We continue our series of portraits of Finance Montréal team members with a valuable addition to our IFC (International Financial Center) team: Bruno Séguin, our Director, Strategic Accounts.
What attracted you to Finance Montréal?
I had worked in economic development, business support and international business development in the past. I've always been drawn to helping entrepreneurs and business leaders bring projects to fruition, create high value-added jobs and positively transform the local economy.
Working at Finance Montréal, as part of the IFC team, would give me the opportunity to collaborate with sophisticated companies of different sizes, from all over the world, and support them in the creation of projects in Montréal. I had also studied and worked in the financial sector, so this was an area that interested me. With this position, I would be able to combine my interests in economic development, international affairs and finance in one job.
What do you enjoy most about Finance Montréal?
First and foremost, I would say the intellectual challenge. At Finance Montréal, our day-to-day work involves working with a wide variety of companies, understanding business models and professions that are often unfamiliar to the general public, juggling government incentive programs, and studying a multitude of aspects of the financial industry.
We also develop in-depth comparative analyses of Montréal in relation to other international cities, in order to promote the advantages of Montréal as an effervescent business center to leaders of large, complex international organizations, and to assist their companies with their business plans.
Secondly, it’s the ease with which working at Finance Montréal enables you to connect with a multitude of people and decision-makers in the financial industry, business services and economic development. People want to connect with and through Finance Montréal.
In short, at Finance Montréal we're always meeting new people and learning new things. It’s very stimulating!
Tell us about an initiative you enjoyed working on and are proud of.
A few years ago, BNP Paribas and Société Générale, both of which had a relatively modest presence in Montréal, approached us with a vision: to make Montréal a major operational center for their activities in the Americas. We began by working with them and the Quebec Ministry of Finance to adapt the IFC measure to the new needs. We then provided intensive support to the management teams in Quebec and abroad, of the various departments involved in both institutions, to help them implement their projects.
Today, BNP Paribas employs over 1,400 people in Montréal, Société Générale around 800, and the Crédit Agricole Group, which also set up in Montréal on the same model in 2024, already has several hundred employees. All three companies are members of Finance Montréal and have become major players in our financial ecosystem.
What motivates you on a daily basis?
What puts me in a good mood every day is joking around with my colleagues and friends. I love trying to find a humorous and unusual angle on every situation.
What would you say to a young person to get them interested in finance?
One of the things that surprised me the most when I started working at Finance Montréal was the extent to which the 2008 financial crisis, the rise of technology and the advent of sustainable finance had transformed the industry.
We're a far cry from the stereotypes of austere bankers and flamboyant brokers that we see or used to see in the movies. The profiles of people and positions in the industry are now very diverse. We hardly ever see ties anymore, we’re constantly talking about innovation, digital transformation, sustainability, risk management, regulation, and so on. The industry is undergoing a profound transformation, and there are career opportunities for all kinds of profiles. What's more, financial institutions are great employers.
