2018 Speakers
Eli Broverman
Eli Broverman is the Co-Founder of Betterment and is an advisor to other technology startups.
Eli started Betterment with a vision that technology and automation will help people plan for their financial needs better and reach their goals. As President and COO at Betterment, Eli helped scale the company from inception to growth stage, working across all facets of the business. To aid that growth, the Betterment team has raised $275mm in equity financing.
Eli is a frequent guest on CNBC, FOX, and Bloomberg TV, and is a regular speaker at leading industry events.
Eli is a graduate of Brown University and New York University School of Law.
Joe Nakhle
Structured Empathy is a small consulting firm based in Toronto, providing
consulting services for a broad range of clients. Services include customer experience strategy, corporate training, and business transformation, with a focus on customer experience design based on journey mapping. The principal, Brian Walsh, has introduced thousands of people to the emerging discipline of consumer journey mapping to design better experiences of all types for consumers, customers, users, employees, donors, volunteers, students, citizens, suppliers and partners.
Michael Schweitzer
Michael Schweitzer is Senior Vice President and Director of Distribution for High Net Worth at Capital Group. Prior to joining Capital, Michael was Global Head of Sales and Distribution for Group Wealth Management at HSBC. Concurrent with this role, he was also Global Head of Insurance Sales and Distribution and Regional Head of Wealth Management for Europe. Prior to joining HSBC, Michael was Managing Director at UBS Wealth Management Americas, where he co-founded their Private Wealth Management business in 2003. Prior to that, he was at Merrill Lynch, where he helped launch and then directed sales and strategy for the Private Banking and Investment Group. Michael began his career with the international accounting and consulting firm Deloitte Haskins +Sells as a consultant in their Emerging Business Services practice.
Michael received a B.S. in business administration, with an emphasis in accounting, from San Diego State University. He and his family recently relocated to Los Angeles from London (U.K.).
Kash J. Pashootan
Dan Richards
A 30 year veteran of the investment industry, Dan Richards writes regular columns for top advisor publications in the United States and Canada and is a regular contributor to the Globe and Mail and BNN. He’s also author of the international best seller Getting Clients Keeping Clients, winner of a US industry award as the best resource for client communication.
In the 1990s Dan built companies that were sold to Environics Research and to Rogers Communications. In 2002 he was recruited to serve as CEO of Cartier Partners and its 3500 advisors, where he led a team that stabilized the firm’s situation and in 2004 led its sale to Dundee.
Dan holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and is an award winning faculty member in the MBA program at the Rotman School of Management, ranked among the top 10 global finance schools by the Financial Times. Dan sits on the board of four charities, two in Africa and two in Toronto. For the last 10 years he has co – chaired a dinner that raises $100,000 annually for a childrens home that he encountered during a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro.
William Vastis
Rob McClelland
Chad Larson
Karl Cheong CFA
Karl is an innovative and leading industry veteran who has been at the forefront of some of the industry’s recent change. Karl is responsible for setting the strategic direction for the region and leading a team of First Trust investment professionals delivering ETF solutions to investment advisors and portfolio managers.
Karl provides insightful market commentary on a variety of topics including current events and industry trends as a regular guest on BNN, Bloomberg Canada and more recently Bloomberg. He has also been featured in a variety of publications such as The Financial Post, Globe & Mail, Reuters, Morningstar, Wealth Professional and The Investment Executive.
Mr. Cheong is bilingual, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from McGill University and is a Charter Financial Analyst charter holder (CFA®. Karl is also a member of the CFA Institute and Toronto CFA Society)
David Lupini
Lillian Ferndriger
Lillian Ferndriger is Vice President, National Accounts at Ninepoint Partners, a new investment management firm with $3 billion in assets under management, created from the management-led buy-out of Sprott Asset Management from Sprott Inc.
Lillian is the firm’s lead on product approvals, working closely with senior analysts and decision makers at IIROC, EMD and MFDA dealerships, providing education and securing distribution of Ninepoint’s alternative investment solutions – including private debt, options overlaid mutual funds and resource funds.
