CAASA/CAIA Toronto Holiday Social & Congratulations and Commiserations
Overview

Where
SPEAKERS

Join us, dozens of speakers, and scores of fellow IAs and investors for this all-encompassing alts conference specifically designed for retail advisors and the client base they serve.
These forums will be held in person in Montréal, and Toronto featuring award-winning investment advisors, well-known asset managers, and other distinguished speakers. Program starts at 11AM in each city and includes lunch and a 4pm reception for all.
Registration open now.
The content for this platform comes from CAASA webinars and podcast as well as panel sessions from a selection of our conferences.
In addition, certain members of CAASA have provided their webinars and podcast for inclusion.
Topics and investment opportunities featured in these courses focus on alternative investments such as hedge funds, liquid alternatives, private equity, private lending, real estate, infrastructure, cryptocurrency, venture capital, and other Alternative assets and strategies.
We are happy to partner with MSC Cruises for a super prize to be awarded to one of our event attendees (must attend and complete a ballot to be eligible).
The prize is a spectacular MSC Cruises 7-night Caribbean sailing for two in a prestigious Yacht Club cabin*. Prepare to be pampered onboard in the elite MSC Yacht Club with a 24-hour Butler Service, Premium Drink Service, Spa inclusions plus much more! An MSC Cruises Representative will be joining at each event to share all things MSC and the details of the fabulous prize offering. Draw will occur at our Summer Social event on July 17, 2024.
*Subject to travel restrictions, all details provided to the lucky winner upon receipt.
KPMG
Bay Adelaide Centre, 333 Bay St. #4600, Toronto, ON M5H 2S5
Managing Partner
Altrust Investment Solutions
Head of Distribution, Financial Intermediaries (Canada)
Fiera Capital
Managing Partner
Altrust Investment Solutions
Wilson Tow is recognized as one of the most knowledgeable investment product design and product-compliance specialists in Canada. He has spent over 30 years working in wealth and asset management. As a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Altrust, Mr. Tow advises on product structures, investment design, compliance, distribution requirements, and he works to educate investors on the benefits of alternative investment solutions.
Prior to co-founding Altrust Investment Solutions, Mr. Tow was Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Fern Capital Partners where he created and launched a unique alternative credit fund-of-funds mixing both private and public credit solutions. The novel structure offered retail investors access to assets traditionally available only to institutional investors.
Previously, Mr. Tow was Director of New Products and Complex Investments at Scotia Wealth where he oversaw the due diligence and approval process for all investment products offered on Scotia Wealth’s product shelf. This included a broad range of instruments ranging from GICs to non-brokered private placements and prospectus-exempt securities. Under Mr. Tow’s leadership, Scotia’s alternative offerings grew meaningfully, helping investment advisors and investors structure more robust investment portfolios.
Prior to Scotia Wealth, Mr. Tow was Head of Product Research at Manulife Securities where he was responsible for formulating, designing, and implementing the firm’s due diligence process.
Before moving to wealth management in 2006, Mr. Tow spent the previous twelve years in the asset management business, starting his career at Scudder Canada and its successor companies where he held senior roles in relationship management as well as product management and development. He also spent some time at Maple Financial where he was an analyst and allocator for its fund-of-hedge-funds product.
Mr. Tow is very active in the alternative asset industry in Canada and currently sits on the Member Advisory Panel of the Canadian Association of Alternative Strategies & Assets (“CAASA”). He also sits on the board of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre Foundation. Mr. Tow holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto, where he majored in Mathematics and Philosophy.
Head of Distribution, Financial Intermediaries (Canada)
Fiera Capital
Steve’s role is to lead the distribution function for Fiera Capital’s Canadian Financial intermediary business. More specifically, his focus is to diversify the business by establishing new top-line growth via Canadian banks, independent dealers, and family offices by creating investment vehicles that allow them to access both Fiera’s private and public market strategies. Steve is also tasked with sourcing new sub-advisory relationships with large Canadian asset managers.
Over the past 26 years, Steve has had a number of roles in the industry. Notably:
In addition to his work, he is a founding member of the Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals and a member of the Black Opportunity Fund, two organizations based in Toronto that focus on building the economic empowerment of the Black community and promoting the advancement of Black professionals. Steve’s community work is very important to his as it allows him to give back so that others can access opportunities that they might otherwise be denied due to their race, socio-economic background, gender, sexual orientation, or disability status. This passion has also led him to join Fiera’s DE&I Council to help promote a culture that is inclusive and welcoming for everyone.
Portfolio Manager
Wellington-Altus Private Counsel
Investment Advisor
Wellington-Altus Wealth Management
Co-founder & Partner
CAASA
Vice President, Investment Product Research
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Canada Inc.
Senior Portfolio Manager
Wellington-Altus Private Counsel
Vice President Portfolio Strategy
Wealth Stewards
Founding Partner & President
Algonquin Capital
VP Client Relations & Business Development
Fundata Canada
Senior Portfolio Manager
RBC Dominion Securities
Wealth Manager & Financial Advisor
Raymond James Ltd.
Portfolio Manager
RBC Dominion Securities
Chief Investment Officer
Guardian Partners
Portfolio Manager
TURN8 Private Wealth
Portfolio Manager
Wellington-Altus Private Counsel
Victor is responsible for directing all external manager research focusing on the investment process including selection, due-diligence, benchmarking, and monitoring. He is intimately involved in every step of the investment cycle and an integral part of the team.
Prior to joining Wellington-Altus, Victor spent the first nine years of his career at a Markham-based Multi-Family Office where he worked to help create, monitor and maintain bespoke portfolios across a broad set of public and private investment strategies.
Victor graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from McMaster University. Victor is a CFA charterholder and has also obtained the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation. He is a lifelong learner, intellectually curious, and has interest across many disciplines.
Victor is committed to philanthropy and giving back to the community. He now sits on the board of ‘Second Kicks’ which distributed close to 10,000 of lightly used soccer equipment to communities in Canada and around the world in 2020. He also co-founded the organization ‘Get Swabbed’, which has since expanded to all Canadian universities with a goal of enlisting donors to Canadian Blood Services’ bone marrow registry.
In his free time Victor enjoys reading, watching travel shows, cooking (and eating), and spending time with his wife and young kids.
Investment Advisor
Wellington-Altus Wealth Management
Elina Surkov is a highly skilled Investment Advisor at Wellington-Altus, with over a decade of experience in the financial sector. Elina and her team’s focus is on the long-term with an aim to establish lasting relationships with each and every client that range from high-net-worth individuals and families to industry veterans like family office CIO’s, traders, hedge fund managers, private equity and venture capitalists, and angel investors.
Elina has a strong academic foundation with a Master of Science in Financial Markets and an MBA from France. Her career is marked by roles in various prestigious organizations, from private banking and family offices in Monaco to independent investment companies in Canada, demonstrating her expertise in portfolio construction, alternative investments, and a commitment to professional development.
Co-founder & Partner
CAASA
James co-founded CAASA in response to industry support for a Canadian alternatives association to serve all aspects including: hedge / alternative strategies; liquid alternatives; private lending; private real estate; private equity; plus emerging areas where Canada is a leader such as digital assets / blockchain and robo-advisors.
Prior to CAASA, James was the Chief Operating Officer of AIMA Canada where his team of three worked with 12 committees to produce 50-60 events per annum across Canada, organized 100+ committee meetings, and increase member numbers over his 7-year tenue from 66 to 164 corporate entities.
James currently sits on the Canadian Investment Funds Standards Committee (CIFSC), which categorizes mutual funds and alternative mutual funds (aka liquid alternatives) for the retail space in Canada. He is also called upon by membership and industry groups to speak to risk ratings and portfolio placement of all types of alternative investments.
James also has experience in research and writing for the CAIA Association (holding the designation since 2006) as well as serving on CAIA’s exam council and as a well as other duties. He had roles in institutional sales and FoHF structuring in Seoul, South Korea, as a Product Manager at ICICI Wealth Management, and as an Investment Advisor at RBC Dominion Securities. James graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BBA (Finance).
Vice President, Investment Product Research
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Canada Inc.
As part of the product team at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Canada (MSWC), Colleen is responsible for conducting initial and ongoing due diligence on various investment products including mutual funds, ETFs, SMAs and alternatives. She works closely with internal and external partners to build out the MSWC product shelf. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2022, Colleen spent over seven years at CI Global Asset Management including four years as the product manager for CI’s suite of liquid alternative products. She also held roles in operations, client services and sales. Colleen holds a BBA from Wilfrid Laurier University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Colleen is an avid runner. In her spare time, she enjoys training for her next marathon.
Senior Portfolio Manager
Wellington-Altus Private Counsel
Martin has over 20 years of investment industry experience including senior-level positions in both institutional equity research and portfolio management.
Martin is currently a senior portfolio manager at Wellington-Altus Private Counsel (previously TriVest Wealth), an award-winning portfolio management firm (Wealth Professional 5-Star Asset Manager 2022), where he is the co-manager of the firm’s risk-managed balanced fund and helps oversee custom built, HNW and UHNW private client portfolios.
Prior to co-founding TriVest and its sale to Wellington-Altus in early 2020, Martin’s career was focused on institutional energy equity research and capital markets primarily at two top-ranked boutique investment banks. He provided investment recommendations on energy markets, commodities, and individual security selections to institutional fund managers located in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
Martin is regularly featured in the media as a market strategist including his weekly column to the Financial Post’s Investment Pro section for the past decade. He was won numerous awards for his passion for financial education and quality of service provided for his clients.
Martin holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a specialization in finance from the University of Alberta, studied international economics and finance at Örebro University in Sweden, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder.
Martin grew up in a small farming community in Northern Alberta and believes in the power of positive innovative change having lived in Canada’s first Eco-community. He and his family is also passionate about mental-health awareness initiatives focused on youth impacted by ADHD, OCD and Autism. On weekends, his family can be found on a mountain either freestyle/big mountain skiing or downhill mountain biking.
Vice President Portfolio Strategy
Wealth Stewards
Bob Simpson Is Vice President Portfolio Strategy for Wealth Stewards Inc., a Toronto-based Wealth management firm, Co-founder of PrivateDebtandEquity.ca and host of My Private Network Podcast, both designed to educate investors about investing in private markets.
Prior to joining Wealth Stewards, he was President of Synchronicity Performance Consultants, a consulting and coaching firm focused on successful financial advisors across North America.
Prior to that he was SVP National Sales and Fixed Income Strategist at Midland Walwyn, portfolio manager for a publicly-traded insurance company and a successful financial advisor at Nesbitt Thomson.
Founding Partner & President
Algonquin Capital
From Captain in the Airborne Regiment to managing global trading businesses, Brian has achieved tremendous success as a leader, trader, and risk manager. As the former Global Head of Fixed Income and Rates for CIBC, he was responsible for the bank’s entire bond and rate trading business, overseeing 40 traders globally. Before that, Brian spent 11 years with TD Securities, where he was the Global Head of Vanilla Interest Rate Derivatives, managing trading teams in Toronto, London, Tokyo, and Sydney.
As a Captain in the Canadian Armed Forces, he was awarded the Chief of Defense Staff Commendation for exemplary leadership for his peacekeeping services in Iraq. Brian is a member of the Bank of Canada Fixed Income Forum. When not in the office, Brian can usually be found in the gym, at a hockey rink, or undertaking an ambitious gardening project.
VP Client Relations & Business Development
Fundata Canada
Jocelyn joined Fundata Canada in January 2014. Prior to joining, he held roles with the Canadian Armed Forces, Invesco, and TD Commercial Bank.
Senior Portfolio Manager
RBC Dominion Securities
Mark has more than 20 years of experience serving corporate and private clients. He and his team provide wealth management services to private individuals and family office clients.
Mark has experience co-managing over $1 billion of private client assets, including as a head-office portfolio manager at RBC handling institutional-level asset pools. As a Vice President, Mark was previously a member of RBC’s Global Portfolio Advisory Committee, which establishes investment strategy for the firm.
Prior experience includes Director-level roles in investment banking and mergers & acquisitions at the global bank, UBS AG, and at the Bank of Nova Scotia. From 2000-2008, he advised on transactions totaling $18 billion for corporate clients in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
Mark graduated with the highest GPA of 496 students in the Faculty of Applied Science (engineering) at Queen’s University and with the highest GPA of ~100 students in his MBA class at the University of Toronto (Rotman School of Management).
Mark is a Board member of the national charitable organization, Mental Health Research Canada.
He and his wife live with their young twins in Toronto.
Wealth Manager & Financial Advisor
Raymond James Ltd.
Brianne is the Senior Wealth Manager and the Managing Partner of Velocity Investment Partners at Raymond James, where she utilizes her extensive knowledge and expertise to serve high net worth families with complex financial needs. Her ability to comprehend the unique financial challenges of multi-generational families distinguishes her in the industry and offers clients the confidence and assurance they need.
She heads a team that caters to an exclusive clientele of individuals and wealthy families across Canada and the US who are seeking a personal trusted partner and CFO to manage their financial affairs with expert guidance. She and her team are now one of the fastest growing teams across Canada and is a regular media contributor on BNN Bloomberg, The Globe & Mail, Financial Post and much more.
Portfolio Manager
RBC Dominion Securities
Ted draws on his expert knowledge and 30 years of experience in the financial services industry to provide access to a comprehensive range of services to help you build and protect your wealth. For the past two decades, Ted has been working with high net worth individuals and families to help them meet their complex financial goals.
His depth of experience includes investment banking, commercial lending, mergers and acquisitions, equity research and portfolio management. Over the years, Ted has also developed extensive expertise in the alternative investment sector. He is a member and past speaker for the Canadian Association of Alternative Strategies & Assets (CAASA). Ted brings a holistic perspective on investing to his work, ensuring sound advice, expert execution and peace of mind for clients who need solutions for broad and multi-dimensional wealth management needs.
A graduate of Queen’s University, he earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a major in finance. A firm believer in ongoing education, he has acquired the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, and licenses for insurance, derivatives fundamentals and options.
Away from work, Ted enjoys spending time with his wife, Lesley, and two daughters, Rebecca and Amy. He also enjoys stays active playing competitive badminton, skiing and windsurfing.
