Last week I attended the 2026 Macroeconomic Outlook organized by 100 Women In Finance at Scotiabank—and walked away with one conviction:

 

The conversation was anchored by Rebekah Young, Laura Lau and Nan Chen, CFA, FRM 

 

Global growth is holding (~3.2% in 2025), markets are still up, AI momentum is real—and yet:

Job and wage cooling is unmistakable

The disconnect between markets and the real economy is widening

AI is shifting from hype to maintenance capital

Canada sits at a crossroads: invest—or hollow out

 

The mood? Uncomfortably optimistic.

No recession, but no margin for complacency.

 

In this week’s newsletter, I break down:

Why uncertainty is no longer a phase, but the backdrop

Why AI’s biggest winners may not be who you think

Why Canada’s next 24 months are critical

Peggy Van de Plassche is a value creation strategist and senior advisor with over 20 years of experience in private equity, financial services, healthcare, and technology. She works with investment firms, boards, and C-suite leaders to accelerate portfolio company performance, drive operational transformation, and unlock long-term value. Peggy specializes in the execution of complex value creation plans—spanning capital allocation, digital enablement, transaction advisory, and leadership alignment. Her work consistently bridges strategy and implementation, helping investors and operators maximize EBITDA and enterprise value. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, she also brings deep expertise in public-private partnerships and institutional capital deployment—critical levers for competitive advantage in today’s global landscape. Her clients have included BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. Learn more at peggyvandeplassche.com.

#privateequity #privatemarkets #alternativeinvestments #investing #investments #invest #venturecapital #investor #entrepreneur #digitaltransformation #ai #exit #tech #technology #finance #financialservices #healthcare

We all know the data by now:
Screens are rewiring our brains, shrinking attention spans, and quietly eroding social skills and relationships.

Yet family dinners look like a row of people sitting next to each other…
scrolling.

Parents model presence—or absence.
Playgrounds are louder, attention is shorter, and boredom (which kids actually need) has disappeared.

And Silicon Valley’s solution?
👉 More apps to help us be on social media less.
I love the irony.

Here’s the thing: I love my phone.
Maps. Payments. Music. News. Connection.
But during the holidays, my average daily screen time was 19 minutes.

Not because of superhuman willpower.
Because of ground rules.

No doom-scrolling.
Paper over screens whenever possible.
Designing the environment instead of fighting it.
Are you designing your habits—or letting them design you?

#attentioneconomy  #digitalwellbeing  #leadership  #presence  #thinkingtime 

Peggy Van de Plassche is a value creation strategist and senior advisor with over 20 years of experience in private equity, financial services, healthcare, and technology. She works with investment firms, boards, and C-suite leaders to accelerate portfolio company performance, drive operational transformation, and unlock long-term value. Peggy specializes in the execution of complex value creation plans—spanning capital allocation, digital enablement, transaction advisory, and leadership alignment. Her work consistently bridges strategy and implementation, helping investors and operators maximize EBITDA and enterprise value. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, she also brings deep expertise in public-private partnerships and institutional capital deployment—critical levers for competitive advantage in today’s global landscape. Her clients have included BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. Learn more at peggyvandeplassche.com.

#privateequity #privatemarkets #alternativeinvestments #investing #investments #invest #venturecapital #investor #entrepreneur #digitaltransformation #ai #exit #tech #technology #finance #financialservices #healthcare

Dinner party. Assigned seating.
Luxury objects being passed around.
Inventories compared.
Photos shown.
Colleagues' behaviors discussed—at length

If this had been women with handbags, the verdict would have been immediate: vain, shallow, boring 🙄

But it wasn’t. It was men. With watches ⌚

So suddenly:
 – it’s not vanity, it’s craftsmanship 🛠️
 – not gossip, but “knowing the ecosystem” 🌐
 – not posturing, but passion

Same behavior. Entirely different intellectual upgrade.

No outrage here. No gender war either.
Just a quiet observation on how effortlessly we reframe the same signals—depending on who’s sending them 🧠

Next time a dinner conversation strikes you as “impressive” or “trivial,” try one experiment: swap the gender.
The story usually rewrites itself ✨

 

#Leadership 

#Power 

#gender

Peggy Van de Plassche is a value creation strategist and senior advisor with over 20 years of experience in private equity, financial services, healthcare, and technology. She works with investment firms, boards, and C-suite leaders to accelerate portfolio company performance, drive operational transformation, and unlock long-term value. Peggy specializes in the execution of complex value creation plans—spanning capital allocation, digital enablement, transaction advisory, and leadership alignment. Her work consistently bridges strategy and implementation, helping investors and operators maximize EBITDA and enterprise value. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, she also brings deep expertise in public-private partnerships and institutional capital deployment—critical levers for competitive advantage in today’s global landscape. Her clients have included BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. Learn more at peggyvandeplassche.com.

