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.
This Forum will be held in person in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto.
Please take a moment to RSVP!
More information to follow shortly.
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.
Chief Revenue Officer and Managing Partner
Picton Mahoney Asset Management
Chief Wealth Strategist at TD (Wealth Investment Office)
TD Wealth
Chief Revenue Officer and Managing Partner
Picton Mahoney Asset Management
Dean Shepard is the Chief Revenue Officer & Managing Partner of Picton Mahoney Asset Management. He is responsible for Industry Leadership, Corporate Development, C-Suite Client Relations and Collaboration, and is an investment industry veteran with over 25 years’ experience. Dean holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of British Columbia and is a CFA charterholder.
Chief Wealth Strategist at TD (Wealth Investment Office)
TD Wealth
Brad Simpson is Chief Wealth Strategist and Head of Wealth Investment Office at TD Private Wealth and Financial Planning. Brad is a member of the TD Wealth Asset Allocation Committee and Chairs both the TD Wealth Investment Policy and Investment Management Committees.
With a career spanning over 32 years — serving in roles as varied as, portfolio manager, president and chief investment officer — Brad has developed a unique perspective on wealth management.
He is also widely sought-after speaker and frequent contributor to numerous financial media sharing his views on investment strategy, risk management and behavioural economics.
He is a Chartered Investment Manager and a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute.
Chief Executive Officer & Director
Stack Capital Group Inc.
Managing Partner
Loyal VC
Senior Vice President
AGinvest Farmland Properties Canada Inc.
Managing Director
Overbay Capital Partners
Managing Director, Portfolio Manager and Head of Investment Team
Waratah Capital Advisors
Principal, Senior Advisor (former CIO)
RP Investment Advisors LP
Principal & Portfolio Manager
Westcourt Capital Corporation
SVP, Head of Research, Americas at Preqin
Preqin
Portfolio Manager, Investment Advisor
Richardson Wealth
Co-founder & Partner
CAASA
Chief Executive Officer & Director
Stack Capital Group Inc.
Jeff brings over a decade of investment industry and portfolio management experience to Stack, having successfully co-managed various North American strategies including long/short equity, a high conviction ‘best ideas’ mandate, in addition to a yield-based Fund. During his career, Jeff has actively invested across the capital structure, including high yield credit, convertible notes, preferred debt, public equity (both long & short), and private equity. Through an extensive research and due diligence process, Jeff has specialized in identifying compelling public and private company investment opportunities and has collaboratively worked alongside management teams to help grow business operations and increase shareholder value. Jeff is a graduate of the Richard Ivey School of Business and is a CFA charter holder.
Managing Partner
Loyal VC
Kamal Hassan is a Managing Partner of Loyal VC, a global venture fund with a unique investing process designed to drive excess returns with lower volatility. Loyal’s gate-stage process involves monthly diligence calls with portfolio companies over years, with the top 2% of the portfolio each month offered next, progressively larger, stages of funding. The fund is broadly diversified, with almost 300 investments, in 50+ countries globally, across industry sectors, made across the economic cycle. Deals are almost exclusively sourced through global partnerships with INSEAD and the Founder Institute accelerator. Value is added by Loyal’s proprietary network of over 1,000 people, who share in the fund’s carry. Loyal’s process and diversification is enabled by the fund’s open-ended structure, with quarterly repricing and liquidity opportunities.
Prior to Loyal, Kamal had a 20-year career as an entrepreneurial CEO and angel investor, following time as a consultant with Bain. Outside activities included serving as president of the INSEAD Canadian alumni association, and working as a Global Director with the Founder Institute. Kamal has an INSEAD MBA, a degree in engineering physics from Queen’s University, has traveled to over 100 countries and speaks five languages.
Senior Vice President
AGinvest Farmland Properties Canada Inc.
Anthony has almost 30 years of experience in the investment industry. Anthony was a licensed portfolio manager and worked extensively with high-net-worth individuals. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a member of the CFA Institute. He earned an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and a CPA from the State of Illinois. Anthony spent 5 years as an Executive-in-Residence at the Schulich School of Business, where he oversaw the student-run investment fund, working with students to guide and mentor them as they manage an actual investment portfolio. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Ronald McDonald House in Toronto, sits on the Audit and Finance Committee and is Chair of the RMH Investment Committee.
Managing Director
Overbay Capital Partners
Neil Andrew is a Managing Director at Overbay Capital Partners and is a member of the investment team. Prior to Overbay, Neil was a senior member of Setter Capital, where he acted as an advisor on private equity secondaries for financial institutions globally. Neil was also a portfolio manager and partner of a long-short equity hedge fund, Sevenoaks Capital. Neil holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University and is a CFA Charterholder.
Managing Director, Portfolio Manager and Head of Investment Team
Waratah Capital Advisors
Jason joined Waratah Capital Advisors in 2010. Jason is the Lead Portfolio Manager on the Waratah Alternative ESG fund and Co-Portfolio Manager on Waratah One and Waratah One X. Jason also leads the investment team.
