Victor Kuntzevitsky

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.

Elina Surkov

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.

James Burron

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).

Colleen Redmond

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.

Martin Pelletier

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.

Bob Simpson

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.

Brian D’Costa

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.

Jocelyn Courcelles

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.

Mark Allen

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.

Brianne Gardner

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.

Ted Karon

Portfolio Manager

RBC Dominion Securities

Cam Richards

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.

Conner Sura

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.