Dan Nolan has been a financial advisor since 1992. Since his succession to IPC Pinnacle—IPC’s corporate branch—Dan has assumed the role of Vice-President of Growth and Development for IPC’s corporate branches. He’s responsible for helping advisors within IPC Pinnacle systemize, build, and grow their businesses. Nolan, who has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing advisors today, also provides strategic guidance, training, coaching, and mentorship to other advisors in the business.

John Novachis, Executive Vice President and Head of Advisor Growth and Succession at IPC, drives the recruiting of top-performing advisors, along with assisting advisors in building profitable businesses. With more than 25 years of experience at IPC, John has led various initiatives related to advisor recruitment and transitions, business valuations and succession planning. John is one of Canada’s foremost experts on advisor-related succession planning, writing papers and speaking at many conferences on this issue. John and his team help advisors monetize their business, protect client relationships, and exit on their terms.

Crystal Ramage, a CFP and former investment advisor, spent years as a partner in an advisory business, which she helped grow into a thriving business. In 2020, she oversaw the sale of the business to IPC, where she is now Vice-President of Operations for IPC Pinnacle, the corporate branch for IPC. She manages the day-to-day operations, while helping the IPC Pinnacle advisors with the implementation of their client experience systems. She is always trying to ensure advisors and their teams achieve successful business transitions.

Bryan Borzykowski is an award-winning business, finance and investing journalist with bylines in many top publications, including the New York Times, CNBC, Forbes, the Globe and Mail and BNN Bloomberg. He’s also the author of several personal finance books, a sought-after media commentator on CTV and SiriusXM. Bryan is also the founder and CEO of ALLCAPS Content, a finance-focused content and marketing agency.

Chris is a multi-faceted professional with over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, specializing in insurance, investments, and mortgages. 

Prior to joining CMI, Chris founded a successful startup in the mortgage education and marketing space, which grew to be recognized as the industry’s premiere learning and development streaming service. He has also held leadership roles at Street Capital Bank of Canada and Freedom 55 Financial, where he spearheaded sales, marketing, and recruitment efforts. Chris is known for his collaborative approach to building sales teams and his commitment to excellence in all endeavors. He is educated in radio and television broadcasting and is a certified professional speaker, having spoken at mortgage and insurance industry events across North America. Outside of work, he enjoys coaching competitive baseball and holds certifications as a coach developer with Baseball Canada and Baseball Ontario.

As National Team Lead of Skyline Wealth Management, Mustafa Bukhari is responsible for managing Skyline Wealth Management’s sales team and sourcing new business opportunities to expand the firm’s investor base across Canada. Mustafa was recently named one of Wealth Professional’s Top 40 Under 40 Rising Stars for 2024, an honour recognizing professionals making a significant impact in the Canadian financial services industry. 

Ray is a strategic and innovative investment management executive with expertise in private wealth, asset management, and multi-asset portfolio construction. With over 25 years of industry experience, he is known for building transformational businesses and leading high-performing teams. He has a proven track record of driving success through strategic opportunities and long-term partnerships.

At Equiton, Ray leads the organization’s efforts to develop wealth channel distribution and platform availability, strengthen advisor relationships, and establish a standardized onboarding and service approach for National Dealer Relationships. Prior to joining Equiton, he was an integral member of the senior leadership team for one of Canada’s fastest-growing independent wealth management organizations and has served in a leadership capacity with a number of leading wealth management and asset management organizations.

Ray holds an MBA from York University’s Schulich School of Business, an Honours Bachelor of Commerce & Finance degree from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and is a CFA Charterholder.

Brendan began his career in public accounting and holds his CPA but later transitioned to pursue his passion for finance and markets. Brendan has been with Fidelity since 2018 working in Advisor Sales for 5 years and is familiar with the many challenges advisors face on a day-to-day basis. Brendan transitioned to exclusively covering our Alternatives lineup in 2023 as an Alternative Strategist, working closely with our Alternative Portfolio Managers to stay abreast on their current outlook and fund updates. Brendan is responsible for staying on top of industry trends and works closely with our Fidelity Sales teams across the country to support conversations around an ever-changing alternative landscape.

Kevin Press is Editorial Director of Advisor.ca and Investment Executive. His career in financial journalism began in 1996. He was part of the editorial team that launched Advisor’s Edge in 1998. In the years since, Press has covered and worked in multiple industry segments, including group and retail insurance, institutional and retail investing, employer-sponsored benefits and retirement programs.

Chris is a multi-faceted professional with over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, specializing in insurance, investments, and mortgages.

