Avery Shenfeld is Managing Director and Chief Economist at CIBC, having been with the firm since 1993. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. One of the country’s most sought after commentators, he is consistently ranked as one of the top economists in a survey of Canadian institutional equity investors. Avery follows economic developments and their implications for financial and asset markets. He has received multiple awards for forecast accuracy in Canada, and is a seven time winner of the Dow Jones Market Watch award for most accurate forecaster of the US economy. His prior background includes experience in management consulting, on the economics faculty at the University of Toronto, and lecturing in the summer program at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has addressed numerous business groups and been quoted in the media in the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe.
The CBWC Foundation supports the work of 170 Baptist churches in western Canada. Jason oversees investments, financial services and stewardship, and ensures the Foundation’s strategic direction aligns with the missional objectives of the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada. He has been an executive officer, director, and founder of several companies in a range of industries. He serves on a number of boards including The Mustard Seed in Calgary and on the national pension and insurance committee of Canadian Baptist Ministries. Jason completed undergraduate business studies at the University of Calgary in 1992, earned the CFA designation in 2001, and completed an MA (Leadership) from the University of Guelph in 2018.
Peter heads our Strategic Exchange initiative at Connor, Clark & Lunn. He has over 20 years of investment experience in Canada, the US and the United Kingdom spending his earlier years in consulting, which included leading two of the major Canadian firms and then moving to the investment management business in 2008 when he established a new investment operation for a Canadian insurance company. He joined Connor, Clark and Lunn Financial Group, as Senior Vice President, Institutional Strategy in 2011.
Michel Charron, investment consultant at PBI Actuarial Consultants Ltd., has over 25 years of work experience. Michel joined the PBI investment consulting team in 2012, following the merger between ACBA and PBI. Michel is involved in all aspects related to investment consulting at PBI, particularly in analyzing and measuring managers’ performance, in compliance monitoring, in the development and revision of investment policies, in asset allocation, in manager searches, in the development and implementation of management structures and in the application of the principles for responsible investing. He is also responsible for using and maintaining the PBI asset class universes through the eVestment database.
Michel has a Bachelor degree in Finance from McGill University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder (CFA). He also holds a Diploma from the Canadian Securities Course (CSC) and from the Canadian Investment Funds (CIF). He has been a member of the Montreal CFA Society Committee since 2017.
Darren Spencer is a client portfolio manager, alternative investments for Russell Investments. Based in San Diego, Darren is responsible for working with Russell Investments’ asset management clients in North America to develop and implement alternative investment solutions.
Darren joined Russell Investments in January 2011, and until January 2014, was responsible for directing the development and implementation of alternative investment strategies for Russell Investments’ consulting clients in North America.
Prior to joining Russell Investments, Darren worked as a director for Dorchester Capital Advisors since September 2008.
From March 2003 through September 2008, Darren was global head of alternative investments at Aon Investment Consulting in Chicago. In that role he was responsible for the development of Aon’s alternative investment research and consulting platform.
He was the primary architect of Aon’s alternative investment research process and primary consultant on alternative investing for Aon’s North American consulting clients.
Prior to relocating to Chicago, Darren was based in Sydney, Australia where he was a co-founder of Aon’s investment consulting practice in Australia.
Adam Jagelewski is the Executive Lead and co-founder of the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing. Over the last decade Adam has worked with top executives and senior government officials on new funding and investment strategies, helping deploy more than $150M for social impact. He is a leading authority on social impact-focused products, policies and standards having been published in various media. He is also a frequent lecturer at top business and public administration schools across Canada. He represents Canada on the Global Steering Group for Impact Investing and is active on advisory boards of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Portugal) and Act Analytics.
Joan has 20+ years of combined experience in accounting, consumer products, and technology. As director of industry marketing for Sage Intacct Corporation, Joan focuses on understanding the needs of nonprofit organizations by creating solutions, support, and best practices that help ensure they achieve their mission.
Prior to Sage Intacct, Joan worked as a product marketing manager at Sage Software where she spearheaded product positioning, messaging and launches, and served as the market intelligence expert. She has supported and worked with nonprofits, serving as director of marketing at David C. Cook Publishing, and worked in finance and operations for a leading manufacturing and distribution organization.
Joan holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University – Hankamer School of Business. She regularly speaks at nonprofit conferences and events, and contributes articles and white papers on nonprofit best practices.
Christy DeCosimo is an integral member of Cidel Asset Management’s client relationship team. Before joining the firm in 2011, she gained broad investment industry experience at a large Canadian bank both in the capital markets and private client service divisions.
