June 16, 2026
Benefits of the Boutique
Benefits of the Boutique: Why Epic's Size Is One of Its Greatest Strengths
There is a common assumption in commercial real estate that bigger means better. More resources, more platforms, more people. Epic Investment Services has spent years demonstrating why that assumption deserves a closer look.
Epic manages more than 26 million square feet of commercial real estate across Canada, representing approximately $14B in assets under management, and operates from six offices across office, industrial, and retail asset classes. By any reasonable measure, it is not a small firm. However, the way it operates, the accessibility of its leadership, the flexibility of its service model, and the depth of attention it brings to individual client relationships reflect a boutique operating philosophy paired with institutional capability.
Kevin Humphrys, Vice President of Real Estate for Western Canada, frames it plainly. "Clients like that we think like owners, treat their real estate like it is our own, and provide high quality governance, accounting, and financial reporting," he says. "It's a very hands-on level of service, supported by the strong governance owners expect."
What Changes Once You're In
Ownership groups coming to Epic for the first time often share the same concern: Does a firm of this size have the necessary reporting infrastructure, financial systems, and operational depth? What they find tends to resolve that concern quickly.
Nada Sutic, Vice President of Sustainability and National Services, is direct about why. "Once they've worked with us, they see they're getting everything they need, whether that's reporting, accounting, and financials, but actually getting an extra lens where we have the capacity to provide clarity and help them understand the story driving those financials," she says.
For tenants, the experience is consistent in its character. Engagement is personal, communication is direct, and the relationship feels like a partnership. "Our team is more empowered to solve problems and is less reliant on unnecessary bureaucracy," Humphrys says. "When there is a problem, it's all hands on deck."
Built Around the Client
Epic applies a standardized framework to deliver specialized expertise in areas like sustainability and health and safety consistently and cost-effectively across its portfolio, while remaining flexible enough to adapt to the specific requirements each client brings. Those two things are not in tension at Epic. They are the model.
Financial reporting reflects that balance. Epic works with clients during onboarding to understand their needs and adapts its standard reporting template accordingly. Some clients require additional metrics or management commentary. Others prefer a more streamlined package. The goal is to understand what a client needs and why, and then deliver accordingly. Epic also places insurance for many clients through a pooled policy to achieve more attractive market terms, with participation at the client's discretion and standalone policies placed where pooled terms are not the right fit for a specific property.
Customer service performance is measured through independent third-party tenant surveys via Kingsley/Grace Hill and benchmarked against industry standards, giving ownership groups consistent, objective visibility into how their tenants experience the building.
Teams at the property level are empowered to act with the same flexibility. "My team is encouraged to independently respond to tenant needs and service requests as quickly as possible, and suggest and implement operational improvements where they see something can be done faster, better, or more economically," Humphrys says.
Tenant Service at the Speed of a Conversation
When a tenant has an urgent issue, the path from problem to resolution at Epic is a conversation rather than a process. The property manager knows the asset manager. The asset manager knows the client. There are no layers in between obscuring who to call.
Epic's reporting platform adheres to SOC 1 Type 2 compliance standards, providing ownership groups with strong security controls alongside a flexible, customizable service model. That same institutional standard extends to tenant service. Since implementing Visitt, Epic's customer service platform, the firm has recorded approximately a 26-minute improvement in response times, with a median tenant request response time of 10 minutes. "From my experience, our response times put us among the top echelon of property management firms, where I would see an average response time of 30 to 60 minutes," Humphrys says. "That said, we are not satisfied with a median response time of 10 minutes and are always trying to improve."
Local Knowledge at a National Scale
Epic's team is connected across the country, enabling delivery of a consistent service model nationwide while managing centralized tasks that would otherwise burden lean site teams. Within that framework, the firm maintains a strong senior presence in each market, people with deep relationships and a genuine feel for what is happening locally.
"There's information people won't want to send you but will be willing to tell you," Sutic says. "Our leasing teams have an ear to the ground for trends, sentiment, or what's going on with a specific tenant or node of the market through their relationships."
In each market across Canada, that on-the-ground knowledge shapes decisions at the asset level in ways that no amount of data from a distance can fully replace.
The Case for the Boutique
"Epic's boutique model means owners get high-touch attentiveness and relationship-driven execution without sacrificing quality and sophistication," Humphrys says. "For an owner, that translates into more accountability, better communication, and a customized asset strategy that feels far less generic."
There is a meaningful difference between a management firm that is technically available and one that is genuinely accessible. For ownership groups who have experienced both, it is not a subtle distinction.
Kevin Humphrys
VP, Real Estate Management (Western Canada)
Nada Sutic
VP, Sustainability & National Services