#privateequity #privatemarkets #alternativeinvestments #investing #investments #invest #venturecapital #investor #entrepreneur #digitaltransformation #ai #exit #tech #technology #finance #financialservices #healthcare

🎯 If you set only one career resolution for 2026, make it this.

Stop treating LinkedIn like a photo album
And start treating it like your own HBR 📖

Thought leadership isn’t about posting more.
It’s about thinking better — and making that thinking visible 🧠

Writing regularly has:

sharpened how I listen 👂

clarified how I think ✍️

elevated the conversations I have 💬

and, yes, quietly unlocked career opportunities 🚪

Not because I post pictures of where I go —
but because I share what I see, what it means, and why it matters.

I spoke about this in my latest podcast — why insightful communication may be the most underestimated career lever we have.

 #ThoughtLeadership #CareerDevelopment #Leadership #ProfessionalGrowth #executivepresence 

Peggy Van de Plassche is a value creation strategist and senior advisor with over 20 years of experience in private equity, financial services, healthcare, and technology. She works with investment firms, boards, and C-suite leaders to accelerate portfolio company performance, drive operational transformation, and unlock long-term value. Peggy specializes in the execution of complex value creation plans—spanning capital allocation, digital enablement, transaction advisory, and leadership alignment. Her work consistently bridges strategy and implementation, helping investors and operators maximize EBITDA and enterprise value. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, she also brings deep expertise in public-private partnerships and institutional capital deployment—critical levers for competitive advantage in today’s global landscape. Her clients have included BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. Learn more at peggyvandeplassche.com.

#privateequity #privatemarkets #alternativeinvestments #investing #investments #invest #venturecapital #investor #entrepreneur #digitaltransformation #ai #exit #tech #technology #finance #financialservices #healthcare

🚧 Career stalled? Before you panic — listen to this.

Career slumps don’t mean you made bad choices.
 More often, they mean the environment shifted, the market moved, expectations drifted, or something quietly stopped fitting.

I’ve been through several versions of the career slump — sometimes forced, sometimes chosen, sometimes just confusing — and I’ve tested more remedies than I care to admit.

In my latest newsletter, I share what actually helped me regain momentum, without platitudes or manifestation talk:

🧭 how to tell whether the issue is macro, personal, or both
🪞 why self-awareness isn’t enough without real feedback
🛠️ what truly moves the needle (and what mostly doesn’t)
✈️ when changing role, organization, or geography is the right move
🔄 why careers move in cycles, not straight lines — despite what LinkedIn suggests

If any of this feels familiar, enjoy this podcast

#CareerTransitions #Leadership #ProfessionalGrowth #ExecutiveLife #Reinvention

Peggy Van de Plassche is a value creation strategist and senior advisor with over 20 years of experience in private equity, financial services, healthcare, and technology. She works with investment firms, boards, and C-suite leaders to accelerate portfolio company performance, drive operational transformation, and unlock long-term value. Peggy specializes in the execution of complex value creation plans—spanning capital allocation, digital enablement, transaction advisory, and leadership alignment. Her work consistently bridges strategy and implementation, helping investors and operators maximize EBITDA and enterprise value. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, she also brings deep expertise in public-private partnerships and institutional capital deployment—critical levers for competitive advantage in today’s global landscape. Her clients have included BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. Learn more at peggyvandeplassche.com.

#privateequity #privatemarkets #alternativeinvestments #investing #investments #invest #venturecapital #investor #entrepreneur #digitaltransformation #ai #exit #tech #technology #finance #financialservices #healthcare

Ever feel like you’re managing an overconfident junior analyst — only this one costs $20/month and never sleeps?

That’s been my relationship with ChatGPT-5 lately.
 Brilliant at first glance, charming in tone, but when deadlines hit… it cheerfully tells you everything is “✅ On track” while the deliverables are nowhere to be found.

I’ve done the homework — deep-dive courses, optimized prompts, feedback loops tighter than a McKinsey Gantt chart — yet the “deep research” experience remains a mix of brilliance and bafflement.

Deadlines? Elastic.
 Quality? Inconsistent.
 Tone? Disingenuously confident.

So yes, AI is changing how we work — but not always in the ways the hype suggests.

💸 The real question: will the technology catch up to its trillion-dollar valuation before the music stops?