In addition to caring for the wealth of high net worth families, she leads the firm’s Not-For-Profit initiatives – the result of a passion for and success in working within this space. She is a graduate of the Governance Essentials for Directors of Not-For-Profit Organizations Program and is currently pursuing a Professional Certificate in Not-For-Profit Management through Western Continuing Studies.
She holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and earned an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University. Christy was a member of the Board of Directors of CFA Society Toronto from 2011-2014; chairing the Audit Committee in the final year of her term.
Currently, she is a member of the BBA Professional Advisory Council of the Pilon School of Business at Sheridan in addition to the CFA Institute’s Education Advisory Board Working Body.
Nalini is a Director within the Responsible Investment (RI) team, covering RI strategy, education and product support in North America. Nalini previously served as Head of Canada of the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), where she managed the Canadian base of institutional clients and educated the broader investment community on ESG issues and integration strategies. Prior to this, Nalini covered pension funds, endowments and foundations at BlackRock Canada, where she championed the firm’s Responsible Investment initiatives locally. She has also held positions in the UK, with Roubini Global Economics and the Gerson Lehrman Group, both alternative investment research firms supporting the buy-side. Nalini began her career with Accenture, consulting with clients in the Technology, Media and Telecom sector.
Robert Morgan is the Managing Director of 50 South Capital Advisors, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Northern Trust focused on alternatives investments. He has management responsibility for the firm and is Chair of the Investment Committee. He had previously been Director of Private Equity at Northern Trust, a position he held since co-founding the Private Equity funds group in 2000, and an area in which he remains heavily involved. Prior to joining Northern Trust, he worked as a Director at Frye-Louis Capital Advisors, LLC (“FLCA”), a Chicago-based private equity investment manager, and was responsible for all of the operations of FLCA, including the management of a private equity fund-of-funds. Prior to joining FLCA, Bob worked for Heller Financial, Inc., a middle-market commercial finance company which was later acquired by General Electric. Bob was a Senior Vice President at Heller and was responsible for its private equity programs. Within Heller, Bob held several roles, including positions in the Corporate Finance Group, Corporate Credit and Heller Equity Capital Corporation, Heller’s captive private equity fund. While at Heller, Bob also oversaw a direct equity co-investment program. Prior to attending business school, Bob worked for a commercial bank in North Carolina. He has invested in hundreds of private equity funds covering the buyout, venture capital, credit, distressed debt, real estate and international markets. Bob sits on the board of the Illinois Venture Capital Association and several fund advisory boards. He received his BA in Economics from Wake Forest University and an MBA from Emory University.
Jennifer Johnstone is President & CEO of Central City Foundation, an organization that has been working to improve lives in Vancouver’s inner-city since 1907. Today, Central City Foundation is a $50 million foundation with 40% of its capital invested in its mission. CCF owns innovative, sustainable social purpose real estate properties that provide low-income housing, integrated family services and early childhood development, youth services, social enterprises and healthcare including BC’s only long-term treatment centre for youth challenged by addiction. Jennifer’s background is in non-profit management and community resource development. Over the past 30 years, she has held key leadership positions with organizations including Vancity Community Foundation, Battered Women’s Support Services, Vancouver Status of Women, and Ballet British Columbia. Jennifer is a founding member of the Social Purpose Real Estate Collaborative, sits on the national Board of the Association Fundraising Professionals and serves as a volunteer Board member for several local organizations.
A social entrepreneur-operator and an investor, MJ helped build a multi-million-dollar micro-loan portfolio in rural India and helped create a co-operative that served over 200 entrepreneurs. For the last few years MJ has been working in impact investing. He started with Grand Challenges Canada. Thereafter, he helped several foundations and family offices on their impact investments helping deploy over C$30M. As the Director of Finance & Investment, MJ manages the Catherine Donnelly Foundation’s endowment including the impact investing portfolio. MJ’s passion for social change is complemented by his experience in Capital Markets and Corporate Strategy, and his degrees in Engineering and M.B.A.
Ramesh Kashyap is a Managing Director at Ninepoint. He has oversight of Ninepoint’s alternative investment strategies, including private debt. Ramesh is also responsible for finding and developing differentiated strategies to grow Ninepoint’s alternative income platform.
Prior to joining Ninepoint, Ramesh was Head of Acquisitions for PRA Group Canada; a global leader in acquiring non-performing debt from financial institutions. Ramesh started his career in equipment finance at GE Capital, before moving on to corporate lending. Over a span of 15 years, Ramesh progressed through building, growing and managing credit platforms at GE, CIT Group and Wachovia (Wells Fargo). Having originated over $7B in transactions, his industry experience is broad and across asset classes throughout United States and Canada.