Chief Investment Officer
Guardian Partners
As Chief Investment Officer at Guardian Partners, Cameron’s mission is to combine the investment strategies and disciplined portfolio construction and risk management utilized by pension funds and endowments, with the customization and client responsiveness required by private clients, to increase the robustness of investment solutions and to enhance the experience of Guardian Partners’ clients. Previously, he served as CIO of the Nova Scotia Health Employees’ Pension Plan, and was the Head of Real Assets at Albourne Partners in London, England. He also served as the Co-Chief Investment Officer of University of Toronto Asset Management (UTAM), and Chair of the Investment Committee for the entirety of the university’s investment assets. Before joining Guardian Partners, he founded Isengard Capital Management, which provided capital markets research to Albourne Partners and also designed a research platform which applied global macro, stock selection and quantitative strategies to generate long and short exposures in stocks.
Cameron is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from Queen’s University, earned an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and is a CFA® Charterholder. He has been called to the Bar in Ontario.
Portfolio Manager
TURN8 Private Wealth
Conner is an accomplished investment professional with a diverse background in portfolio and wealth management, investment research and product strategy. He currently serves as a portfolio manager at TURN8 Private Wealth, a boutique wealth management firm known for its commitment to innovation and tailored portfolio solutions. Within TURN8, Conner oversees the management of fixed income and alternative investments across three pooled vehicles. Before joining TURN8, Conner spent time working at a prominent Toronto-based multi-family office, a long/short credit hedge fund, and one of Canada’s largest mutual fund manufacturers. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Queen’s University and has earned the CFA designation. Additionally, Conner is registered as a portfolio manager with the securities regulator.
10:30 am
10:45 am
How do alternatives work in client portfolios? How have successful IAs added alts to their books and how did they manage the portfolio allocations? Forward-thinking advisors know that taking the time to understand alternatives can propel their business to new highs – as well as provide a moat of knowledge that differentiates them from their competitors. This talk will explain how this can be achieved from those who have seen it work in real life.
Elina Surkov, Wellington-Altus Wealth Management
Martin Pelletier, Wellington-Altus Private Counsel
Cam Richards, Guardian Partners
11:30 am
Illiquid investments pose many challenges: their pricing can be ‘stale-dated’, investment terms are typically long (i.e., not daily or weekly liquidity, but more likely monthly or even 5+ years), and there is not typically a secondary market if an investor needs to sell (although that is changing). Over the last few years various sub-sets of illiquid investments have faced challenges that can cause investors and their advisors to wring their hands – but that need not be the case if expectations are well-defined at the outset. This talk will illustrate how investors and advisors can start with the right perspective to allow them to see through trying times and extract the benefits of these securities.
Bob Simpson, Wealth Stewards
Victor Kuntzevitsky, Wellington-Altus
12:00 pm
12:15 pm
Alternative investments have been available to Canadian retail/Accredited Investors for decades: from the first few hedge funds offered in the early 1990s, to the addition of various private investment vehicles as TMX-listed closed-end funds or as mutual funds on Fundserv, to the formal adoption of the Liquid Alts rules in January 2019. The industry has struggled with head office approvals, IA inertia, and the odd bad actor that has not made it any easier. This session will discuss the state of alternatives in Canada and where we are headed.
Wilson Tow, Altrust Investment Solutions
Steve Allen, Fiera Capital
1:15 pm
Round table discussions hosted by our Sponsors.
This session is aimed at providing all event attendees with the ability to join in genuine knowledge exchange and discussion in a small group setting.
Choose from 2 x 25-minute round table discussions
2:15 pm
It took six long years for the CSA, working with industry players, to create the Liquid Alts legislation and since its introduction the reception by the market has been not what some expected, but also better than previous alts regulations that did not work at all. With about 1% of investment/mutual fund AUM in liquid alts, it has a long way to go but performance (especially in crashing markets) has been as expected. Higher risk-adjusted returns and crisis alpha have been on display over the last 5+ years. This panel will discuss how IAs are making the most of this new arrow in their quiver and what the future of the industry might be.
Colleen Redmond, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Brian D’Costa, Algonquin Capital
Jocelyn Courcelles, Fundata
Conner Sura, TURN8 Private Wealth
3:00 pm
Each IA is unique and focuses on a certain type of client – and their offering to these clients, while tailored to each investor’s needs, can be generally similar in many ways. As markets and products of offer by the dealer and asset management companies evolves, client portfolios naturally shift among asset classes, alternative strategies, investment strategies (who remembers borrowing to invest?), and the use of risk mitigators/enhances such as derivatives. This panel will give a briefing of where each person started in the industry, what they have learned along the way, and where they are implementing these lessons in client portfolios
Mark Allen, RBC Dominion Securities
Brianne Gardner, Raymond James
Ted Karon, RBC Dominion Securities
4:00 pm
Opportunity to network over food and drinks!
6:00 pm
See you at another conference soon!
End Investor means pensions, foundations/endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and single family offices. Intermediary investors means Multi-family offices, investment advsiors/dealers, wealth managers, and investment consulting companies and +1 means the first delegate is gratis but each additional delegate attracts a small charge. Manager and service provider delegates must be CAASA members in good standing and pay the requisite per person fee for their appropriate sub-category. Core service providers include prime brokers, fund administrators, and accounting and legal firms.
Members of CAASA
Please email Paul at Paul@caasa.ca to get on waitlist.
Event Registration Closed
Investment Advisor & Single Family Office
Please email Paul at Paul@caasa.ca to get on waitlist.
Event Registration Closed
Investor Relations
Group RMC
Chief Investment Officer
Zen Capital and Mergers
Co-Founder and CIO
Laughren Group
Chief Operating Officer
Fipke Group
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Horizon Capital Holdings
Chief Investment Officer
Wealhouse Capital Management
Investor Relations
Group RMC
Evelyne heads Investor Relations at Group RMC, a family-held private real estate co-investment group headquartered in New York City. Group RMC is focused on acquiring and holding large, undervalued office portfolios in the U.S. Midwest and Southeast and presently oversees 19.4 million sq. ft. of commercial office real estate, representing over $2BN in asset value. Its principals co-invest to a significant degree in each acquisition alongside co-investors from across North America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Evelyne has previously worked in Canadian politics and completed a BA in sociology from McGill University, as well as graduate studies in the UK at the University of Cambridge and Oxford University.
Chief Investment Officer
Zen Capital and Mergers
Daniel Stow is the Chief Investment Officer at Zen Capital & Mergers. His primary job functions include looking for new investments and opportunities while managing the balance of the portfolio. Zen Capital & Merger’s mission is to seek investments that meet their return requirements in conjunction with looking for quality management and integrity. As the Chief Investment Officer, Daniel is responsible for monitoring, managing, and developing investments in alternative assets.
Daniel proactively keeps up to date with market developments and regulation changes. He has confidence in dealing with board members, committees, and external fund managers. As a consequence of his 7 years’ experience with the company, Daniel has a seasoned perspective on how to manage an international portfolio with investments in both public and private companies. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration Honours with Distinction in International Business and Finance. In addition, Daniel also holds the CSC accreditation from the Canadian Securities Institute. When he is not keeping busy at Zen Capital & Mergers he enjoys getting outside and enjoying the beautiful nature British Columbia has to offer
Co-Founder and CIO
Laughren Group
Brandon K. Laughren, Managing Director, Co-Founder and CIO of the Laughren Group, a single family office with investments private equity, private debt, venture capital and real estate. In addition, he serves as a mentor for two startup accelerators. Prior to co-founding the Laughren Group, Mr. Laughren founded and managed Stone Laughren LLC, a private equity and venture capital advisory firm. Mr. Laughren has acted as a transaction advisor and an investor for 30+ years. He has been involved in M&A transactions totaling more than $50 billion in value and debt and equity raises in excess of $10 billion
Chief Operating Officer
Fipke Group
Jason Granger is the Chief Operating officer of Kel-ex Developments Ltd. and the Fipke Group, a privately owned independent group and family office. In this role he is responsible for managing a group of private companies, managing the investment portfolio, and helping to represent the group in its holdings of publicly traded mineral exploration companies.
Jason has 12 years of capital markets and investment experience, including 8 years in equity research covering diversified industrials and 4 years in corporate development and investor relations. He also spent 10 years in accounting and finance roles in public practice, industry and CFO advisory capacities.
Jason holds a BBA from Simon Fraser University and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University. He also has a designation as a Chartered Professional Accountant and is a CFA charter holder.
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Horizon Capital Holdings
Enzo Gabrielli has been with the family office of the Right Honorable Paul Martin for the past 15 years and is currently the Executive Vice President and CFO. The principal holding is CSL Group (Canada Steamship Lines) which is the world’s largest commercial manager of self-unloading vessels, and operates highly specialized fleet for off-shore transhippers and bulk carriers. Horizon Capital Holdings Group is a broad-based investment vehicle and management organization that provides diversification to marine logistics. Our portfolio includes North American real estate and direct investments in private companies, with a primary intent to buy and hold for expansion and growth. In his capacity, Enzo holds the title of President for various subsidiaries companies and also serves as a director and audit committee chairman for several portfolio investments and not-for-profit entities. He oversees the real estate and investment portfolio, assists with various philanthropic initiatives and manages the various facets of a family office. Prior to joining Horizon, Enzo worked for accounting firms in the financial advisory services, with significant experience in corporate finance, M&A transactions, insolvency and corporate restructuring in Canada and United States. Enzo pursued his graduate studies at McGill University where he graduated with Great Distinction. He holds both a chartered accountant and chartered financial analyst designation as well as the ICD.d designation. He lectured in the business program at McGill University.
Enzo Gabrielli fait partie du bureau de gestion du patrimoine familial du Très Honorable Paul Martin depuis plus de 15 ans et agit présentement en tant que vice-président exécutif et chef de la direction financière. L’actif principal est le Groupe CSL (Canada Steamship Lines) qui détient et exploite une flotte hautement diversifiée de navires autodéchargeurs spécialisés, de transbordeurs en mer et de vraquiers de petit tonnage. Horizon Capital Holdings est une société de gestion et d’investissement qui offre une diversification à l’industrie du transport maritime. Le portefeuille comprend des actifs immobiliers en Amérique du Nord ainsi que des participations dans des sociétés privées, avec comme objectif principal la détention à long-terme axée sur la croissance. Il agit également à titre de président de plusieurs filiales du groupe ainsi qu’administrateur et président du comité de vérification de plusieurs des sociétés en portefeuille et organismes à but non-lucratif. Il assure un suivi du portefeuille d’investissement en immobilier, supporte les activités philanthropiques du groupe et gère différents aspects du bureau familial. Avant de se joindre au groupe, Enzo a acquis de l’expérience au sein de bureaux comptable dans le domaine du financement corporatif, transactions de fusions et acquisitions, insolvabilité et restructuration tant au Canada qu’aux États-Unis. Enzo a poursuivi ses études supérieures à l’université McGill où il a gradué avec la mention « Grande Distinction ». Il est détenteur du titre de CPA et CFA ainsi que du titre IAS.A. Il a donné plusieurs cours dans la faculté de gestion de l’université McGill.
Chief Investment Officer
Wealhouse Capital Management
Scott Morrison is the Chief Investment Officer of Wealhouse Capital Management, a privately-owned investment firm and family office. As the firm’s founder, Scott is responsible for overseeing Wealhouse’s various strategies across asset classes, as well as the firm’s private equity portfolio and real estate holdings.
Outside of Wealhouse, Scott serves on the investment committee of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), where he advises on investment decisions for CIGI’s endowment fund. Scott has over 25 years of asset management experience. Prior to Wealhouse, Scott spearheaded the portfolio management for notable firms such as Mackenzie Investments, CI Funds, and Investors Group. Scott holds a Bachelor of Finance from Concordia University and is a CFA Charterholder.
Co-Founder, Executive Chairman, and CIO
Our Family Office
Vice President Marketing & Sales
Dart Family Office
Partner, Portfolio Manager
Richter
Chief Investment Officer
Guardian Partners
Founder & Chairman
Celeste Ventures
Founder
Highwood Value Partners
Co-Founder
CMCC Global
Chief Technology Officer
Fidelity Clearing Canada
Principal, Chief Investment Officer
RPIA
CEO and Director
Metaverse Group
Credit Opportunities Portfolio Manager
Emso Asset Management
Private Banker
Citi Private Bank
Co-founder and Managing Partner
Maverix Private Equity
Client Portfolio Management
Man Numeric
Managing Partner
Loyal VC
Principal
Eckler
Director
Actis
Managing Director, Head of Canadian Transactions & Business Development
Harrison Street
Portfolio Manager & Managing Director
Slate Securities
Client Relationship and Development Manager
Richter Family Office
Managing Director
MGG Investment Group
Partner & Portfolio Manager
Sagard
Senior Vice President
Fiera Private Debt
Portfolio Manager, Wealth Advisor, Investment Advisor
Bakish Wealth, Richardson Wealth Limited.
Chief Executive Officer, Americas
Cult Wines
Manager
KPMG
Portfolio Manager
Mirabaud Canada
Partner
Framework Venture Partners
Founding Partner & CEO
Highline Beta
Managing Director, National Sales
SmartBe Investments
Portfolio Manager
FORT LP
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Head of Research
Quantica Capital
Vice President, Sales
Battea Class Action Services
Chief Executive Officer
Alquity Investment Management
Head of Business Development and Investors Relations
Carlisle Management Company S.C.A.
President & Chief Financial Officer
ICM Asset Management
Vice President, Tax, Estate & Strategic Philanthropy
Mackenzie Investments
Co-founder and Managing Partner
Tidal Venture Partners
Managing Partner
Penrose Partners
Director, Family Office, Canada
Stonehage Fleming
Co-Founder, Executive Chairman, and CIO
Our Family Office
With investment management and wealth advisory experience dating back to 1972, Our Family Office’s Co-Founder, Executive Chairman and CIO enjoys a well-deserved reputation as a trusted and respected figure in the Canadian financial services industry. His keen intellect and deep expertise make him particularly well-qualified to revolutionize the shared family office segment in Canada and grow Our Family Office into the market-leading service provider and partner to the nation’s wealthiest families. Highlights of Neil’s career to date include:
In addition, Neil has been the President of Privatech Investments Inc., an investment company headquartered in Toronto, Canada since 1994.