Peggy Van de Plassche is a value creation strategist and senior advisor with over 20 years of experience in private equity, financial services, healthcare, and technology. She works with investment firms, boards, and C-suite leaders to accelerate portfolio company performance, drive operational transformation, and unlock long-term value. Peggy specializes in the execution of complex value creation plans—spanning capital allocation, digital enablement, transaction advisory, and leadership alignment. Her work consistently bridges strategy and implementation, helping investors and operators maximize EBITDA and enterprise value. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, she also brings deep expertise in public-private partnerships and institutional capital deployment—critical levers for competitive advantage in today’s global landscape. Her clients have included BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. Learn more at peggyvandeplassche.com.

#privateequity #privatemarkets #alternativeinvestments #investing #investments #invest #venturecapital #investor #entrepreneur #digitaltransformation #ai #exit #tech #technology #finance #financialservices #healthcare

What makes something valuable?
 Its beauty, its rarity… or the story it tells?

A few years ago, I met artist Abraham Reyes — heir to the world’s largest natural pearl, the Giga Pearl, appraised at $135 million.
But instead of locking it away, he turned his inheritance into art.

He uses real gems and wild pearls to create sculptures that question what value really means — in art, in markets, in culture.

It reminded me of Marcel Duchamp, who once placed a urinal in a museum and called it art, forcing the world to rethink worth and meaning. Abraham is doing something similar — merging gemology and contemporary art to redefine both.

✨ Why it matters:
 His story isn’t just about pearls. It’s about how innovation disrupts tradition — in art as in finance.

🎨 Listen to my latest podcast —
 “Value, Beauty & Rebellion: When Art Holds Its Own Worth”
A reflection on what truly gives things — and ideas — their value.

#Art #Innovation #ValueCreation #Culture #Investing #AbrahamReyes #ContemporaryArt

You can explore Abraham’s Art here: abrahamreyes.art | https://www.instagram.com/abrahamreyesart

Peggy Van de Plassche is a value creation strategist and senior advisor with over 20 years of experience in private equity, financial services, healthcare, and technology. She works with investment firms, boards, and C-suite leaders to accelerate portfolio company performance, drive operational transformation, and unlock long-term value. Peggy specializes in the execution of complex value creation plans—spanning capital allocation, digital enablement, transaction advisory, and leadership alignment. Her work consistently bridges strategy and implementation, helping investors and operators maximize EBITDA and enterprise value. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, she also brings deep expertise in public-private partnerships and institutional capital deployment—critical levers for competitive advantage in today’s global landscape. Her clients have included BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. Learn more at peggyvandeplassche.com.

#privateequity #privatemarkets #alternativeinvestments #investing #investments #invest #venturecapital #investor #entrepreneur #digitaltransformation #ai #exit #tech #technology #finance #financialservices #healthcare

For years, I was a model student of personal development — from the most structured to the most woo-woo.

Therapy. Energy work. Coaching. Yoga. Breathwork. You name it — I did it.
 And it worked. I’m calmer, more confident, and more grounded because of all that work, not despite it.

But here’s the catch: at some point, all that “growth” starts getting in the way of life itself.

You go from living to self-improving. From “being” to “fixing.”
You start chasing the next workshop instead of applying what you already know.

Before my last trip to the Emirates, I was spending 4.5 hours a week with practitioners (plus my daily routines). That was basically my entertainment.

Then I paused. For real.
 And something shifted — I didn’t regress. I integrated.
I realized I was already good enough.

Like in tennis 🎾 — at some point, you’ve had enough lessons. You can play, have fun, and keep your skills sharp by practicing. But stop playing, and you regress. Keep taking lessons forever, and you never just… play.

So maybe the next phase of your growth isn’t another program, teacher, or retreat.
 Maybe it’s the courage to pause — and just be.

👉 Listen to my new podcast for the full story (yes, including the sweat lodge panic attack and the Jean-Claude Van Damme self-defense class 🙃).

#PersonalGrowth #Leadership #Wellbeing #Mindfulness #Integration #SelfDevelopment #Balance #Transformation

Peggy Van de Plassche is a value creation strategist and senior advisor with over 20 years of experience in private equity, financial services, healthcare, and technology. She works with investment firms, boards, and C-suite leaders to accelerate portfolio company performance, drive operational transformation, and unlock long-term value. Peggy specializes in the execution of complex value creation plans—spanning capital allocation, digital enablement, transaction advisory, and leadership alignment. Her work consistently bridges strategy and implementation, helping investors and operators maximize EBITDA and enterprise value. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, she also brings deep expertise in public-private partnerships and institutional capital deployment—critical levers for competitive advantage in today’s global landscape. Her clients have included BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. Learn more at peggyvandeplassche.com.