Prior to Waratah, Jason worked at TD Securities as an Associate in Investment Banking and Equity Capital Markets. During his time at TD, Jason was involved in domestic mergers and acquisitions, as well as the structuring and pricing of equity securities, convertible debentures, and preferred shares. Jason received an Honours Business Administration degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario
Principal, Senior Advisor (former CIO)
RP Investment Advisors LP
Mike co-founded RP Investment Advisors LP (RPIA) in 2009 and is currently involved in an advisory capacity as Senior Advisor. Mike sits on the Investment Committee, ESG Committee, and Risk Committee. Previously, he was the firm’s Chief Investment Officer and was responsible for formulating and implementing the firm’s investment strategy across the funds.
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 coupled with extensive experience in 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.
Principal & Portfolio Manager
Westcourt Capital Corporation
As a registered Portfolio Manager, Jonathan provides investment advisory services to Westcourt Capital Corporation’s clients. Jonathan’s core responsibility is to construct, implement, monitor,and rebalance diversified alternative investment portfolios that will achieve specific investment objectives.
Since the onset of his career in 2006, he has been involved in determining investment suitability and conducting due diligence on a wide range of asset classes from private equity and real estate to hedge funds and structured products.
Prior to joining Westcourt, Jonathan was a Director at UBS Bank (Canada), where he was avoting member of the Bank’s Investment Committee.
Jonathan earned a BA (Honours) in Economics from Queen’s University and is a CFACharterholder.
SVP, Head of Research, Americas at Preqin
Preqin
Joseph Borda (Joe) is SVP, Head of Research, Americas at Preqin, the industry’s leading source of data, insights, and solutions across alternative assets. Joe is responsible for Preqin’s Americas data offerings, including the implementation and future advancement of the database. He is a Chartered Alternative Investments Analyst (CAIA) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics degree from Syracuse University.
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.
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).
10:30 am
11:00 am
Welcome to Alts-Land. In this NowTalk, Preqin will give a succinct briefing of alternatives in Canada and the world – with an emphasis on how far we have come in alts allocations and where they may be headed over the next few years (if we follow the massive growth seen in other markets). This presentation will have some great talking points for discussion with clients who see alternatives as just that, and not required for a well-balanced portfolio.
Joseph Borda, Preqin
11:30 am
Craig’s many TV appearances, “Alternative Investments” on BNN/Bloomberg, coupled with his prolific speaking schedule makes him a known entity to clients/prospects and industry folks alike. Always with a witty analog and anecdote to illustrate a point, his incisive mind is seemingly always concocting ways to translate industry-speak to something that investors can understand. Join us for this session that will chronicle his life as an IA and how he built his persona within the bounds of IIROC requirements.
Craig Machel, Richardson Wealth
12:00 pm
12:15 pm
Dean is a Partner with Picton Mahoney Asset Management and a key part of their management team. Brad runs the TD Wealth platform where he is a stoic advocate of alternatives. Ida will set the stage with insightful questions and add her own experience to the mix. We know that everyone will enjoy this frank discussion on the industry, alternatives, and what IAs and asset managers can do to set themselves apart from the crowd.
Ida Khajadourian, Richardson Wealth
Dean Shepard, Picton Mahoney Asset Management
Brad Simpson, TD Wealth
1:00 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
2:00 pm
Should Main Street have access to the opportunities presented to ‘more sophisticated’ (read: wealthier) investors? For years, one could not even seriously ask this question as the products and structures were just not available. Now we can ask it, and get the answers from our panel: one that will look into the benefits and potential pitfalls of private investments in the hands of retail investors and how IAs can make the most of these platforms & funds.
Tom Johnston, iCapital Network
Kamal Hassan, Loyal VC
Jeff Parks, Stack Capital
Neil Andrew, Overbay Capital Partners
2:45 pm
James and his CAASA co-founder Caroline were at ground zero when the initial Liquid Alts legislation was proposed in March 2013 and watching to go through town-halls, committee meetings, and CSA task force meetings and deliberations was seemingly glacial (it was promulgated in January, 2019) but the results were worth it. James will give a (thankfully) brief timeline of the process, the legislation as it stands now, its purpose when proposed and if it hit the mark, and where this growing part of the alts industry might be headed in the next few years.
James Burron, CAASA
3:15 pm
Alts can go through cycles and each one has its own merits and potential place in an investor portfolio, and knowing these factors is very important as IAs allocate to these asset classes and sub-sectors. This panel will provide insight into how advisors can do diligence on managers and allocate client assets to them.
Jonathan Colligan, Westcourt Capital
Jason Landau, Waratah Capital Advisors
Anthony Faiella, AGinvest Farmland Properties Canada
Mike Quinn, RPIA
4:00 pm
Opportunity to network over food and drinks!
Member of CAASA
Event Registration Closed
Non-Member of CAASA
Event Registration Closed