Lillian has been responsible for Ninepoint product approvals for 2 years. Previous roles include Inside Sales Manager at Sun Life Global Investments, and inside wholesaler at Manulife Investments and Acuity Funds. Lillian has her Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto and the FMA designation from the Canadian Securities Institute.
Angela Nikolakakos
Dustyn Lanz
Robyn Graham
Darcy Hulston
James Burron
Paul Bourque
Paul Bourque assumed the position of President and CEO for The Investment Funds Institute of Canada on July 18, 2017. Most recently he held the position of Executive Director of the British Columbia Securities Commission. Prior to that Paul was an Associate Partner with Deloitte Inc. leading the national securities and regulatory investigation practice. Prior to joining Deloitte, Paul held senior positions with a number of securities regulators and law enforcement agencies: Senior Vice President of Member Regulation for the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, Director of Market Operations for the Ontario Securities Commission, and the Enforcement Director for the British Columbia Securities Commission. In addition to his experience as a securities regulator Paul was a special prosecutor, Director, Criminal Appeals and Criminal Law Policy and Deputy Attorney General and Deputy Minister of Justice with the Alberta Department of Justice.
Paul is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia and the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Jeff Weniger
Neville Joanes
- Neville oversees investment strategy, asset allocation, ETF selection and investment operations at WealthBar, a Vancouver based digital portfolio manager. His position at WealthBar has enabled him to follow his passions around digitizing wealth management, spurring innovation in the financial industry and bringing transparency to clients across Canada.
- In a previous role at a Canadian investment firm, Neville was responsible for over $500 million of assets. With over 10 years of experience in financial services, he has held roles at Mackenzie, TD Bank and Horizon ETFs.
- Neville has extensive experience in analysis, product development, trading and asset management. He is also a CFA charterholder.
Steven Hawkins
Pat Chiefalo
Jean Lorrain
Jesse Kaufman
Stuart Graham
Mr. Graham is a managing director in the Toronto office and head of PIMCO Canada. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2008, he was vice president and managing director for institutional investments at MFC Global Investment Management. Mr. Graham also previously worked at Fidelity Investments for 10 years, most recently as executive vice president for retirement services. He has 29 years of investment experience and holds a bachelor of laws degree from the University of Ottawa and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario.
Carol Smith
Carol Smith is an Investment Fund Advisor* with Desjardins Financial Security Investments Inc. and a Life & Health Insurance Advisor with Desjardins Financial Security Independent Network. She has been a part of the financial services industry for over 14 years. Carol is passionate about Responsible Investments and holds the RIAC (Responsible Investment Advisor Certification) designation. Carol educates her clients about responsible investment options showing them how they can align their money with their values. In addition, Carol works with her clients to provide a complete and comprehensive approach to meet all of their financial needs. These services include, but are not limited to, investment and insurance solutions, tax planning and estate planning.
Gillian Stovel Rivers
Gillian specializes in exceptional client experiences for retiring and transitioning couples and corporate clients. She and her fellow wealth advisors at Assante at Bronte Park work collaboratively with professionals to manage the diverse needs of retirees, professionals, small business owners and their families.
Together with her father and mentor Gord Stovel, Gillian developed a simplified annual process her clients enjoy, which achieves ongoing education, builds decision-making expertise and offers peace of mind about personal finances. This focus on team-based processes and collective service and achievement helped Gillian build the branch of Assante at Bronte Park advisors to the team that it is today.
Gillian lives in Burlington with her family. She devotes her spare time to her kids, family and friends, as well as all forms of wellness which she believes are the basis for personal wealth and happiness. Founder of The Be Well Campaign, she is fueled by her passion to inspire mindful wellness with her colleagues and her community.
Michael Taglieri
Trustworthiness, passion and knowledge are the elements that Michael brings to each and every client relationship. He is adamant on ensuring his client’s needs, goals and values are at the centre of every engagement. He has completed the Canadian Securities Course (CSC), The Conduct and Practices Handbook course (CPH) and the Life License Qualification Program (LLQP).
Prior to becoming a financial advisor, Michael worked as a private art consultant. In this role, he was instrumental in providing guidance and assistance to Art Collectors as they selected pieces to enhance both their personal and corporate collections. These decisions involved matching both their suitability requirements as well as their investment goals. The collection of fine art may be an effective method of diversifying one’s overall wealth portfolio. In understanding this, the progression into the financial advisory practice was both a natural and an obvious evolution.