Volunteerism and Philanthropy Neil has been extensively involved in philanthropy and a range of activities, including acting as:
Partner, Portfolio Manager
Richter
As you create significant wealth, having independent, objective advisors to help you manage said wealth is crucial. Mindy assists her clients through the challenges inherent to wealthy families and helps them secure peace of mind for today, and comfort and clarity for the future.
Mindy joined Richter in 2006, as its unique family office business model was beginning to take shape as a completely independent entity. This division has since grown, and focuses on wealth management, philanthropy, insurance needs and family governance. Mindy advises clients on the design and implementation of plans to help them achieve their financial objectives, quantifying goals and then determining the most appropriate asset allocation and financial solutions. Acting with complete independence and objectivity, Mindy recommends the proven third-party managers to optimize her clients’ investment strategies.
A skilled financial advisor, Mindy is able to craft and deliver advice that is practical, understandable and relevant to the goals and objectives of ultra-high-net-worth families. Her insights and well-rounded expertise make her a trusted resource for many prominent business leaders and their families.
Chief Investment Officer
Guardian Partners
As Chief Investment Officer at Guardian Partners, Cameron’s mission is to combine the investment strategies and disciplined portfolio construction and risk management utilized by pension funds and endowments, with the customization and client responsiveness required by private clients, to increase the robustness of investment solutions and to enhance the experience of Guardian Partners’ clients. Previously, he served as CIO of the Nova Scotia Health Employees’ Pension Plan, and was the Head of Real Assets at Albourne Partners in London, England. He also served as the Co-Chief Investment Officer of University of Toronto Asset Management (UTAM), and Chair of the Investment Committee for the entirety of the university’s investment assets. Before joining Guardian Partners, he founded Isengard Capital Management, which provided capital markets research to Albourne Partners and also designed a research platform which applied global macro, stock selection and quantitative strategies to generate long and short exposures in stocks.
Cameron is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from Queen’s University, earned an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and is a CFA® Charterholder. He has been called to the Bar in Ontario.
Founder & Chairman
Celeste Ventures
Michael specializes in bootstrap start-ups with the ability to take organizations and ideas from scratch and bring them to reality. Michael now works closely with venture partners to capitalize new organizations and deliver value to the key stakeholders.
Michael’s first self-created startup is Fireminds, a technology solutions company, headquartered in Bermuda with staff in US, Canada, Caribbean, South America and Europe, serving international clients in Bermuda, North America and the Caribbean. In 2017, Fireminds received a major investment from ATN International (Nasdaq:ATNI), Inc. to expand its operations and join the group of telco companies.
In addition, Michael founded Premier Tickets in 2009 which is now a leading ecommerce company serving Bermuda based and global clients such as America’s Cup 35, SailGP and the PGA. In 2019, PTIX merged with AAC Saatchi Saatchi a full services ad-agency based in Bermuda; Michael led the strategic acquisition of the marketing company. Furthermore, Michael secured the airport advertising contract for Bermuda Skyport under AAC Media and placed the new CEO of AAC-PTIX.
Michael also started Innovation House, a seven-story commercial property; converting it from a distressed property to a fully occupied office hub with tenants ranging from legal, insurance, tech start-ups, retail to a doctor’s office.
Michael has 20+ years’ experience in technology consulting and an extensive background in start-up businesses and initiatives. Michael has the ability to create innovative technology solutions, build people centric organizations and solve problems; fueled by coffee and hands on technology skills.
Michael earned his Computer Science degree from Western University and pursued graduate studies in Artificial Intelligence and Distributed Databases at Stanford University. Michael earned his MBA from the Richard Ivey Business School and completed Board of Directors College training at Stanford Law School.
Michael is a Justice of the Peace / Commissioner of Oaths in Bermuda, District Grand Officer of the Freemasons UGLE Bermuda, Past President of the Freemasons Charitable Fund Bermuda, Incoming Chair of YPO Bermuda, Board member / advisory of Fireminds, Premier Tickets, Innovation Ltd, Treefrog Consulting, AAC Saatchi Saatchi, AG Research, Bermuda First Advisory Group, Bermuda College Task Force and the Corporation of Hamilton Infrastructure Committee.
In Michael’s “spare” time he loves spending time with his wife and two daughters in their home in Bermuda. Michael is an avid golfer currently playing off a 12 handicap.
Founder
Highwood Value Partners
Desmond Kingsford is Highwood Value Partner’s founder and is registered as The Firm’s Portfolio Manager. He holds an MA in Philosophy from Cambridge University, a B.Commfrom McGill University in Finance and Math and is a CFA Charterholder.
Prior to founding Highwood Value Partners, Mr. Kingsford was a Senior Analyst and Partner of MSD Partners (Europe) LLP, the European office of MSD Capital LP, the exclusive manager of Michael Dell’s personal capital. Mr. Kingsford spent 11 years at MSD as part of the European team, which grew from three people managing $200mn of capital to a five personinvestment team managing the $1.2bn European Opportunities Fund(“EOF”), an opportunistic, fundamental value fund across equities and credit in Europe. Prior to MSD, Des was a Vice President on the Consumer team for Putnam Investments from 2002 to 2007, also based in London.
Mr. Kingsford now resides in British Columbia, Canada with his wife and three children.
Co-Founder
CMCC Global
Charlie is the co-founder of CMCC Global, a blockchain asset management company that manages three digital asset funds as well as the Liberty Bitcoin Fund. CMCC Global was founded in Hong Kong in 2016 and today has offices in Asia and North America. It has a particular focus on Fintech innovation in Asia. Charlie’s background as both a software engineer and management consultant allows him to combine a deep technical understanding of blockchain technology with the ability to evaluate its business implications.
Charlie’s involvement in the blockchain space has included advising financial institutions, developing blockchain applications and investing in companies and protocols. He has given keynote addresses at the CLSA Investor Conference, Franklin Templeton annual offsite and the Global Investment Forum. He has also presented to senior management at many large institutions including Fidelity, Putnam Investments and Wellington Management.
Chief Technology Officer
Fidelity Clearing Canada
A 23-year veteran of the Canadian financial industry, Paul Stapleton joined FCC in May 2017. He manages evolving technology strategy and continuous platform development, implementation and delivery of new services and solutions, and technical alignment to help clients service their businesses.
Paul was part of the executive team that built DundeeWealth from independent IIROC and MFDA dealers in the early 2000s, before the firm’s sale to ScotiaBank in 2010.
Recently, Paul served as SVP, Information Technology, for investment dealer Dundee Securities, and as VP, Information Technology, for merchant banking firm Dundee Corporation. He graduated from Trinity College in the University of Toronto and has completed the Partners, Directors and Senior Officers (PDO) course.
Principal, Chief Investment Officer
RPIA
Mike co-founded RPIA in 2009 and, as its current Chief Investment Officer, is responsible for formulating and implementing the firm’s investment strategy across the funds. Mike chairs both the Investment Committee and ESG Committee and sits on the Risk Committee.
Mike is a former Managing Director at RBC Capital Markets, and during his 15 years at the bank, he held increasingly senior roles, including managing the global credit trading business and the global structured credit business. Mike brings to RPIA an expert knowledge of the global credit markets and extensive experience managing credit risk exposures across multi-billion dollar portfolios. Prior to joining RBC Capital Markets, Mike worked for a leading Toronto-based real estate developer as a Leasing Manager.
Mike holds a BComm from Queen’s University and an MBA from the University of British Columbia. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Smith School of Business and is involved with several charitable organizations, including being a Board Member for Beat the Streets Toronto and sitting on the Quinn Family Future Foundation Board.
CEO and Director
Metaverse Group
Lorne Sugarman is a seasoned senior executive with diverse experience across direct C-level operating experience, investment banking and principal investing.
Lorne is CEO and Director of the Metaverse Group where he has developed an eight figure virtual real estate portfolio. Prior to the Metaverse Group, Lorne was previously the CEO of Wellpoint Health Services for 9 years where he grew the business to over 250 employees, completed and integrated seven acquisitions and ultimately was sold to CloudMD (TSX: CMD).
Lorne spent over 20 years in advisory services with over 15+ years at GMP Securities, most recently as MD / Head of Technology Group, and spent almost 4 years as Principal at KES7 Capital Inc. Lorne started his career with Deloitte Consulting and Deloitte & Touche providing advice to clients in North America.
Lorne holds a BA from Western University and a MBA from the Rotman School at the University of Toronto.
Private Banker
Citi Private Bank
Nancy joined Citi Private Bank in 2006 and has over 20 years of capital markets experience. She advises ultra high net-worth families, foundations and single family offices on wealth preservation and creation, with a particular focus on alternative and international investments.
Previously, Nancy practiced U.S. securities law at the global law firm, Shearman & Sterling LLP specializing in cross-border corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions.
Nancy sits on the board of the Golf Association of Ontario. She is a Past President of the Toronto CFA Society and the former Chair of the Governance and Nominations Committee. She was a member of the CFA Institute’s Capital Markets Policy Committee and a member of CFA Institute’s Global Corporate Governance Task Force. She received her Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2002.
Nancy sat on the cabinet of the Royal Ontario Museum’s Young Patrons’ Circle. Nancy graduated with an Honours in Business Administration (Dean’s List) from the Richard Ivey School of Business of the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Laws (great distinction) from McGill University. She has been called to the Bars of the State of New York, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Province of Ontario.
She speaks Mandarin, Cantonese and French. She is married and raising a teenage daughter.
Co-founder and Managing Partner
Maverix Private Equity
Mark is a Co-founder and Managing Partner with Maverix Private Equity where he leads the collective team and firm operations. As an active investor, director, advisor and entrepreneur, he has a wealth of experience spanning across multiple industries and geographies. This includes financial services, technology, health and wellness, media, telecom, oil and gas, services, and advanced manufacturing. With a passion to drive growth with a focus on human elements, Mark strives to scale Canada’s strong and vibrant innovation-based ecosystem.
Prior to Maverix, Mark was the President and COO of Canaccord Genuity Corp, where he led the expansion of their wealth management and international capital markets businesses, positioning the firm as a global leader in commodity and technology financing.
In addition to being EVP, Corporate Development at Itemus Inc., a technology firm, he was also a Senior Technology Analyst with Yorkton Securities, and CFO of ECS Enhanced Cellular Communications, a US-based cellular services company. Mark earned his Chartered Accountant and Chartered Business Valuator designations at Deloitte in the audit, tax, and valuation advisory practices. Currently, Mark is the Chairman of Fleet Canada Inc. and serves on other boards including Forum Equity Partners and New Latitude Capital. Previously, he served on several boards including Executive Chairman (Advisory) of the Kirchner Group, Knix Wear, Entrec, Empire State Connector, Biologix, Moraine Capital, and Canaccord Genuity Financial.
Mark is an active philanthropist with former roles as Co-Chair of Gold Medal Plates, a Canadian Olympic Foundation program, Special Advisor to the Treasury Board of Canada, Ambassador for World Bicycle Relief, Advisor to SpiderTech cycling, member of the Corporate Advisory Board of the Art Gallery of Ontario and guest lecturer at the Director’s College.
Outside of the office, Mark and his family enjoy an active lifestyle which includes skiing, biking, running, and swimming. They enjoy travelling and spending time in Annecy, France and the Okanagan Valley, BC
Client Portfolio Management
Man Numeric
Jason Moore is the Head of Client Portfolio Management at Man Numeric.
Prior to joining Man Numeric in 2015, Jason was a product specialist at BlackRock for the Small and Mid-Cap Growth equity team. He began his career at State Street Research.
Jason graduated from Connecticut College with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He is a member of the CFA Society Boston and is a CFA charterholder.
Managing Partner
Loyal VC
Kamal Hassan is a Managing Partner of Loyal VC. Loyal is an open-ended, globally diverse fund with investments in 200+ companies in 50+ countries designed to minimize systemic bias inherent in the investment process to unlock greater returns. Loyal also benefits from its network of 600+ expert advisors who work closely with the company founders.
Loyal is the fund Kamal wished he had available during his 20-year career as an entrepreneurial CEO and 15 years as an angel investor. The fund was created by drawing upon his professional and philanthropic experiences: including the networks that stem from his time as a Global Director with the Founder Institute accelerator, former INSEAD Alumni Association President, as a consultant at Bain & Co, and as an engineer at IMAX. Kamal has an INSEAD MBA and a degree in engineering physics from Queen’s University. He has traveled to over 100 countries and speaks five languages.
Principal
Eckler
A Principal within Eckler’s Investment Consulting practice, Jason joined the firm in 2006. He provides investment strategy advice to a wide range of institutional clients, including DB and DC pension plans, endowment/foundations, single family offices, corporations and non-profit organizations.
In addition to consulting responsibilities, Jason is a member of the Investment Research Steering Committee which oversees investment manager and strategy research.
Jason’s specific area of expertise is alternative investments including infrastructure, real estate and private equity/debt strategies.
An active volunteer within the pension and investment community, Jason has authored several articles and presented on investment strategy at numerous conferences. He is currently a member of the Canadian Investment Review Advisory Board, a volunteer on the CNIB’s National Investment & Pension Committee and a director with the National Ballet School Foundation.
Jason graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1999 with an Economics degree. He has also earned the designations of Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.
Director
Actis
Funke is an experienced private equity and real estate investor, at Actis since 2007, with a strong track record in key sectors including real estate projects with GAV of >$550m in office, retail and hospitality sectors across Africa. Funke is leading the Actis’s real estate income fund strategy for Africa.
Prior to joining Actis, Funke gained six years private equity experience spanning origination, investment structuring and asset management at African Capital Alliance, a leading Nigerian private equity firm where she also helped to establish its real estate fund.
Funke started her career at Arthur Andersen (Now KPMG Professional Services), is a qualified chartered accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos and a Masters in Finance from the London Business School.
With prior her experience in assurance and business advisory, she brings rounded skills to add value at both strategic and operational levels to management and project teams to attain set business objectives. She is also an experienced board director having served on various boards over the past two decades. Funke is also a member of the Actis Macro Forum which is a global grouping that reviews macro trends in emerging economies.
Portfolio Manager & Managing Director
Slate Securities
Erik heads up Portfolio Management at Slate Securities, employing a wealth of real estate investment experience. Previously Erik was Director and Portfolio Manager of real estate at AIMCo. Experience in virtually all real estate asset types and geographies.