#privateequity #privatemarkets #alternativeinvestments #investing #investments #invest #venturecapital #investor #entrepreneur #digitaltransformation #ai #exit #tech #technology #finance #financialservices #healthcare

💬 What’s the Best Career Advice You’ve Ever Given?

Last week, I was speaking at the Club Canadien de Toronto during the Francophone Summit on Finance and Investment 2025.
The panel was about Power, Leadership, and Investment: Who Shapes the Finance of Tomorrow?

But the moment that stayed with me came from the Q&A.
 A young woman in the audience asked:

“What advice would you give to someone like me starting out in finance?”

My co-panelists gave wonderful, practical answers — build a network, find mentors, invest in yourself.
All true. All helpful.

My answer was different.

I told her the most important investment she’ll ever make isn’t in a fund, a skill, or a connection —
 it’s in her own self-belief.

Because sometimes, the real barrier isn’t a glass ceiling above you — it’s the one you’ve built in your own head.

I’ve seen (and lived) how self-doubt quietly sabotages careers long before bias or circumstance ever could.
 The voice that says “you’re not ready,” “you’ll fail,” “they’ll find out.”
 That’s the one to silence first.

So when people ask me for career advice, I don’t start with strategy.
 I start with psychology.

Because the future of leadership — in finance or anywhere else — belongs to those who learn to trust their own potential before anyone else does.

👉 Listen to my latest podcast for the full story

#Leadership #CareerAdvice #Finance #WomenInFinance #Mindset #SelfBelief #ImposterSyndrome #PensionFunds #Canada #ValueCreation

Peggy Van de Plassche is a value creation strategist and senior advisor with over 20 years of experience in private equity, financial services, healthcare, and technology. She works with investment firms, boards, and C-suite leaders to accelerate portfolio company performance, drive operational transformation, and unlock long-term value. Peggy specializes in the execution of complex value creation plans—spanning capital allocation, digital enablement, transaction advisory, and leadership alignment. Her work consistently bridges strategy and implementation, helping investors and operators maximize EBITDA and enterprise value. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, she also brings deep expertise in public-private partnerships and institutional capital deployment—critical levers for competitive advantage in today’s global landscape. Her clients have included BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. Learn more at peggyvandeplassche.com.

#privateequity #privatemarkets #alternativeinvestments #investing #investments #invest #venturecapital #investor #entrepreneur #digitaltransformation #ai #exit #tech #technology #finance #financialservices #healthcare

The most underrated form of personal development?
 Reading someone else’s life.

Not the polished business bios that read like PR exercises.
 But the real ones — messy, contradictory, deeply human stories of artists, writers, and athletes who fail, doubt, reinvent, and rise again.

Reading David Bowie makes you question how far you’d go to reinvent yourself.
Jane Birkin teaches you what it takes to reclaim your own narrative.
Didion and Babitz expose the eternal tension between discipline and chaos, ambition and authenticity.

Sometimes I know the subject — Bowie, Birkin.
 Sometimes I don’t — Didion, Babitz, Cohen.
 It doesn’t matter. I always end up learning — about them and about myself.

Because biographies aren’t just stories.
 They’re mirrors.
 They help us see who we are, who we were, and who we might become.

💭 Next time you reach for a self-help book, try a biography instead.
 You might discover yourself in someone else’s life.

👉 Forget Self-Help — Read a Biography Instead

Peggy Van de Plassche is a value creation strategist and senior advisor with over 20 years of experience in private equity, financial services, healthcare, and technology. She works with investment firms, boards, and C-suite leaders to accelerate portfolio company performance, drive operational transformation, and unlock long-term value. Peggy specializes in the execution of complex value creation plans—spanning capital allocation, digital enablement, transaction advisory, and leadership alignment. Her work consistently bridges strategy and implementation, helping investors and operators maximize EBITDA and enterprise value. A founding board member of Invest in Canada, she also brings deep expertise in public-private partnerships and institutional capital deployment—critical levers for competitive advantage in today’s global landscape. Her clients have included BMO, CI Financial, HOOPP, OMERS, GreenShield Canada, Nicola Wealth, and Power Financial. Learn more at peggyvandeplassche.com.

#privateequity #privatemarkets #alternativeinvestments #investing #investments #invest #venturecapital #investor #entrepreneur #digitaltransformation #ai #exit #tech #technology #finance #financialservices #healthcare