advisor with Polson Bourbonniere Derby Wealth Management in 2022. However, it turns out she’s been prepping for her career since she was a little girl. That’s because some of her earliest memories are of spending time with her Dad and quietly listening as he counselled his own clients over the phone.

“Funnily enough, she says, “I’ve been hearing about people’s investments and investing my entire life.”

In retrospect, it may seem like Sydney was destined to be an advisor but she doesn’t see it that way. “I wanted to sow my oats and learn from the ground up. It has always been important for me to prove that I could do it myself.”

And she did. After graduating in commerce from Queens University in 2017, she was hired by a major telecommunications company and had the good fortune to rotate through different areas of the business, including marketing and pricing.

“I loved the analytics of pricing, how measurable it was. I got to work with a huge team and I was able to achieve really big results on multi-million-dollar projects… but something was missing.”

What was missing, Sydney says, was her dream of doing something more impactful for real people at ground level.

She already knew she loved problem solving, analytics and helping people and she longed for the opportunity to do it all. But before jumping in with both feet, she naturally wanted to do her due diligence. So Sydney began taking investment courses, talking to people in the industry and keeping an eye out for the right opportunity.

Then she met Michael Derby.

“We clicked right away,” Sydney says, “and from the start I felt we were on the same page. So much in this business is focused on money but he is more focused on people, on his clients, and doing what’s right for them. You really have to care about where they’re going, what they want to do and what their goals are — and we both agreed 100 percent on that.”

Today, Michael and Sydney work side by side on their clients’ challenges and helping them achieve their goals.

“It gives me great joy to dive into the numbers, work through scenarios and find the most optimal plan. But most of all, I really enjoy asking questions, opening up the conversation to not only help each client reach their goals but, often, to make it easier for them to figure out what those goals are.”

When Sydney isn’t focused on her clients, she spends time with her boyfriend in their new home in downtown Toronto exploring their favorite restaurants on the east end or spending time on the water at Lake Simcoe where she grew up. Though, her greatest passion is horseback riding; she has been actively riding and competing for the last 20 years. She currently owns a young horse named Carly.

Now two decades later from when she was a little girl, spending time on those client calls with her dad on their way to go horseback riding Sydney has managed to fulfill two of her greatest passions. And she’s just getting started.