Client Relationship and Development Manager
Richter Family Office
working with UHNW families. He brings 20 years of experience in the investment industry with an emphasis on alternative investments. Before joining Richter, he was a Partner at Alignvest Investment Management with a focus on business development. Prior roles included being a Regional Director for Russell Investments, where he was responsible for mid-market institutional business development and a Regional Sales Manager role at Man Investments Canada. He began his career at BluMont Capital, where he was a research analyst.
Athas is a CAIA Charterholder and a member of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto.
Managing Director
MGG Investment Group
Mr. Leger is responsible for managing all of MGG’s sales and marketing related efforts.
Prior to joining MGG, Mr. Leger was Head of Strategic Planning and Client Services at Akre Capital Management in Virginia where he helped grow the then 24 year old firm’s private partnership and mutual fund assets from $2 billion in 2013 to approximately $14 billion in 2019. Previously, he worked as Managing Director, Head of Marketing at Geosphere Capital, a $1.4 billion hedge fund based in New York City. Prior to that, he worked in a similar capacity at Steel Partners, a $5 billion global activist manager. Mr. Leger began his career in asset management at BRI Partners, a venture capital firm and joint venture with Mesirow Financial, that seeded hedge funds, helping grow their collective assets to in excess of $5 billion.
Mr. Leger received his doctorate in political philosophy and international relations from The University of Notre Dame in Indiana and his BA from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.
Partner & Portfolio Manager
Sagard
Dev Gopalan is a Partner & Portfolio Manager, Sagard Senior Lending Partners and joined the firm in 2021. Dev is responsible for overseeing the Senior Lending strategy at Sagard. He is based in New York, US.
Prior to Sagard, Dev served as the CEO of Angel Island Capital, Head of US Private Credit at KKR where he was a member of the Global Private Investment and Portfolio Management Committees, and a Principal at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPPIB”) in the Credit business. Dev also worked at Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan in various roles in Leverage Finance.
Dev holds a M.A. from Brandeis University and BS from Georgetown University. In addition, he is currently on the board of Finding Ferdinand, Nobordist, inKind Cards, and Rebounds Hounds, a NYC dog rescue.
Senior Vice President
Fiera Private Debt
Theresa Shutt is Senior Vice President for Corporate Private Debt at Fiera Private Debt. Prior to joining Fiera Private Debt in July 2019, she was the Chief Investment Officer of Private Debt with Integrated Asset Management.
Ms. Shutt is responsible for the overall strategic direction and operation of the Corporate Debt Financing Team. In this role, she provides leadership in support of business development, investment approval, fund strategy and portfolio management. With over 20 years of experience in corporate lending and capital markets, she contributes to the success of the business by growing AUM through strategic capital deployment and the development of innovative private debt strategies.
Prior to Fiera Private Debt, Ms. Shutt was a Managing Director with BMO Corporate Finance where she developed customized financing solutions for mid-market Canadian Companies. Previous to this role, she held a variety of roles at RBC and Scotiabank structuring fixed income and equity derivatives for corporations and asset managers. She began her career working as an economist for the Conference Board of Canada.
Theresa Shutt holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Economics (Honours) from the University of Alberta, a Master of Arts (MA) in Economics from McMaster University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Rotman School of Management of the University of Toronto. Ms. Shutt is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.
Portfolio Manager, Wealth Advisor, Investment Advisor
Bakish Wealth, Richardson Wealth Limited.
Joseph Bakish is a Portfolio Manager, Wealth Advisor, Investment Advisor at Bakish Wealth, at the firm Richardson Wealth Limited.
Named Canada’s Top Under 40 Investment Advisors in 2020 by Wealth Professional Magazine, Joseph Bakish has built his career by putting the best interests of his clients at the forefront of his objectives.
After initially building a solid practice at Investors Group, Joseph realized that as business and the industry was evolving, they needed a change. Bakish Wealth joined Richardson Wealth six years ago, which has opened the door to a wider universe of alternative assets that can add value and enhance portfolio diversification – from private equity and real estate to private debt. Clients have responded well to their unbiased access to investment solutions, which has led to a growing referral base and the expansion into their third client segment of high-net-worth investors. Bakish Wealth’s book boasts $242 million in assets under management (AUM) across 490 households, as well as a large insurance component.
Most of their clients are between 40 and 60 years old, and many are research-oriented physicians, medical researchers, and university professors. Their clients also include high-net-worth business owners and high-potential young professionals. For prospects with established careers, their minimum
investment is $1 million.
Chief Executive Officer, Americas
Cult Wines
As Chief Executive Officer, Atul Tiwari leads the team and is responsible for the overall strategy and development of Cult Wines Americas. Hailed by Investment Executive as ‘having a knack for knowing what’s next’, Atul is thrilled to have successfully married his extensive investment experience with a passion for wine to introduce this unique asset class to the Americas market. Atul leads with investment rigor, excellent client relationships and unparalleled knowledge of the asset class.
Atul’s background speaks for itself, before building Cult Wines Americas, he was employee number one at Vanguard Canada. As CEO for the company, together with his team, he helped pioneer ETF investing in Canada and grew the company from $3 to $30 billion in assets over 7.5 years. Prior to Vanguard, he held progressively senior positions at BMO Financial including senior vice president of BMO Asset Management, heading up the BMO US mutual fund business in Chicago before going on to lead the charge for BMO to enter the ETF business as the founding President of BMO Exchange Traded Funds. In 2018 he received the Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce award for Corporate Executive of the Year and has twice been named to Wealth Professional’s annual list of People to Watch in the industry. Atul is a member of the Independent Review Committee for Mackenzie Funds, a Director of the D.D. Foundation, which provides free medical care and education to the disadvantaged in India, a member of the Advisory Council for the CFA Society of Toronto and an Honorary Trustee of the Royal Ontario Museum.
In addition to his personal interest in wine, Atul has also managed a 4000-bottle cellar of fine Burgundy for the Toronto Chapter of the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin over a five-year period. After earning his law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School (Canada), he began his career in law, practicing in London (UK) and Toronto before transitioning to finance.
Manager
KPMG
Mitchell is a Manager in KPMG’s Cryptoasset practice and has spearheaded its recent treasury and NFT initiatives. Additionally, Mitchell helps deliver KPMG’s educational workshops, strategy development, and vendor assessments for institutional investors and financial services firms seeking to adopt cryptoassets. Prior to joining the firm, Mitchell spent 2 years as an Economist at the Bank of Canada and in his personal time he actively researches and invests in the cryptoasset space.
Portfolio Manager
Mirabaud Canada
As a portfolio manager, I help individuals and institutions make the most of their capital. To serve them optimally, I decided to join Mirabaud, a Swiss banking and financial group of international scope which employs more than 700 people, spread over four continents. The group’s assets under management now stand at more than $54 billion CAD, making it the third-largest private banking group in Geneva.
In addition to my own expertise, my clients can also benefit from the network and experience of the 200-year history of this family company. In Montreal as in Geneva, we are guided by our values: independence, responsibility, and integrity. These dictate a measured business policy and strict risk management aligned exclusively with the interests of our customers.
When I am not advising clients, I like to escape the city and stay connected to the great outdoors by cycling, hiking, and running.
Partner
Framework Venture Partners
Ajay Gopal is a Partner of Framework Venture Partners. Based in Toronto, Ajay has over a decade of combined VC and alternative investments investing and capital markets experience. With an entrepreneurial background, Ajay is a partner of a healthcare services company currently in operation in Toronto. Ajay currently serves on multiple Boards of Framework portfolio companies including Paper, Countingup, FlipGive and Daisy Intelligence. As a student of engineering with prior operational technology experience, Ajay is keenly interested in meeting with technology companies across all verticals and focused on helping entrepreneurs with the scaling journey.
Founding Partner & CEO
Highline Beta
Marcus Daniels is a Founding Partner & CEO of Highline Beta where he leads visionary execution, strategic deals, corporate venture co-investment and startup funding. He has 21+ years as a serial tech entrepreneur & operating executive with a top decile pre-seed investing (34 startups) track record. 12+ years working with Fortune 1000 companies advising on corporate innovation models & building a pipeline of new corporate ventures beyond the core business. Formerly the Co-Founder & CEO of HIGHLINE.vc and Managing Director of Extreme Startups, Marcus continues to help evolve accelerator models to make corporate-startup collaboration work
Managing Director, National Sales
SmartBe Investments
Jay Barrett is Managing Director, SmartBe Investments. He has held positions with some of Canada’s premier firms including RBC, BMO and more recently with CIBC Asset Management as Executive Director. Jay completed his undergraduate degree at St. Francis Xavier University in 2001 and graduated in Financial Management at Cornell University in 2018. His background includes extensive experience in public and private markets as well as alternative and quant-based strategies. Jay lives in Montreal and is board member at Mile End Community Mission and the Trinity Center Foundation.
Portfolio Manager
FORT LP
At FORT, Matt heads the development of fully systematic strategies in commodity markets as well as assisting in the management of FORT’s Mean Reversion Strategies across all markets. Before joining FORT, Matt ran a commodity hedge fund, Buttonwood Merchants LLC, from 2015-2018. His fund was initially launched on Tudor’s incubation platform, Launchpad Trading, before transitioning to a standalone entity in 2017. Prior to this, he was with Gresham Investment Management as Head Trader in charge of all discretionary alpha generation for their flagship TSM Strategy, which peaked at $7 billion AUM. Matt began his career at UBS in the Commodity Structuring Group before moving on to manage all of UBS’s physical US Natural Gas assets in 2006.
Matt graduated with a BSE from Princeton University in Operations Research and Financial Engineering.
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Head of Research
Quantica Capital
Nicolas joined Quantica Capital from RAM Active Investments, a multi-billion systematic asset management company based in Geneva, where he served as senior quantitative investment manager, developing and managing systematic short-term equity long/short strategies. Until 2018, Mirjolet was CIO and lead portfolio manager of Tolomeo Capital, a Zurich based systematic asset manager specialized in long/short equities and futures strategies. He co-founded Tolomeo Capital in 2011, after doing a spin-out with the quant & risk-management team of a multi-billion family office in Zurich. Nicolas started his career in 2006 as a quant analyst for ETH Zurich spin-off swissQuant
Nicolas Mirjolet graduated from CentraleSupélec in Paris (France) and holds a MSc in electrical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich).
Vice President, Sales
Battea Class Action Services
For over 10 years Bob has been at Battea as Vice President of Sales whose firm’s sole focus is to recover monies due to institution investors from securities class action settlements. Each year, hundreds of cases are settled globally, resulting in billions of dollars being available to damaged investors. Through technology, years of experience and expertise, Battea has automated this time consuming, complex and error prone process uncovering and exhausting every opportunity while maximizing the investor’s recovery potential. Prior to Battea, Bob has spent 20+ years in the financial services sector holding various roles and responsibilities. Bob was Vice President of sales at Lava a subsidiary of CITI who provided, at the time, a suite of cutting edge products which included algorithmic trading, soft dollar services and order management systems. Bob was one of the original employees at NYFIX whose firm revolutionized the way wall street traded securities by implementing the first straight through processing electronic trading platform, utilizing the industry’s co-developed/shared user protocol called FIX. Bob spent over 10+ years at Battea, eventually becoming Senior Vice President of Sales heading NYFIX’s order management division. In his early years, he was the Regional Sales Manager for VBand, the world leader of a highly specialized telephony system used by institution trading operations worldwide. Bob earned a bachelor’s degree at Oneonta State University and spent a semester in Denmark attending the Denmark International Business Program.
Chief Executive Officer
Alquity Investment Management
Brad Crombie is Chief Executive Officer of Alquity, a specialist ESG and Impact investment manager. Previously Mr. Crombie was responsible for all Fixed Income and LDI investing as Global Head at Aberdeen Asset Management, now a part of Standard Life Aberdeen PLC, a FTSE 100-listed asset management company. In this role, he served on the company’s executive committee as well as a director of its principal UK operating subsidiaries. Prior to joining Aberdeen, Mr. Crombie was Managing Director and Head of EMEA Non-Financials Credit Research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He started his investing career in European High Yield.
In addition to the GRI, Mr. Crombie also serves on the Advisory Group on McGill University in the UK and Europe. From 2015 to 2018, Mr. Crombie was a founding member of the Advisory Council of the FICC Market Standards Board (FMSB), the body created following the UK’s Fair and Effective Markets Review (FEMR), and served on its Conduct & Ethics Sub-Committee.
He graduated from McGill University with a BA Degree in History and Political Science and an MA Degree in History and went on to read History in the PhD. programme at the University of Cambridge.
Head of Business Development and Investors Relations
Carlisle Management Company S.C.A.
Oleksandra is one of the principles in charge of the Business Development and Investor Relations at Carlisle Management Company, a leading Life Settlements investment manager headquartered in Luxembourg with close to 2.5B USD in AUM. Carlisle is unusual among life settlement companies as it has been in the business since its early inception. Collectively, its principles boast a remarkable range and depth of ‘know–how’ in longevity – contingent assets, based on active participation in the secondary and tertiary life insurance markets. This background provides it with a strong network of global contacts, and allows it to build on an unrivalled expertise among life settlement providers, brokerages and capital market participants.
Oleksandra has served at Carlisle for more than 4 years, most recently, as one of Carlisle’s marketing directors, covering a diverse range of private and institutional investors across Europe and Middle East. She plays an integral role for the Company in further evaluating and leading a growing number of business development opportunities. Mrs Polishchuk brings close to a decade of international marketing and sales experience across FMCG, telco and financial services segments. She holds an EMBA from ESCP Business School.
President & Chief Financial Officer
ICM Asset Management
Mr. Vankka is the President & Chief Financial Officer of ICM Asset Management and the Chief Executive Officer of ICM Investment Management Inc. He is the Portfolio Manager on the ICM Crescendo Music Royalty Fund and the ICM Advantage Venture Capital Corporation.
Mr. Vankka joined ICM as a partner in 2017 and leads ICM’s diversified private equity platform. Mr. Vankka has 30 years of experience in investment banking, trading, and capital markets. He has been a Managing Director at several investment banks with extensive advisory experience in domestic and cross-border mergers & acquisitions, equity and debt origination, due diligence, structured product management, strategic planning, risk management, and proprietary trading. Mr. Vankka was a founder of global energy investment bank Tristone Capital which was ultimately sold to Macquarie Group and before that co-head and principal at Peters & Co. Limited. Mr. Vankka also was Vice President, Risk Management at Gluskin Sheff + Associates.