Michael enjoys spending his free time with his wife Sabrina and their two children. He is active in the visual arts community, and a founding member of The Be Well Campaign.
Jackie Ramler
Jackie Ramler is a dedicated leader in the financial industry with more than 20 years of experience. She focuses on comprehensive wealth management solutions for business owners, corporate executives, and their family. Jackie works to align your portfolio with your principles and priorities, while maintaining profitability. Screening for your principles, such as workforce diversity, reduced carbon footprint, product safety and sustainability, Jackie helps ensure your portfolio reflects the future you want to support. Jackie and her team are active participants in the community. All team members are encouraged to serve their community and have the benefit of a paid volunteer day each month. Jackie is committed to volunteer work and charity organizations, such as Rainbows Canada, Tay Libraries and Living Green Barrie. She resides on Georgian Bay with her husband Brian, who owns a marina, and her son Cameron, who is in high school.
Alfred Lee
Alfred is a portfolio manager and investment strategist at BMO Asset Management Inc. where he manages fixed income and preferred share related mandates for both institutional and retail clients. As part of the global fixed income management team, he is involved in the management and trading of a wide variety of portfolios. In addition to portfolio management, he is also involved with product/index design, sales strategy and business development. Previously he lead the ETF research initiatives at a major Canadian brokerage and also a pension consulting division of another major bank. Alfred is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, majoring in economics and holds the CFA, Chartered Market Technician (CMT) and Derivatives Market Specialist (DMS) designations.
William Trout
William Trout leads Celent’s global Wealth Management practice. His research centers on technology strategy and innovation in the securities and banking industries. He has particular expertise on automated advice delivery, the use of digital tools and wealth and asset management platform technology. An authority on the robo advisory business, William has been widely quoted in Bloomberg, CNBC, Financial Times, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.
Prior to Celent, William was head of product and segment development for affluent and high net worth customers at BBVA Compass. He holds an AB from Harvard College.
Doug Krist
Doug Krist is Senior Compliance Manager at Natixis Investment Managers Canada LP. Doug is responsible for the development and oversight of the firm’s compliance program, which includes sales practices. Doug began his career in 2000 at a large well-known investment fund manager, transitioning into a compliance role in 2004. He has worked for various large and small Canadian investment fund managers.
Claire Van Wyk-Allan
Claire Van Wyk-Allan is as Director, Head of Canada for the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA). She has 10 years of professional experience in the retail advisor channel in both territory sales and team management.
Prior to joining AIMA, Claire was a Business Development Manager, Advisor Channel Sales at RBC Global Asset Management (RBC GAM), where she covered GTA West and was awarded for Top BDM activity in 2016. Previously, she was the Manager, Sales Support at RBC GAM, where she managed a team of Sales Coordinators across Canada. Claire began her career at Arrow Capital, where she spent almost 4 years as Regional Manager, covering advisors across Ontario.
Having served on the AIMA Canada Executive Board for almost 4 years, Claire has also served as Board Liaison for the Sales Practices Committee and previously, as Co-Chair for the Events Committee. She has also been a two-time Co-Chair for Help for Children’s Hedge Funds Care Canada Gala.
Claire graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a Bachelor of Management and Organizational Studies, specializing in Finance, and is a CAIA Charterholder.
Naveed Mohammed CFA, CAIA
Chris Nickerson
Donna Spagnolo
Donna is a partner in the Toronto office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Donna practices corporate law mainly in the securities and insurance industries, with an emphasis on investment management.
Donna provides advice to securities and insurance industry participants, including investment fund managers, dealers, investment advisers, insurance companies, insurance agents, insurance brokers and other insurance intermediaries, in connection with their day-to-day and their extraordinary activities and focuses on the regulatory, compliance, market conduct and governance issues they face as well as with transactional matters.
Selected by peers for inclusion in the 2018 edition (and since 2011) of The Best Lawyers in Canada® (Mutual Funds Law). Recipient of the 2014 Lexpert® Zenith Award (Corporate Finance and Securities).
