David Smith, CFA
Chair and Presidents Council Representative
David is the Managing Director and founding partner of Pinnacle Fund Services, a firm which provides accounting and valuation services to hedge funds and private equity funds. David is responsible for the delivery services to Pinnacle clients and their investors and the strategic and business development of the company. David began his career with Grant Thornton in Vancouver and then worked in Bermuda, first at Ernst & Young and then at Prime Management Limited.
David is a Chartered Accountant, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Queen's University and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. David is the current chair of CFA Societies Canada, is the Presidents Council Representative for Canada to CFA Institute, is the past president of CFA Society Vancouver and was awarded the CFA Institute Volunteer of the year award in 2017.
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| | Michael Burnyeat, CFA
CFA Society Calgary
Mr. Burnyeat joined the Board of Directors of CFA Societies Canada in 2019. Michael currently is a financial consultant. His most recent position was the Chief Financial Officer at Wayfinder Corp., a privately held company focused on the manufacture and transloading of specialty proppants used in the hydraulic fracturing sector. Prior positions include CFO at Redrock Camps and EVP and CFO at Black Diamond Group. Previous experience includes senior finance roles in Insurance, Technology, and the Oilfield Services sectors. Michael graduated from the University of Alberta in 1990 with a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting & Finance). He is a Chartered Accountant (1992) and a CFA Charterholder (2003).
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Stephen J. Thompson, CFA
CFA Society Edmonton
Stephen is the Executive Director of Capital Markets for the Government of Alberta and heads the Capital Markets Branch responsible for the development and execution of the Province of Alberta's Global Funding programme. Stephen oversees the development and execution of debt management strategies for the Province's $100 billion debt portfolio. Stephen also oversees development of investment strategy and investment policy for the Province's $18 billion Heritage Fund and other provincial endowments with AUM totaling over $28 billion. He advises government on the use of the Provincial credit and relationships with the global capital markets and investor communities.
Steve is a Chartered Financial Analyst and holds degrees in Finance and Economics from Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Steve has over 12 years of experience as a Board Member of several Canadian CFA Societies and with the CFA Institute.
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Odrée Ducharme, CFA
CFA Montréal
Odrée
Ducharme, CFA, is Senior Director, Strategic relationships at Caisse de dépôt
et placement du Québec (CDPQ), where she is responsible for the development and
optimization of a network of sustainable and quality investment partners.
She
joined CDPQ in 2005 and has held various positions including Director,
Performance analysis and Senior Director, Strategy. In that role, she advised
the management team on the design, planning and execution of the investment
strategy.
Odrée
started her career at the CIBC after graduating from HEC Montréal in 2001 and
holds the CFA designation since 2008. She is also Vice-President of the Board
of Directors of CFA Montréal.
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Coreen Sol, CFA
CFA Society Okanagan
Coreen Sol has been managing investment portfolios since 1992. As a Chartered Financial Analyst, Coreen acts as a fiduciary, manages discretionary portfolios using a fundamental and quantitative approach, and undertakes integrated wealth planning for multi-generations within a family.
Her passion for managing investment biases provoked her first book, Practically Investing, Smart Investment Techniques Your Neighbour Doesn’t Know published in 2014, as well as lecturing at UBC Okanagan as an adjunct professor in behavioural finance in 2015 as part of the fourth year, undergraduate program. Coreen is currently in the process of publishing her second book, The Unbiased Investor, expected to hit bookstores in spring 2022.
Coreen is a single mother of three children, and in her leisure time, you can find Coreen on a sunny Okanagan golf course, cycling the hills of Vancouver, balancing in a yoga studio, or cruising the blues on her Gnu snowboard.
Having enjoyed a professional dance career with Ballet B.C., Coreen feels passionate to support the community and arts in particular. Coreen proudly contributes to Ballet B.C., Ballet Kelowna, the Vancouver Art Gallery, CIBC Run for the Cure, and other vital organizations.
| Wesley Blight, CFA
CFA Society Ottawa
Wesley is a Portfolio Manager with MD Financial
Management Inc. (MDFM). His responsibilities include being lead manager for the
MDFM fixed income and balanced investments, including the Canadian Equity
Segregated Portfolio within MD Private Investment Counsel. He is a graduate of
the University of Ottawa with an Honours degree in Finance and Human Resources.
Wesley was previously the CFA Society Ottawa’s Vice President and has been a
volunteer since 2011. Wesley is a CFA charterholder and has earned the CIM and
FCSI designations.
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Mathieu Doucet, CFA
CFA Québec
Mathieu has been working in the financial services industry for the past 12 years. As an Investment Counsellor, Mathieu provides discretionary investment management services to high net worth individuals at RBC PH&N Investment Counsel Inc.
Prior to joining RBC PH&N Investment Counsel Inc. Mathieu had worked for other large financial institutions such as Desjardins, RBC and Laurentian Bank.
Mathieu holds a B.Com in finance. In addition to the CFA designation, he also holds the FRM designation (Financial Risk Manager), the Financial Planning Designation and the Canadian Securities Course (CSC).
Mathieu has been volunteering on the CFA Quebec society since 2014. He has held many roles from VP to President of the society. Mathieu is now Past President.
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Veronica Gamracy, CFA
CFA Society Saskatchewan
Veronica is a Portfolio Manager and
Investment Advisor with CIBC World Markets in Saskatoon, and has over 30 years
of experience serving a clientele of affluent individuals, institutions, and
corporations.