Mr. Vankka holds Chartered Financial Analyst, Chartered Professional Accountant, and Chartered Accountant designations. He is registered as Portfolio Manager with the Alberta Securities Commissions and holds a Bachelor of Commerce with distinction from the University of Calgary.
Vice President, Tax, Estate & Strategic Philanthropy
Mackenzie Investments
Carol Bezaire is Vice President of Tax, Estate and Strategic Philanthropy at Mackenzie Investments, and one of Canada’s leading authorities on matters of tax and estate and charitable giving. She leads a team of six Tax and Estate Planning professionals and three Business Development experts, who all support and offer opportunities to help financial advisors stay well informed in an ever-changing marketplace. The Tax and Estate Planning team also provides support to Mackenzie’s new product initiatives in the area of tax efficiency and strategic philanthropy.
Prior to joining Mackenzie in 2004, Carol spent six years in a similar capacity at another Canadian mutual fund company. Carol also worked for a number of years as an advisor, providing financial and estate planning advice to high net worth individuals. In partnership with Sales, Carol and her team conduct numerous tax and estate planning seminars across the country with both advisors and investors.
Carol has designations as a Certified Financial Planner and Certified Life Underwriter. She is also a member of the Society of Tax and Estate Practitioners and the Canadian Tax Foundation.
Co-founder and Managing Partner
Tidal Venture Partners
Ian is Tidal’s Managing Partner and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Tidal is a pre-seed to seed venture fund that focuses on investing in the emerging ecosystem of Atlantic Canada. Prior to co-founding Tidal, Ian was a strategy consultant at a boutique management consultancy. His practice focus was on advising early-stage companies on their go-to-market, scale-up and business development strategies. He is a graduate of the VC Lab programme, the world’s leading VC fund manager accelerator, and the first graduate from Canada. Ian completed his BA in Philosophy at the University of King’s College, and went to do his graduate work at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, where his research focused on emerging market economy transitions.
Managing Partner
Penrose Partners
Kerem is an MBA and the Managing Partner of Penrose Partners, a blockchain-focused consulting firm advising startups, enterprises, governments and investors on navigating the blockchain and digital assets space.
Kerem is an advisor to the Canadian Technology Accelerators and to the Premier’s Office of FinTech for the Bermuda Government. He is also a Founding Board Member of the Bermuda Innovation & Technology Association (BITA) and a Founding Partner of the i3 Innovation Incubator in Bermuda.
Previously at PricewaterhouseCoopers and at MLG Blockchain, he has consulted multinational enterprises, governments and educational institutions on understanding and adopting blockchain technology. Bridging his experience in multiple industries, he has foreseen change and advised clients on navigating digital transformation in an age of disruption.
Director, Family Office, Canada
Stonehage Fleming
We are valued advisors to the world’s leading families and wealth creators. We manage and protect their wealth, often across multiple geographies and generations. We work with families to help determine a purpose and strategy for their wealth, providing the platform to protect and manage their assets, across generations. This support can vary from a single standalone service to operating as a fully outsourced Family Office. With a sixth generation family at our core, we bring the families we support the benefit of shared experience; the challenges and opportunities they face will often be unique to them, but not to us. We give them the peace of mind and the time to focus on what’s most important to them.
Ralph is Director for Stonehage Fleming, based in Toronto. He has more than 20 years’ experience specialising in working with families and their advisors across the Americas providing strategic counsel, management and implementation covering the full spectrum of a family’s wealth requirements His experience in both living and working internationally allows him to bring the right resources and practical wisdom to help international families manage their wealth and protect their legacy for this generation and those to come.
Prior to joining Stonehage Fleming, Ralph held a variety of senior leadership roles in wealth management across the Americas with Canadian banks and a Single Family Office. This included a 20-year career with Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) through postings in Canada, Barbados, and the Cayman Islands where he also served on the Boards of RBC’s Delaware and Caribbean Trust companies. Ralph is a Chartered Accountant (Canada), and has a Masters in Business Administration from The Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and Honours Bachelor of Arts from Western University.
8:00 am
Will they, won’t they: raise taxes, scrap the advantageous capital gains inclusion rate, tax principal residences, enhance the alternative minimum tax, raise property and/or transaction taxes – take your pick! This chat will focus on what we know and what might occur in successive federal, provincial, and local budgets. Bring your questions!
Carol Bezaire, Mackenzie Investments
9:00 am
Anyone who has visited the Cayman Islands knows of Camana Bay, the Ritz Carlton, Grand Cayman, Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa, and other developed/owned by Dart. Its patriarch, Kenneth Dart, moved to Cayman entirely over 20 years ago. Numerous family offices, technology and other operating companies have now joined the 12,000+ investment funds on Cayman. Learn why from Sue.
Sue Nickason, Dart Family Office
9:30 am
Family Offices are gaining exposure to digital assets at an accelerating pace and many others are intent upon learning as much as they can about these innovative investments: Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies (either direct or via funds and ETFs), various venture capital opportunities, listed mining and other digital plays, Metaverse-oriented securities, and even NFTs.
Michael Branco, Celeste Ventures
Lorne Sugarman, Metaverse Group
Paul Stapleton, Fidelity Clearing Canada
Charlie Morris, CMCC Global
10:30 am
11:00 am
High inflation. Low (and rising!) interest rates. Volatile trading. What is an investor to do? This panel will illustrate various trading strategies and sectors of the credit market as alternatives to more plain vanilla exposure opportunities.
Nancy Hoi Bertrand, Citi Private Bank
Marco Lukesch, Emso Asset Management
Mike Quinn, RPIA
11:45 am
It used to be that equity investing was almost exclusively public market securities but access to many areas hitherto unreachable by all but the most sophisticated and connected investors has changed this. Join us for a varied and expert panel that truly shows how one can make the most of this asset class.
Cameron Richards, Guardian Partners
Desmond Kingsford, Highwood Value Partners
Mark Maybank, Maverix Private Equity
Jason Moore, Man Numeric
12:30 pm
Clubbing deals is natural for families: it draws upon the expertise of the group, reduces risk via diversification, and allows access to deals and markets that might not otherwise be possible. Once a tidy sum has been amasses, one naturally turns to the next generation and ensuring the have opportunities and motivation to fulfill their passions and advance the ethos of the family – to put the success into succession.
Neil Nisker, Our Family Office
Evelyne Massa, Group RMC
1:30 pm
1:45 pm
This session is aimed at providing all event attendees with the ability to join in genuine knowledge exchange and discussion in a small group setting.
Choose from 2 x 25-minute round table discussions
2:45 pm
2 x 15-minute 1:1 meetings
3:15 pm
Quantitative methods have been used since the dawn of investing to create securities valuation models, allocation strategies, and (more recently) systematic trading systems that can facilitate implementation of sophisticated programs based on fundamental and/or price action inputs.
Jay Barrett, SmartBe Investments
Matt Piselli, FORT LP
Nicolas Mirjolet, Quantica Capital
4:00 pm
4 x 15-minute 1:1 meetings
5:00 pm
5:00 pm
A special reception for our sponsors and allocators attending the Summit.
6:00 pm
Life as the principal of a family office can be exciting, inspirational, and busy, while at the same time worrisome, stressful, and draining. We provide this (strictly!) family members only dinner as an opportunity to meet with your peers and share questions, concerns, solutions, and insights across the table. We have nominated three leaders/instigators to get things going and guarantee that all will find the evening illuminating and fun.
Brandon K. Laughren, Laughren Group
Evelyne Massa, Group RMC
Daniel Stow, Zen Capital and Mergers
6:00 pm
Working in a single family office is not your typical investment management job – you gain the benefit of a sometimes extremely flat organizational structure and many find the spectrum of duties and tasks to be (very) intellectually stimulating. On the other hand, it can be isolating and difficult to keep up with the pace of work: each family has its own dynamic and cadence so we created this dinner where (strictly!) full time employees (not relatives) of SFOs can interact with their peers to get the most out of their roles.
Jason Granger, Fipke Group
Enzo Gabrielli, Horizon Capital Holdings
Scott Morrison, Wealhouse Capital Management
8:00 pm
8:00 am
There is no denying that digital assets have created a great deal of wealth for a growing number of investors and maths/coding enthusiasts – but how can families ensure that, like all of their assets, they are in the right domiciles and structures to ensure they have the most advantageous tax and legal treatment? This chat will cover a (real life) case study of this sort of situation from an expert in the field.
Ralph Awrey, Stonehage Fleming
Kerem Kolcuoglu, Penrose Partners
9:00 am
Every investor knows that we are in a litigious world and securities settlements are growing each year as classes of security-holders seek relief via the courts. Obtaining a judgement is only part of the process, though. One must prove their holding and file their paperwork in a prescribed manner by the due date in order to receive their due amounts. Class action services specialize in ensuring maximum benefit, for a contingency fee. They can also uncover monies otherwise unknown to investors by surveying their portfolio for relevant tickers and holding periods.
Bob Williamson, Battea Class Action Services
9:30 am
Possibly the oldest investment, real estate has long provided a roof over one’s head, and a place to work, play, and shop/etc. One drawback is the incredible amount of energy and carbon-producing materials and processes that are required for its construction and maintenance. This panel investigates the many ways that we can make use of this essential asset while ameliorating its potential negatives
Jason Campbell, Eckler
Funke Okubadejo, Actis
Jonathan Turnbull, Harrison Street
Erik Dmytruk, Slate Securities
10:30 am
10:45 am
4 x 15-minute 1:1 meetings
11:45 am
Private Lending has grown immensely over the last few years – not least because of low interest rates, but also with a growing openness of regulators to provide vehicles active in this area and investors coming to understand the risks and returns on offer in these securities. Our learned panel will illuminate some lesser-known areas as well as mainstream sectors that deserve attention.
Athas Kouvaras, Richter Family Office
Dev Gopalan, Sagard
Theresa Shutt, Fiera Private Debt
Daniel Leger, MGG Investment Group
12:30 pm
The creation of centralized concerns providing a range of services to family offices (aka multi-family offices) many decades ago allowed certain families to gain access to opportunities and expertise that they could not have discovered nor financed perhaps on their own. It also created a cousin-class of professionals to those working in single family offices – ones who can see across various dynasties with unique and varied needs and synthesize solutions tailored to types of families and also to each one individually. As prosperous families grow in number, they seek out those with the ability to provide counsel just as those doing so are proliferating. This talk will discuss the state of advice today and where it is headed.
Mindy Mayman, Richter
1:30 pm
1:45 pm
This session is aimed at providing all event attendees with the ability to join in genuine knowledge exchange and discussion in a small group setting.
Choose from 2 x 25-minute round table discussions
2:45 pm
4 x 15-minute 1:1 meetings
3:45 pm
ESG investing is a hot topic (no pun intended) and unlike institutional investors that are investing a beneficiary’s monies, families are putting their own capital to work and many really, really care about where it goes and what it does in terms of their core values. There is a real passion here by many family members to ensure they do well and invest well and this talk will present one manager’s view on how to achieve laudable goals.
Brad Crombie, Alquity Investment Management
4:15 pm
So-called alt-alts are outside of the typical public and private equities or debt instruments and assets such as real estate. They are taking a unique tack as they navigate the investment landscape. These managers and their differentiated offerings can provide investors with diversifying return streams without sacrificing liquidity, safety, or other key factors associated with other alternative investments.
Joseph Bakish, Bakish Wealth, Richardson Wealth Limited.
Atul Tiwari, Cult Wines
Sasha Polishchuk, Carlisle Management Company S.C.A.
David Vankka, ICM Asset Management
5:00 pm
Reception for all delegates of the Family Office Summit
6:00 pm
8:00 am
Venture investing can seem simple and daunting at the same time. Selecting opportunities, sizing positions, and choosing which will receive follow-on investments have many ways that on can make mistakes. This talk will illustrate a simple heuristic that investors can use to get the most of their venture sleeve and provide discipline throughout the investment cycle.
Kamal Hassan, Loyal VC
9:00 am
Over the last few months you may have come across many of the areas of investment in digital assets. This talk focuses on crypto-currencies, coins, and tokens as well as DeFi platforms where these investments can become more than simply buy and HODL assets. This talk will delve into these opportunities and get everyone up on this new-new thing.
Mitchell Nicholson, KPMG
9:30 am
Many families owe their fortune to a dedicated trail-blazer who staked their claim in a new industry – or invented one! Today’s start-up founders have similar dreams of providing a service to a growing market, creating well-paying jobs, and delivering true value to everyone around them; all while (possibly) creating multi-generational wealth. Before this can be done, however, they need capital to make their ideas come to life – and that could be where successful families come into the picture. This panel provides the insight and opinions of experienced VCs in various niches on how families can ensure the catch the next waves of innovation.
Jean Courcelles, Mirabaud Canada
Marcus Daniels, Highline Beta
Ajay Gopal, Framework Venture Partners
Ian Whytock, Tidal Venture Partners
10:15 am
3 x 15-minute 1:1 meeting
11:00 am
11:45 am
1:00 pm
Member of CAASA
Event Registration Closed
Non-member of CAASA
Event Registration Closed
Member of CAASA. Includes core & ancillary service providers.
Tickets have now sold out for this category – please contact Paul at paul@caasa.ca to be placed on the waitlist.
Event Registration Closed
Member of CAASA
Tickets have now sold out for this category – please contact Paul at paul@caasa.ca to be placed on the waitlist.
Event Registration Closed
This conference brings together significant investors, managers, and service providers who are all very active in the PE and VC sector.
We are hosting this conference at the offices of OMERS in Toronto and have very limited capacity: maximum of 100 persons, of which we assume will be 50 investors (pensions & family offices predominantly)
Partner, Head of Private Equity Canada
Sagard Holdings
Partner, Head of Private Equity Canada
Sagard Holdings
Marie-Claude Boisvert has served as Partner, Head of Private Equity Canada at Sagard since joining in 2021 to launch the strategy. Marie-Claude oversees fundraising, originating, investing, and portfolio companies management across all sectors. She is a member of the Sagard Private Equity Canada investment committee and is based in Montreal.