Mark Braun is responsible for Investments and business development at CanFirst. Prior to joining CanFirst, Mr. Braun was a portfolio analyst in the specialty funds group at Bentall. Mr. Braun received a Master of Business Administration from the University of Toronto where he was elected a governor of the university, and received a Bachelor of Engineering Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Western Ontario
Andrew Bolton is responsible for serving and developing a Canadian and international institutional clientele. He has almost 25 years of experience in the investment industry, most recently 10 years in a similar role at Letko Brosseau & Associates. Andrew’s prior experience includes five years in the hedge fund industry in Montreal and almost 10 years in Santiago, Chile, and London, England, as an equity research analyst with large international investment firms. Andrew has an MBA from the London Business School (2001), an Honours Bachelor of Arts from Queen’s University (1994) and the CFA designation (2003).
Stephen Nairne currently serves as Chief Investment Officer at Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, where he leads Raven’s work on deal screening, due diligence, investment structuring, value creation, and responsible exits. Stephen is strongly committed to creating investment platforms that allow retail and institutional investors to participate in building a vibrant reconciliation economy across Canada. Immediately prior to joining Raven, Stephen was the Founder / Managing Partner of AHL Venture Partners, a $75mn impact investing fund with operations in Sub-Saharan Africa. Stephen lives with wife and two children in Vancouver.
John is an investment management executive, entrepreneur and registered portfolio manager. He co-founded Greenchip Financial Corporation in 2007 and is currently President and CEO. Prior to Greenchip, John was President of the MaRS Discovery District, where he led corporate development and strategy from 2001-2005. John has also held executive positions at AIM Funds Management Inc. and BPI Financial Corporation.
Kia is a Senior Manager at the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing where he advises on impact investing strategies and structures social finance transactions primarily for governments, financial institutions, foundations, NGOs, and non-profits. He started his career in the investment banking division at Goldman Sachs and Macquarie, and then in private equity at Next Capital (formerly Macquarie Direct Investment). He also has experience working with early stage ventures in the legal tech, nanotech and medtech sectors. Kia received his MBA from the University of Cambridge specializing in social innovation and entrepreneurship, and he led the Social Innovation Group at Cambridge, which included project work with CDC Group in its equity investments team focused on ventures in Africa. He also holds a BCom (Finance) with distinction and an LLB from the University of New South Wales. He completed his law degree at McGill University and is a qualified lawyer.
Tracy is currently the Manager, Investor Partnerships with The Atmospheric Fund (TAF). She is focused on growing TAF’s direct investing reach by building collaborative relationships to mobilize capital for low-carbon solutions. Tracy draws on 15 years’ experience as a policy advisor, meeting facilitator, and project manager across the public and non-profit sectors. Prior to joining TAF, much of her work was concentrated on sustainable urban infrastructure and economic development. Tracy’s educational background includes a master’s degree specialising in International Development from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and an International MBA from York University’s Schulich School of Business. Tracy has a strong belief in volunteering, committing significant time and energy to assisting newly arrived migrants and refugees as well as underprivileged youth. She also enjoys a great debate over a cup of strong coffee.
Eric started Jack.org with his wife Sandra Hanington and their closest friends in May 2010 after losing their son Jack to suicide. Since then, Eric has put aside his business interests and leads Jack.org full-time. Eric works tirelessly to inspire discussion about mental health, especially among young people. In 2013, Eric received the Champion of Mental Health award from CAMIHI and the QE Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2015, Eric was honoured by Queen's University, receiving an honorary degree (LLD) recognizing his work in the field of mental health. In 2017, Eric and Sandra Hanington received the Meritorious Service Cross (Civil Division) from the office of the Governor General. Most recently, Eric was selected as one of the 150 CAMH Difference Makers for mental health in Canada. Eric is also recipient of the 2018 Queen’s Alumni Humanitarian of the Year Award. Eric sits on the board of FRAYME, a global youth mental health best practices non-profit.
Jeff has 20+ Years of experience working for Financial Institutions including BMO Nesbitt Burns and Raymond James. Over the Past 8 years, he has been consulting with Institutional Investors in Western Canada on their Strategic Asset. Jeff has completed his Chartered Investment Manager designation so that he can provide knowledgeable insight in the increasingly complex and often confusing world of investing. Target Benefit Investment Consulting was established in 2016 to help small & medium size investors deal with the reality of generationally low interest rates. What can history teach us about how to handle the next decades theme of “Lower for Longer” fixed income investing? As it turns out, lots!