She holds an MBA (McGill) in International
and Corporate Finance as well as the CIMA (Certified Investment Management
Analyst) designation. She is a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charterholder
as well as a CIPM (Certificate in Performance Measurement) certificant.
Veronica has been the recipient of the
Investment Dealers National Award of Distinction for the province of
Saskatchewan, an annual award created to recognize excellence and
professionalism in the industry.
She has served on the boards of several
charitable organizations, provincial crown corporations, and industry councils,
and is currently Past President of CFA Society Saskatchewan.
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Ronald Schwarz, CFA
CFA Society Toronto
Ron
Schwarz, CFA is a corporate director and capital markets consultant with over
25 years of industry experience. He currently manages his own investments and
provides corporate consulting services. From 2009 until 2012, he served as
Executive Director of UBS Global Asset Management Canada where he was responsible
for a $650MM Canadian Small Cap Equity fund and sat on the asset mix committee.
Prior to that, he was Managing Director and Head of Canadian Cash Equities at
CIBC Capital Markets where he was responsible for equity sales, trading,
research and prime brokerage and electronic trading operations. Mr. Schwarz
received his undergraduate degree in Finance at Concordia University in 1991
and earned his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 1995. He is
currently a director and Chair of the Board at CHC Student Housing, a TSX-V
listed student housing real estate company where he additionally serves on the
Audit Committee and Compensation and Governance committees. Ron is also a
director on the private board of SideDrawer Inc, an estate planning document
management application company. Ron previously served on the private board of
Electric Sky Wine LLC, a joint venture between Interscope Records and Anheiser
Busch. He also served on the board of directors of Noble Iron Inc., a TSX-V
listed rental equipment and software company, where he chaired the Audit
Committee and KGIC Inc., a TSX-V listed English as a second language education
provider sitting on both the Audit and Compensation and Governance Committees.
Mr. Schwarz also recently served as a director on the board of CFA Society
Toronto where he chaired the Society’s Communications Committee and is
currently a member of the Governance and Nominations Committee. In addition, he
was a two-term member of the Ontario Securities Commission’s Small-Medium
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Jessie Bobinski, CFA
CFA Society Vancouver
Jessie
joined Burgundy Asset Management Ltd’s new Vancouver office in March 2020 as an
Investment Counsellor. Prior to joining Burgundy, Jessie was a Portfolio
Manager with Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel where she spent 7 years managing
relationships on a discretionary basis for families in Western Canada and led
the firm's Associate Team. Prior to Dixon Mitchell, Jessie spent 5 years as an
Investment Counsellor with MD Private Investment Counsel and 8 years with
Phillips, Hager & North working with clients in a non-discretionary basis
and as an Associate of the discretionary Private Client Department.
Jessie
is a Director and member of the Executive Committee of CFA Societies Canada,
Past President and Chair of CFA Society Vancouver and was the recipient of the
CFA Society Vancouver 2018 Volunteer of the Year award. Jessie is a CFA charterholder
and has obtained the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation.
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Mark Stephenson, CFA
CFA Society Victoria
Mark Stephenson is a treasury analyst at the University of Victoria. He
received his BA in Economics with a Business minor from the University of
Victoria, and is a CFA charterholder. Prior to working at UVic, Mark has worked
in investment services at a private lending firm, as well as an analyst at a
real estate development company. At UVic, Mark is responsible for managing the
University’s short term investment fund, forecasting operating cash flow
requirements, as well as administering the Applied Portfolio Management
Program. As Treasurer for CFA Society Victoria, his duties include drafting the
budget for the year, ensuring invoices are paid, and providing monthly
financial updates to the board. When Mark is not at work or working on the
Society budget, he is likely out exploring Vancouver Island, or training for
his next ultramarathon.
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Joseph Brekelmans, CFA
CFA Society Winnipeg
Joe has spent the past ten years at
Great-West Life, leading the Investment Technology team. In this role, Joe
provides technical strategy and consulting to Investment division executive and
leads a team of 60 people that deliver and support the technology solutions
used within the Investment division. Joe’s current area of focus and interest
is in machine learning and artificial intelligence and its application to the
investment industry. Prior to this role, Joe worked in Asset/Liability
Management within the Investment division of Great-West Life, where he was part
of team responsible for asset allocation and managing interest rate risk.
Prior to joining Great-West Life, Joe worked
for several companies, including MTS, Centra Gas and Ceridian Canada, where he
held several positions within the software development field, including:
Software Developer; Manager of Software Development; and Director of
Information Systems.
Joe has taught several courses at the
University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg on topics such as systems
analysis and database management.
Joe has served on the board of CFA Society
Winnipeg for eight years and is currently past president. Previously, Joe was the Director of
University Relations, Director of Candidate Relations, Vice-President and
President. During his time on the board
of CFA Society Winnipeg, Joe introduced the CFA Research Challenge to the local
universities, expanded the university outreach, led two very successful
forecast dinners, each with attendance of almost twice the number of local
society members, refreshed the society’s strategic plan and supported the
acceptance of the University of Manitoba into the CFA University Affiliation
program. In addition to serving on the CFA Society Winnipeg board, Joe has
served on board of the Catholic Foundation of Manitoba and the board of
Columbus Courts – a seniors housing facility.
Joe has a BCSc (Hons) degree, an MSc in
Computer Science and an MBA in Finance, all from the University of Manitoba, as
well as the CFA designation.
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