Prior to Sagard, Marie-Claude was Partner at Clearspring Capital Partners and Managing Partner at Kilmer Capital Partners where she was involved in all aspects of the funds’ operations and was responsible for investment activities in Quebec. Marie-Claude previously held the positions of CFO and interim COO in two private-equity owned portfolio companies. In addition, her experience includes investment banking in London with Goldman Sachs, as well as corporate finance with KPMG in Montreal.
She held board of directors positions with Atelka Entreprise, Altasciences, Coalision, Demers Braun Ambulances, Regal Confections and currently Chairs the board of Voyages Traditours and an observer to Telecon. Marie-Claude is a Governor of Réseau Capital and board member of ACG Québec. She also sits on the Board of Directors of Fondation Lise Watier and is a co-founder of Elle-Invest.
Marie-Claude holds a B.Comm. from HEC Montreal and an MBA from INSEAD. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA).
Co-Founder & Partner
CAASA
Chairman
Wentworth Hall Consultancy Ltd
General Partner
Creative Ventures
Portfolio Manager, Investment Advisor
Richardson Wealth
Portfolio Manager, Investment Advisor
Richardson Wealth
Co-founder and Managing Partner
Maverix Private Equity
Senior Director, Equity & Alternative Investments
Trans-Canada Capital
Portfolio Manager, Investment Advisor
Richardson Wealth
Director
Castle Hall – The Due Diligence Company
Senior Client Relationship Manager
Richter Family Office
Managing Director
HarbourVest
President
Sixty Degree Capital
Canadian Market Head
iCapital Network
CEO
Polymath
Managing Partner
Hullwright Advisors
Co-Founder & Partner
CAASA
James co-founded CAASA in response to industry support for a Canadian alternatives association to serve all aspects including: hedge / alternative strategies; private lending; private real estate; private equity; plus emerging areas where Canada is a leader such as digital assets / blockchain and robo-advisors.
Prior to CAASA, James was the Chief Operating Officer of AIMA Canada where his team of three worked with 12 committees to produce 50-60 events per annum across Canada, organize 100+ committee meetings, and increase member numbers over his 7-year tenure from 66 to 164 corporate entities.
James also has experience in research and writing for the CAIA Association as well as serving on CAIA’s Exam Council and as a grader for the Level II portion of the exam. He also had roles in institutional sales and FoHF structuring in Seoul, South Korea, as a Product Manager at ICICI Wealth Management, and an Investment Advisor at RBC Dominion Securities. He graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BBA (Finance).
Chairman
Wentworth Hall Consultancy Ltd
Ian Morley is a successful business Angel and Entrepreneur.
He is the Chairman of Wentworth Hall Family Office and Consultancy, Chairman of Atitlan YRD, an award winning Crypto Multi Manager. Chairman of Salutem Senior Living, Chairman of Regenerative Medical Group, NED at Conister Bank, NED at CF@L, Director of Condor Trade and also holds various Directorships with a range of other companies covering Property, Alterantive Energy, Farmland ,Blockchain and Crypto currencies.
He is the author of Morley’s Laws of Business and Fund Management and one of the leading global figures and pioneers in the development of the Hedge Fund Industry. He ran one of Europe’s first and oldest Fund of Funds and subsequently helped build one of Europe’s largest privately-owned Fund of Funds. He has helped build, manage, own, buy, sell and mentor start-up businesses over the last twenty years. He founded and was elected the first Chairman of what is today known as The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the world’s only truly global trade association for the Hedge Fund Industry. He has advised Central Banks, International Regulators and other International Organisations such as the EU and OECD on matters related to Economics, Markets and Regulation. He is actively involved in Family Office conferences and networks.
His articles have been published in such papers as The London Times, FT, International Herald Tribune and various trade publications. He has appeared frequently on BBC, radio and TV, Sky, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg and various international TV and radio stations.
Ian trained as an Economist at LSE where he was Vice President of the Students Union. He is a member of Gray’s Inn and one of the few fund managers to be accredited as a journalist.
Ian served as a battle medic with a MASH unit and has completed sixteen International Marathons, one hundred and fifty Half Marathons and competed in weight lifting and dancing competitions. He was the London Theater Correspondent for the Irish Stage and Screen. He has also written about Running and Building a house in Italy for Italy Magazine. His other interests include boating, football, politics and philanthropy. He lives in London with his dog, cat and sometimes his children.
General Partner
Creative Ventures
Dr. Luce is an investor, materials scientist, and company builder. He brings over 15 years of operating and investing experience in the areas of climate change, energy transition, and critical technology areas.
Dr. Luce is currently a General Partner at Creative Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage deep technology investing. He leads the firm’s climate technology focus area and is active across all aspects of Creative Ventures’ business, including deal sourcing, portfolio support, recruiting, personnel management, fundraising, culture, and strategy. He has been involved in over 30 private company financing transactions.
In addition to his work at Creative Ventures, Dr. Luce is passionate about increasing representation of Latino/a investors in the venture capital industry. He is a founding member of VCFamilia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating an inclusive environment for current and future Latinx investors. Dr. Luce has also been an active mentor to emerging venture capitalists for both the National Venture Capital Association and LatinxVC.
Dr. Luce holds a M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from UC Berkeley where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a Berkeley Chancellor’s Fellow. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from the University of Arizona where he was a National Hispanic Scholar.
Portfolio Manager, Investment Advisor
Richardson Wealth
Craig encourages his clients to think differently about investing in order to ensure a positive impact in his clients’ financial circumstances. He works beyond traditional portfolio management in the equity and bond markets alone to include conservative and predictable alternative assets, offering more effective diversification and a benchmark that offers protection and peace of mind regardless of market conditions. Craig is a frequent commentator on alternative asset allocations for various media outlets, and a panelist and speaker at industry events.
Portfolio Manager, Investment Advisor
Richardson Wealth
Financial Planner and Portfolio Manager, Francis Sabourin, Director, Wealth Management at Richardson Wealth, was awarded the Distinguished Advisor Award (prix Conseiller émérite) for the year 2016 by the publication Finance et Investissement, highlighting the good performance of his portfolios, both equal to or higher than the benchmarks, while minimizing the risks, thereby focusing on good capital protection. The Advisor of the Year Award is designed to recognize an advisor with at least 20 years of experience, who has marked the financial industry with a unique and remarkable practice. Francis celebrated 25 years of practice on October 5, 2017.
Co-founder and Managing Partner
Maverix Private Equity
Mark is a Co-founder and Managing Partner with Maverix Private Equity where he leads the collective team and firm operations. As an active investor, director, advisor and entrepreneur, he has a wealth of experience spanning across multiple industries and geographies. This includes financial services, technology, health and wellness, media, telecom, oil and gas, services, and advanced manufacturing. With a passion to drive growth and a focus on human elements, Mark strives to scale Canada’s strong and vibrant innovation-based ecosystem.
Prior to Maverix, Mark was the President and COO of Canaccord Genuity Corp, where he led the expansion of their wealth management and international capital markets businesses, positioning the firm as a global leader in commodity and technology financing.
In addition to being EVP, Corporate Development at Itemus Inc., a technology firm, he was also a Senior Technology Analyst with Yorkton Securities, and CFO of ECS Enhanced Cellular Communications, a US-based cellular services company. Mark earned his Chartered Accountant and Chartered Business Valuator designations at Deloitte in the audit, tax, and valuation advisory practices. Currently, Mark is the Chairman of Fleet Canada Inc. and serves on other boards including Forum Equity Partners and New Latitude Capital. Previously, he served on several boards including Executive Chairman (Advisory) of the Kirchner Group, Knix Wear, Entrec, Empire State Connector, Biologix, Moraine Capital, and Canaccord Genuity Financial.
Mark is an active philanthropist with former roles as Co-Chair of Gold Medal Plates, a Canadian Olympic Foundation program, Special Advisor to the Treasury Board of Canada, Ambassador for World Bicycle Relief, Advisor to SpiderTech cycling, member of the Corporate Advisory Board of the Art Gallery of Ontario and guest lecturer at the Director’s College. Outside of the office, Mark and his family enjoy an active lifestyle which includes skiing, biking, running, and swimming. They enjoy travelling and spending time in Annecy, France and the Okanagan Valley, B.C.
Senior Director, Equity & Alternative Investments
Trans-Canada Capital
Mathieu serves as Senior Director, Equity & Alternative Investments, and has been with TCC since 2019. He is mainly responsible for the ongoing management, monitoring and research of TCC’s public and private equity portfolios, including venture capital fund commitments. He is also heavily involved in the sourcing, underwriting and selection of private equity and venture capital direct co-investments and is a voting member of the External Managers Investment Committee (EMIC). He has nearly 20 years of investment experience covering alternative asset classes. Prior to joining TCC, he was a senior researcher and consultant at a large global investment consulting firm in charge of hedge fund and other alternative strategies for the benefit of institutional clients in North America, Europe and Asia. Earlier in his career, Mathieu worked at a global operational due diligence consultant assisting institutional investors in making investment decisions. Mathieu holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Concordia University and he is a CFA and CAIA charterholder.
Portfolio Manager, Investment Advisor
Richardson Wealth
For over 20 years, Ida has worked closely with Institutions, Family Offices, wealthy entrepreneurs, and high net worth families building trusted relationships and delivering a high level of holistic Wealth Management services.
Ida’s beliefs include the importance of estate planning, tax minimization, capital preservation and evolutionary portfolio construction using alternative strategies to achieve consistent absolute returns with a risk reward-oriented approach.
Ida obtained a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Toronto with specialization in Finance and major in Economics. Ida is a multi award winning Portfolio Manager and obtained her Chartered Alternative Investment Advisor (CAIA®) designation in 2005.
Director
Castle Hall – The Due Diligence Company
Esther Zurba is a Director with Castle Hall, responsible for lending subject matter expertise across Castle Hall Diligence’s ongoing product development and client engagements. Esther has more than 20 years of professional experience including over 15 years conducting operational due diligence on global investment managers across all asset classes. Esther joined Castle Hall Diligence in 2012 from Scotia Capital’s Trade Operations and Risk Control group, where she conducted ODD on external asset managers supporting multiple business lines. Prior to joining Scotia Capital, Esther worked with Mapleridge Capital, a Toronto based short-term systematic CTA. Esther holds an MBA from Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, and BA (Hons) from University of Toronto. Esther is also a CAIA charterholder and has been actively involved with the CAIA Association since 2007 in various capacities, including as current co-head of the CAIA Toronto Chapter. Esther is also a member of AIMA Canada’s Legal, Finance & Compliance Committee.
Senior Client Relationship Manager
Richter Family Office
Spencer Clark is a Senior Portfolio Manager at Richter Family Office (RFO), providing personalized wealth management solutions to high net worth families. Spencer is also responsible for evaluating and monitoring venture capital and private equity investment opportunities for RFO.
Prior to joining RFO in 2017, Spencer worked for a large global asset manager in their ETF and Index Investments business and began his career in the investment counsel division of a large Canadian bank. Spencer holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, and has earned the CFA, CAIA, and CIM designations.
Managing Director
HarbourVest
Senia Rapisarda joined HarbourVest in 2014 to focus on partnership and direct co-investments in Canada and to expand HarbourVest’s local presence in the market.
Senia joined the Firm from BDC Venture Capital, where she was responsible for the establishment of a team focused on direct and indirect investments across Canada. Her previous experience includes positions at Nur Energie in London, London Business School, Nomura International, and Salomon Brothers, among other roles.
Senia received a JD (summa cum laude) from LUISS University in Rome in 1987 and a Masters in Law and Economics (Fulbright Scholar) from Columbia University in 1989. An Italian and Canadian citizen, Senia speaks fluent Italian, French, and Spanish.
President
Sixty Degree Capital
Mr. Robert Guo, President of “Sixty Degree Capital”-Venture Capital investment firm, a seasoned insightful financial executive, and business leader with international market development skills with extensive experience in public and private companies as Board member, executive and advisor. Former: Board Director of “China Wind Power” (TSX-V: CNW), and Board Director of “Environmental Waste International Inc. “(TSX-V: EWS). CEO of Goldenmount Capital International Inc. Investment Advisor at “BMO Nesbitt Burns” and Senior Associate at “TD”, MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University.
Canadian Market Head
iCapital Network
Tom Johnston heads the iCapital Network activities in Canada, having been active in the alternatives and broader asset management industry in the country for more than 25 years. He is a substantial presence at many industry events and has been a champion of the sector for much of his career.
Prior to his role at iCapital Network, he lead the institutional sales efforts at CI Global Asset Management, after a 15-year tenure at UBS Asset Management (Canada). Tom started his career at the Royal Trust company and has served as a member of the board of directors and executive committee with the Portfolio Managers Association of Canada (PMAC). He has a Bachelor of Arts from The University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Windsor.
CEO
Polymath
Vincent guides the growth of Polymath, delivering an innovative and evolutionary software platform for a new generation of capital markets, leaning on his successful 25 years of start-up and scale up experience in financial software and services, as well as telecom software.
Prior to Polymath, Vincent was the CEO of Telepin Software Systems Inc, a fintech software company providing a disruptive digital wallet and payments platform for developed and emerging markets globally (acquired by Constellation Software Inc. (TSX:CSU).
He has also held CTO and founding positions at Airwide Solutions, a software provider in mobile messaging and security software for the telecoms industry (acquired by Mavenir). Vincent is also a member of the Governing Council of the Polymesh Association, an institutional–grade permissioned blockchain built specifically for regulated assets.
Managing Partner
Hullwright Advisors
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University
Advisor, The Investment Industry Association of Canada
Advisor, DealMaker
Past Founder & CEO, Aegis Sports Labs
Past CEO, Independent Trading Group (ITG) Inc.;
Past Managing Director & Global Head, Equity Execution & Prime Services Group, CIBC World Markets Inc.,
Past Vice-President, Toronto Stock Exchange
10:30 am
11:00 am
All investments have times when valuations challenge one’s underlying belief in the investment thesis – but that could be the most appropriate time to keep one’s will and possibly add fresh funds to the opportunity. Our panelist have broad experience in venture and will provide a perspective on the current market as well as offer ideas that can be best capitalized upon while others might be in a sort of panic mode.
Thomas Kalafaits,Hullwright Advisors
Robert Guo, Sixty Degree Capital
Alex Luce, Creative Ventures
Mark Maybank, Maverix Private Equity
11:45 am
We have assembled a group of individuals who have a great deal of experience in allocating to alternate investments over a great many years. This panel will allow them to explain their motivations for allocating to alternatives, how they position these opportunities with their clients, and how they perform initial diligence and ongoing monitoring on the investments as well as communicate to their clients. What is happening with their hard-earned money.
Tom Johnston, iCapital Network
Ida Khajadourian, Richardson Wealth
Craig Machel, Richardson Wealth
Francis Sabourin, Richardson Wealth
12:30 pm
Every market goes through turbulence from time to time and private equity and venture capital are not immune. Markets and investors have vacillated between FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and FOGA (Fear Of Getting Annihilated) in the last two years or so but, as the saying goes: this too shall pass. Join us for a fireside chat with two titans of the industry whose longitudinal view of these markets will provide insightful perspective for all attendees – not to mention the opportunity to hear their views on what investors should be doing now to position their portfolios for the next market phase.
Marie-Claude Boivert, Sagard Holdings
Senia Rapisarda, HarbourVest
1:30 pm
Emerging technologies are reshaping the landscape of investment portfolios and activities while ensuring adherence to regulatory frameworks — particularly blockchain — can serve as the foundation for regulatory compliance with these alternative opportunities. This talk will delve into the benefits of tokenization including: enhanced liquidity, reduced friction, and increased accessibility to previously inaccessible asset classes, while emphasizing the pivotal role of blockchain technology in establishing regulatory compliance.
Vincent Kadar, Polymath
2:00 pm
Your opportunity to connect with other delegates.
Meetings can be scheduled beforehand with our messaging & meeting app or simply occur organically on the spot.
3:00 pm
Sophisticated investors leave no stone unturned when it comes to finding opportunities. Sometimes that involves lengthy plane trips to far-off places to meet with investors, managers, and even target companies. Other times, it involves hiring either local folks in another jurisdiction or sending their people across the globe to live in a target country. This panel will talk about some of the advantages and disadvantages of spending the globe for one’s investment portfolio.
Esther Zurba, Castle Hall Dilligence
3:30 pm
Venture teams such as those at single family offices and pension plans each have their unique way of looking at the world and investment opportunities, which might be presented to them. When it comes to venture capital, this is possibly even more true, because, especially in the case of family offices, the patriarch/matriarch are still firmly in control, The families have in-depth knowledge in a few industries, such as the ones that they may have made a fortune in. Pension plans’ team composition obviously is a determining factor in their ability to source, diligence, transact, and exit deals over what might be many years. This panel will illustrate some of those preferences in action, and how these principal investors access venture, through funds, and with direct or co-investment transactions.
Moderator:
James Burron, CAASA
Panelsits:
Mathieu Larochelle, Trans-Canada Capital
Ian Morley, Wentworth Hall Consultancy Ltd
Spencer Clark, Richter Family Office
4:15 pm
End Investors: Pensions, Endowments, Foundations, Sovereign Wealth Funds, or Single Family Offices
Event Registration Closed
End Investors: Pensions, Endowments, Foundations, Sovereign Wealth Funds, or Single Family Offices
Event Registration Closed
CAASA Members
Event Registration Closed
CAASA Members
Event Registration Closed
All students are asked to provide detailed information on their academic progress and work experience as well as a cover letter. These will be provided to all sponsoring members who will reach out to schedule an interview or additional information session.
All sponsors will have a dedicated slot that interested (or just curious!) students and grads should use as their opportunity to learn about the company, what it does, and its culture – in addition to online and other research and inquiries. Students and grads are greatly encouraged to use this time to, as appropriate, pose questions to the employers to better understand their business and culture as well as the roles that they may have open at that time or in the future.
In addition to the info sessions, a selection of topics will be discussed by industry leaders (including one of our famous Career Panels!) designed to be informative and illuminating for students/grads and employers alike.
If participants have additional ideas or comments on the agenda and format, we are happy to hear it so we can look to incorporate it into our 2023 edition!
Backpack to Briefcase: A student’s guide to a meaningful career journey, to the first 100 student registrations to the Career Showcase. This book is a fantastic foundation and resource guide to how those entering the workforce can prepare both academically and mentally to get into their chosen industry. The author, like CAASA staff, is a big fan of discovering one’s strengths and using them to make the most of their situation – while working each day to be a more well-rounded and ready industry professional.
Stephanie is also our first keynote speaker on Day 1!
Co-Founder
PeerSpectives Consulting
Co-Founder
PeerSpectives Consulting
Co-Founder
PeerSpectives Consulting
Stephanie Koonar is a community connector that believes in the strength of teams and personal development, with experience collaborating with international teams from Dublin, Milan, Guadalajara, New York, London in both profit and non-profit organizations. An award-winning instructor with 20 years experience in Higher Education, Certified Career Educator, coaching people to unlock their potential to be their best. Mentor of the Year. MBA, BA Psych. Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach.
Co-Founder
PeerSpectives Consulting
Louann McCurdy helps people bring forth the best in themselves, their relationships, and their career. She is an ICF-Certified Coach, specializing in CliftonStrengths. Louann has lived in 5 countries (Canada, USA, Singapore, France, India), and has worked as an Engineer, I/T Professional, coach and facilitator. B.Sc. (Engineering), B.Ed. (Adult Ed.). Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach.
Associate
Spartan Fund Management
Associate Principal, Client Services
Westcourt Capital Corporation
Director
OMERS Capital Markets
Chief Executive Officer
Metis
Managing Partner
Maverix Private Equity
Managing Director – Program Director
FDP Institute (affiliated with the CAIA Association)
Account Manager
University of Waterloo
Managing Director – Canada
Robert Walters
Program Coordinator
University of Toronto, Mathematical Finance Program
Associate
Spartan Fund Management
Taylor Ostoich is an Associate at Spartan Fund Management which is an alternative investment management firm based in Toronto specializing in niche strategies with over $1.5 billion in assets under management. At Spartan, Taylor works on operational matters along with being part of the investment team that focuses on SPAC arbitrage. Prior to joining Spartan, she worked for three years as a Trading Assistant at RP Investment Advisors which is a fixed income manager focused on corporate bonds and interest rate management. She spent two summer internships at Scotiabank on the trading floor. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University, completed CFA Level I, and is a CPA Candidate.
Associate Principal, Client Services
Westcourt Capital Corporation
Sarah supports Westcourt Capital Corporation’s Portfolio Managers in both the construction and monitoring of diversified investment portfolios designed to achieve the specific goals of Westcourt’s clients. She also assists the Portfolio Managers in the preparation and communication of investment presentations and client proposals, and with ongoing client service. Sarah is registered as a Dealing Representative.
Prior to joining Westcourt, Sarah held a summer internship where she was an investment analyst at Pandion Investments Ltd., a private family investment company. At Pandion, Sarah worked closely with management and contributed to the firm’s investment strategy by assisting in identifying future opportunities and target markets. She also assisted in monitoring a variety of asset classes and in evaluating and screening potential investment products. Sarah was also a fall intern analyst at BMO Capital Markets in the Global Fixed Income, Currencies & Commodities group, where she quoted foreign exchange pricing to the bank’s branches and direct-dealing clients.
Sarah graduated in 2017 from Dartmouth College with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Government, and was a member of the Women’s Varsity Rowing Team. She also holds the Chartered Investment Manager (CIM) designation.
Chief Executive Officer
Metis
Elena Sinelnikova is a former Government of Canada solutions architect turned entrepreneur and co-founded several startups. Metis.io: a scalability and low-code solution for DeFi, NFT and dApps on Ethereum, and CryptoChicks.ca – educational hub and accelerator for women in blockchain in 56 countries.
Managing Partner
Maverix Private Equity
Michael is a Managing Partner at Maverix Private Equity, where his focus is on all aspects of the investment process, along with firm operations and strategy. Michael leads the firm’s healthcare investment practice.
Prior to joining Maverix, Michael spent 17 years at H.I.G. Capital Management, a leading global private equity investment firm with more than $44 billion of equity capital under management. Michael remains a Senior Advisor with H.I.G. Most recently, Michael was a Managing Director of H.I.G. BioHealth Partners, the firm’s dedicated healthcare investment fund, where Michael sourced, executed and managed a diverse investment portfolio of healthcare business across stages, sectors and geographies, including HyperBranch Medical (acquired: Stryker Corporation), NeuWave Medical (acquired: Johnson & Johnson) and VertiFlex Medical (acquired: Boston Scientific) and others. Michael works closely with management teams and portfolio companies in key areas such as R&D, product development, market access, business development, follow on equity and debt financing and achieving liquidity through M&A or IPO.
Michael has also founded and held prominent operating roles in several disruptive private equity-backed businesses. Earlier in his career, Michael worked directly for, or as a consultant to, emerging technology businesses, and in the corporate finance, pharmaceutical and clinical research industries.
Michael received his B.Sc. from McGill University and his Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Neuroscience from the University of Toronto. Michael is on the Board of Trustees for the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and the Faculty of Science Advisory Board at McGill University.
Managing Director – Program Director
FDP Institute (affiliated with the CAIA Association)
Keith Black has over thirty years of financial market experience, serving approximately half of that time as an academic and half as a trader and consultant to institutional investors. He currently serves as Managing Director, Program Director FDP Charter at the FDP Institute.
During his most recent role as Managing Director, Content Strategy at CAIA was responsible for Curriculum development. Previous to that Keith was a valued team member at Ennis Knupp + Associates, Keith advised foundations, endowments and pension funds on their asset allocation and manager selection strategies in hedge funds, commodities, and managed futures. Other experiences include commodities derivatives trading, stock options research and Cboe floor trading, and building quantitative stock selection models for mutual funds and hedge funds. Dr. Black previously served as an assistant professor and senior lecturer at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Keith has contributed to the CFA Digest, and has published in The Journal of Wealth Management, The Journal of Trading, The Journal of Investing, and The Journal of Alternative Investments, among others. He is the author of the book “Managing a Hedge Fund,” as well as co-author of the second, third, and fourth editions of the CAIA Level I and Level II curriculum. Dr. Black was named to the Institutional Investor magazine’s list of “Rising Stars of Hedge Funds” in 2010.
Dr. Black earned a BA from Whittier College, an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, and a PhD from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and was a member of the inaugural class of both CAIA and FDP members.
Account Manager
University of Waterloo
Donna Shin works with Co-operative & Experiential Education at the University of Waterloo. In the role of Account Manager, Donna manages relationships with various organizations including financial institutions, public accounting firms, tech companies and more. Prior to joining the University of Waterloo, she worked as a human resources consultant with the CBC. Donna holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from York University and Human Resources Management certificate.
For more information about the University of Waterloo co-op program, check out: https://uwaterloo.ca/hire/
Managing Director – Canada
Robert Walters
Martin is a native Torontonian that spent 10 years recruiting accounting professionals for opportunities across Ireland, the UK and the Middle East for the Robert Walters group before relocating home in 2016 to establish their Toronto office. He has successfully managed the careers of hundreds of accounting professionals, many of whom now operate at Controller/CFO level and repeatedly come back to Robert Walters to recruit top calibre professionals for their teams.
Program Coordinator
University of Toronto, Mathematical Finance Program
Josie Valotta is the Program Coordinator for the Master of Mathematical Finance Program at the University of Toronto. Josie has managed both research and professional programs in various faculties and departments at UofT. Josie has extensive experience in academic administration; credential evaluation; financial reporting and governance.
Josie has a degree in Art History from the University of Toronto.
President and Portfolio Manager
Fulcra Asset Management
Director, Family Offices & Advisor Relations
Group RMC
Chief Executive Officer
Cacoeli
Chief Executive Officer
Metis
Executive Director, Relationship Management (Quebec)
CIBC Mellon
Chief People & Communication Officer
SGGG Fund Services
Chief Compliance Officer
Invico Capital Corporation
Partner & Senior Advisor
Waratah Capital Advisors
Managing Director
Peakhill Capital
Principal
HarbourVest Partners
Director, Sales – Quebec Region
Avenue Living
Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Finance, Vancouver, BC
Trez Capital
Head of Human Resources
Picton Mahoney Asset Management
President and Portfolio Manager
Fulcra Asset Management
Matt founded Fulcra Asset Management in 2009. Matt has 19 years of investment management experience, with an extensive background in fixed income and corporate investing. His previous experiences include managing corporate bond funds at Great Pacific Capital Corp, CI Investments and Marret Asset Management. In 2004, the $2 billion Signature High Income Fund that he co-managed at CI Investments was awarded the “Canadian Income Trust Fund of the Year” by Morningstar. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from the University of British Columbia.
Director, Family Offices & Advisor Relations
Group RMC
Mike is the Director of Family Offices and Advisor Relations at Group RMC. He is responsible for establishing, developing and maintaining business relationships with Family Offices and Investment Advisors. He is also responsible for marketing the business in Canada and in the US. Prior, he held various positions in finance at prominent Insurance companies Standard Life and Manulife (John Hancock). Mike graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce with a concentration in accounting from the John Molson School of Business. He holds the CPA, CMA designation.
Chief Executive Officer
Cacoeli
Jedidiah has been an experienced real estate investor in the residential rental market since 2003. She started investing in the single-family residential market with tremendous success. Very shortly, she entered the multifamily residential market, owning and managing small and medium rental complexes. Professionally trained as a CPA, CA in Canada, Jedidiah possesses strong analytical and relationship management skills that are critical in evaluating appropriate real estate opportunities and ensuring the success of each real estate investment.
Chief Executive Officer
Metis
Elena Sinelnikova is a former Government of Canada solutions architect turned entrepreneur and co-founded several startups. Metis.io: a scalability and low-code solution for DeFi, NFT and dApps on Ethereum, and CryptoChicks.ca – educational hub and accelerator for women in blockchain in 56 countries.
Executive Director, Relationship Management (Quebec)
CIBC Mellon
Michael Graham is Executive Director, Relationship Management (Quebec).
Michael is responsible for leading the relationship management team in Quebec, overseeing the existing client relationships and partnering with our business development team to grow CIBC Mellon’s regional footprint. He also develops and manages initiatives that enhance client partnerships.
Prior to joining CIBC Mellon in 2013, Michael worked in progressively senior roles at a large, diversified financial institution in Canada, most recently as a relationship manager for domestic and international institutional investors.
In addition to his 20+ years of experience in the financial services industry, Michael is a CFA charterholder and earned his bachelor of commerce degree from Concordia University, with a major in finance at the John Molson School of Business.
Chief People & Communication Officer
SGGG Fund Services
Andy Smith brings a wealth of experience in unitholder recordkeeping and transfer agency services dating back to 2000.
Andy’s career began at RBC Global Services providing administrative support to some of Canada’s largest mutual funds. He then moved to BNY Mellon Alternative Investment Services (Bermuda) where he spent seven years and became a vice-president. While at BNY Mellon, his department oversaw transfer agency services for offshore hedge funds with $125 billion in assets under administration. At BNY Mellon, Andy became an expert on alternative product offerings, series-based accounting, master-feeder structures and offshore regulatory compliance.
After returning to Canada in 2010, Andy joined SGGG-Fund Services Inc. In his roles here, Andy was focused on investor reporting, client communications, and meeting the needs of evolving industry requirements including FATCA, CRM2 and more. Today, Andy puts more focus on building relationships and knowledge across departments, with clients, and other stakeholders. He will continue the Human Resources initiatives he has started and will align some of our HR practices to deliver a consistently positive experience for SGGG-FSI’s employees.
Andy holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto and a post-graduate diploma in public relations from Ryerson University.
Chief Compliance Officer
Invico Capital Corporation
As the Chief Compliance Officer at Invico Capital Corporation, Christi Hayes brings over 15 years of experience in investment banking and corporate finance — and her organizational prowess — to seamlessly oversee the closings for all Invico managed funds and the day-to-day operations of the entire organization. Before joining Invico, Christi served as a Syndication and Accounting Analyst at FirstEnergy Capital Corporation, where she worked closely with the corporate finance team on public and private financings, including brokered and non-brokered offerings and grey market trades.Beyond her role at Invico, Christi is also a member of the Calgary Corporate Challenge Governance Committee, a non-profit providing community-focused team building events, and advises the Board on matters pertaining to strategic planning, governance, and human resource matters. She graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Arts in Archeology and a double minor in history and anthropology.
Partner & Senior Advisor
Waratah Capital Advisors
Ron joined Waratah Capital Advisors in 2015. He brings over 30 years of leadership in pension consulting and investment management to Waratah. Prior to joining Waratah, Ron was President of Hewitt Associates Canada (now known as AON Hewitt) and held senior executive positions at various Canadian asset management firms.
Ron graduated from Queen’s University with an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree and a Masters of Industrial Relations degree. Ron has also completed executive courses at the Harvard Business School and University of Toronto, in addition to the Fundamentals of Alternative Investment Certificate Program by the CAIA Association. He received his CIM designation and is registered as a Dealing Representative.
Managing Director
Peakhill Capital
Peakhill Capital is a commercial real estate lender and equity provider to leading real estate developers and investors. Peakhill Capital was founded by Harley Gold, Partner and Managing Director. Harley brings extensive experience in financing on all asset types including multi-family, senior housing, retail, industrial, hospitality, and land development, and has closed in excess of $15 billion in loans over the past 15 years in Canada and the US. His client base includes developers, REITs, pension funds, and high net worth individuals.
Harley’s focus has traditionally been on delivering strong returns with opportunistic investment strategies through utilizing competitive and flexible financing. Prior to founding Peakhill Capital, Harley was the Vice-President of Business Development at CMLS Financial. Harley graduated from the University of Toronto and holds an MBA from Canisius.
Principal
HarbourVest Partners
Daniel Conti joined HarbourVest’s investor relations team in 2018 and focuses on coordinating, monitoring, and enhancing relationships with new and existing Canadian investors and consultants.
Dan joined the Firm from CI Institutional Asset Management, where he was most recently a vice president responsible for institutional business development and client service for consultants, pension plans, foundations, family and multi-family offices as well as banks and insurance company platforms. Prior to this, he was an investment counsellor for CI’s Private Counsel division. His prior experience includes roles for a single family office and a multi-family office in Eastern Canada.
Dan received a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance and Economics from École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Montreal. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Financial Planning designations. Dan currently serves as co-director of the CFA Montreal Mentoring Program.
Director, Sales – Quebec Region
Avenue Living
Mr. Nikov holds a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from Concordia University in the John Molson School of Business. In addition, Mr. Nikov has a Financial Planner Diploma from the Institut québécois de planification financière (IQPF). Over the past years, Mr. Nikov has held positions with companies from both the public and private sectors. He has been in financial sales for his entire career, working in Montreal, Quebec.
Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Finance, Vancouver, BC
Trez Capital
Kathy joined Trez Capital in 2017 and is responsible for strategy and portfolio financing for the Trez Capital investment funds. She brings over 20 years of financial services expertise to the role. Prior to joining Trez, she worked at GCM Grosvenor with various roles in due diligence, treasury, accounting, financial reporting and tax. She began her career in public accounting at Arthur Andersen.
Kathy graduated with honors from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, and with distinction from DePaul Kellstadt Graduate School with a Master of Business Administration. She is a Certified Public Accountant in the United States, Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant in Canada, Chartered Financial Analyst, and Certified Fraud Examiner.
Head of Human Resources
Picton Mahoney Asset Management
Celeste Warren is the Head of Talent & Culture at Picton Mahoney Asset Management. For more than 20 years, Celeste has been partnering with highly dynamic and growth-oriented organizations to build their leadership teams, workplace wellness programs, and culture and engagement initiatives. She has a reputation for consistently cultivating best workplace environments with a core focus on enhancing the health and well-being of the leaders and employees that she works with. Celeste is a committed leader herself and the results of her efforts have led to significant increases in employee engagement and company morale for the firms she has partnered with, including consistently becoming recognized as one of Canada’s “Top Employers” and “Great Places to Work”.
Celeste is a Certified Coach Practitioner (CCP), Health and Wellness Specialist (HWS) and graduate from the Strategic Human Resources Management Program (SHRMP) with the University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management. Celeste holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Psychology from the University of Waterloo, in addition to a post-graduate diploma in Human Resources Management.
Please note this agenda is subject to change.
10:00 am
Whether you are clear on your career direction or still considering your options, many students are not sure of the steps to begin their meaningful career.
Having taught over 4,000 students, Stephanie Koonar, Author of Amazon Best Seller, “Backpack to Briefcase, A Student’s Guide to a Meaningful Career Journey” has seen the steps that successful students have taken to launch into their dream career. Come hear from Career Coaches Stephanie and Louann how to get started with the Proven Steps to Land Your Dream Job.
Stephanie Koonar, PeerSpectives Consulting
Louann McCurdy, PeerSpectives Consulting
10:30 am
Why reinvent the wheel? This panel will give topical and timely advice to those just leaving the confines of school and on their way to make it in the industry. Each of them has a unique path, just like the audience, and used their particular skills and prescience to find their first and successive roles. A perfect primer for imminent and recent grads!
Taylor Ostoich, Spartan Fund Management
Sarah Caplice, Westcourt Capital Corp.
11:00 am
Being part of a team is an important part of any job and investment management relies especially on having a dedicated team of quality individuals who strive to learn each day and bring that experience to the portfolio. Come see how Fulcra President and Portfolio Manager, Matt Shandro, invests and what he looks for in team members.
12:00 pm
1:00 pm
There’s an urgent need for affordable housing. How do you balance business and social responsibilities while also addressing the investor demand for profits? Jedidiah will share her personal experiences and insights from leading a purely profit-driven real estate investment firm to become a profit and socially-driven real estate firm.
2:00 pm
We provide the infrastructure for creating and managing decentralized companies on blockchain fast, cheap and easy.
Metis.io has a goal to help startups and mature organizations to move their business “on-chain” with just the click of a button. Many would like to do so, but very few can afford expensive blockchain developers, so Metis.io is here to help. We provide a decentralized platform where anyone can create a company on the blockchain, invite people to join, hire new employees or freelancers, and pay them salaries via blockchain. With Metis, anything is possible.
3:00 pm
CIBC Mellon offers a great environment to begin and grow your career. Join our session to find out more about our organization and various learning opportunities, and common paths for those looking to establish careers in the investment industry. Many seasoned professionals in financial services start out in the operations area and we offer a number of entry level positions in areas like fund accounting. Hear from the perspectives of two professionals who have grown their careers on the operations side, and from an HR recruitment representative, for practical insights on entry level opportunities for future leaders.
4:00 pm
10:00 am
This is your opportunity to learn the unique, non-linear, path-dependent career paths of diverse leaders in the industry and get their advice on how to break in to the work world and make a career out of it. They will point out the learnings they have had on their journeys, what they look for in terms of colleagues and staff, and areas of growth that could hold the key to many a young career. Bring your questions and enjoy!
Elena Sinelnikova, Metis
Michael Wasserman, Maverix Private Equity
Thorsten Koop, OMERS
11:00 am
SGGG-FSI is Canada’s largest independent administrator of alternative funds with $70billion (CAD) under administration. Using Diamond, our proprietary fund administration software, our 200+ employees provide full-service fund administration to clients from our HQ in TO. Our vision is to be the first choice for fund administration. We are certified as a Great Place to Work – “Best” in: Financial Services, Inclusion, Youth, & Women.
Enjoy: competitive base salary, fully paid health benefits, RRSP match + annual bonus. We encourage & support your professional growth & career development.
Lets build a strong future, together.
12:00 pm
There’s a reason why private equity and private debt are the top two fastest-growing asset classes globally: they can help provide investors with regular cash flow, capital preservation, and protection against rising inflation. Join us to learn more about Invico Capital Corporation, one of Canada’s leading investment fund management firms providing alternative solutions to retail and institutional investors. You’ll meet several members of our staff and hear first-hand what it’s like to work with an award-winning management team, as well as gain insight about our company culture, roles and responsibilities, and roadmap for 2022.
1:00 pm
Waratah Capital Advisors is a boutique alternative investment manager based in Toronto. Waratah manages over CAD$3.3 billion in AUM and has an impressive 10+ year history running several hedge fund and private equity strategies. Join us to hear from Partner, and Senior Advisor, Ron Lloyd, who brings over 30 years of leadership and industry experience, on what it really takes to be successful in financial services and how “chasing titles and money” is not the recipe for success. Attendees will also gain valuable insight from Michael Orlando, a recent graduate and member of the Waratah team who will speak on his experience at the firm, and how Waratah’s approach and understanding of the ‘investment triangle’ has been key to paving an enriching career path for him as an individual. Following this candid conversation, attendees will learn valuable lessons and tips on how to rethink about priorities, and key concepts to consider when positioning yourself for a meaningful career in financial services.
2:00 pm
Across Canada, private lending has become an integral component across all real estate asset yields due to the high and stable yield it provides. Join us to learn more about Peakhill Capital, our private lending business, where we will walk you through a high-level overview of our organization, and what sets us apart from other lenders in the market. Learn more about our equity platform, Peakhill Equity Partners, that invests in ground-up and value-add real estate projects across the United States and Canada. We look forward to sharing more about our culture and day-to-day, roles & responsibilities, and our company goals going forward into 2022.
3:00 pm
4:00 pm
9:55 am
The morning will start with a welcome and introduction followed by an overview for employers of career services offered by a leader in the field. The University of Toronto’s MMF program has not only one of the first (possibly the first) Masters of Mathematical Finance (est 1998) curriculums in the world, but also many innovative ways to get students further educated, trained, and socialized into the roles that the will soon walk into and earn This is a great intro for those that have used these sorts of programs as well as a refresher for those that have in the past.
James Burron, CAASA
Josie Valotta, University of Toronto, Masters of Mathematical Finance
10:10 am
This session provides an overview for employers of co-op and career services offered by a leader in the field. University of Waterloo’s co-op program is the largest in the world (and one that CAASA staff have made use of for 10 years) that provides not just job placement (and a very steamlined one, at that!) but also a comprehensive suite of courses and sessions designed to ready students for the world of work. This is a great intro for those that have used these sorts of programs as well as a refresher for those that have in the past.
Donna Shin, University of Waterloo
10:30 am
Dr. Black headed curriculum at the (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst) CAIA Association for 11 years and was one of the first holders of the designation. On top of his experience as an assistant professor, options trader, hedge fund industry writer (he wrote the book on it!), and alternative investment consulting, he found (like so many) that the CAIA designation is a perfect pairing for those entering into or making their name in alts. Now, heading the (Financial Data Professional) FDP Institute, he is taking on bridging the (alternative) data and alternative investment industry. Learn how these two designations can amp up your resume and knowledge.
Keith Black, FDP Institute (affiliated with the CAIA Association)
11:00 am
Avenue Living Group manages over $3 billion in assets, including multi-family residential, self-storage, and agricultural farmland in Canada and the United States. Our unique platform includes professionals with diverse expertise, including finance, business analysis, legal services, marketing, property management and customer service. Join Yavor Nikov, Director of Sales – Quebec Region and Travis O’Connell-Vacon, Director, People and Culture Operations to learn about what it’s like to work with this dynamic company, how our team fosters career growth, and potential openings for top talent with a range of skills.
12:00 pm
For those of you interested in kicking off your career in the real estate and finance industries, consider taking the time to join Kathy, who will give you a broad look at the background, vision and operations of our growing Trez team. Opportunities at Trez for those new to their careers could include sales, finance, and real estate financial analysis, including credit risk and underwriting.
1:00 pm
Picton Mahoney Asset Management is a place where employees can be proud of building a rewarding career that offers growth and the opportunity to evolve within a supportive culture that focuses on trust, collaboration, inclusiveness and continuous improvement. Founded in 2004 and 100% employee-owned, we are committed to offering impactful and meaningful careers and are proud to be named on the 2021 lists of Canada’s Best Workplaces in Financial Services & Insurance, Best Workplaces™ for Women, and Best Workplaces™ in Canada. Join our session to learn more about our core values and hear from some of our team members who will share how they’ve developed professionally at Picton Mahoney.
2:00 pm
Once in the workforce, most new entrants get to work at learning their trade and the smart ones keep their head up and think about their overall career growth and what skills, experiences, training, and connections that they need to keep current, advance to the next level, and make their mark on the industry. This may be advancement and moves at their initiative or a call from a recruiter (either in-house corporate ones or third-party). This session will explain what recruiters do, how they are paid (and by whom), and how to make the best of their services.
Martin Fox, Robert Walters
2:30 pm
Member of CAASA
Event Registration Closed
Non-member of CAASA
Event Registration Closed