Prior to joining CMI, Chris founded a successful startup in the mortgage education and marketing space, which grew to be recognized as the industry’s premiere learning and development streaming service. He has also held leadership roles at Street Capital Bank of Canada and Freedom 55 Financial, where he spearheaded sales, marketing, and recruitment efforts. Chris is known for his collaborative approach to building sales teams and his commitment to excellence in all endeavors. He is educated in radio and television broadcasting and is a certified professional speaker, having spoken at mortgage and insurance industry events across North America.

Mike Spero joined the CMI operations team as Chief Operating Officer in early 2021. He is a career banker with more than 25 years’ experience leading through all phases of the business lifecycle—from vision and creation through rapid rollout and expansion. As one of the founders of President’s Choice Financial, Dundee Bank of Canada and Ally Canada, Mike took responsibility for product development and sales channels. During his time at National Bank, he helped develop the first FundServ issued Savings account in Canada.

Most recently, he oversaw operations at Street Capital Bank of Canada. Mike is a CPA, CMA and holds a BMath and an MBA.

Wilmot is a Certified Financial Planner, Trust and Estate Practitioner, Chartered Life Underwriter and Certified Health Insurance Specialist with more than 20 years experience. He holds a degree in Mathematics for Commerce and has held progressive positions in the areas of tax and estate planning, financial planning, banking, and securities analysis. Wilmot’s specialization includes personal and corporate tax planning, retirement planning and estate planning. He is a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation (CTF), the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and the Estate Planning Council of Canada (EPCC).

John joined Manulife in 2001, having previously worked as a tax lawyer with a national accounting firm and a private law firm. He has experience with estate and retirement planning strategies and a wide variety of general tax matters, including personal and corporate taxation, trusts, and investment-related topics generally.

He’s a frequent speaker at industry conferences and seminars, and has appeared as a guest expert on industry podcasts and BNN Bloomberg TV. John has published numerous articles on tax and estate planning, and is co-editor of Canadian Taxation of Life Insurance.

He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of British Columbia. John was called to the Ontario Bar in 1998. He has obtained his Canadian Securities Course certificate and completed the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants In-Depth Tax Course. John has Elder Planning Counselor and Certified Financial Planner designations, and is a member of the Ontario Bar Association and the Canadian Tax Foundation.

Jing is a Portfolio Manager with the Multi-Asset Portfolio Management Team, managing global strategic, tactical and absolute return asset allocation strategies for the firm’s managed solutions. She is experienced in global asset allocation, portfolio construction, fundamental equity analysis and cross-asset derivatives with macroeconomic overlay. She was previously a member of the Fundamental Equities Team covering the Global Materials sector. Prior to joining the firm, Jing was an experienced sell-side Equity Research Analyst covering Materials, Industrials, Telecom and Healthcare sectors. Jing holds a B. Comm. from the University of Toronto and an MBA from Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Kevin Press is Editorial Director of Advisor.ca and Investment Executive. His career in financial journalism began in 1996. He was part of the editorial team that launched Advisor’s Edge in 1998. In the years since, Press has covered and worked in multiple industry segments, including group and retail insurance, institutional and retail investing, employer-sponsored benefits and retirement programs.

Charles is a Senior Manager, Investment Solutions, at National Bank Investments, where he oversees NBI’s ETF lineup and plays a key role in shaping the strategic direction for the development and management of investment solutions. With nearly 20 years of experience in the investment industry, Charles has spent the majority of his career in investment product management, covering mutual funds, ETFs, private markets, and institutional investments. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and holds the Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM).

Jonathan is Lead of ETF Distribution for the firm, and works closely with the Wholesaling and National Accounts Teams across Canada with a focus on differentiating TD ETF offerings within the marketplace and driving market share growth. He has extensive experience in the Canadian Investment Industry in various roles, including Senior Sales Executive, Senior Marketing Executive, Sales Coach and Consultative Sales. Jonathan holds a Certificate in Human Resource Management from Sheridan College and an MBA from Lebow College of Business at Drexel University.

Jacqueline Tung is Vice President at BlackRock Asset Management Canada. In her role, she partners with financial advisors in Ontario to identify iShares ETF strategies to deliver against their client’s investment objectives. Prior to joining BlackRock, she was Vice President of business development for a Canadian asset manager specializing in sustainability. In her 15 years+ of experience in the wealth and asset management industry, Jacqueline held various business development roles working with advisors and high net worth clients. Jacqueline holds an MBA from the Ivey School of Business and completed her undergraduate degree in Economics at the University of Victoria.

Robert has recently been named as Manulife’s Head of Specialists in July, 2024. He heads our national Specialist Wholesaling team tasked in promoting Manulife’s ETF and Alternative Investment solutions with financial advisors across the country.

Prior to that, Robert was the Director of ETFs for the Eastern Region of Canada since 2019. His main responsibilities included promoting Manulife’s ETF solutions to Financial Advisors across the province of Quebec, and helping our clients integrate ETFs into their practice. In 2022, Robert earned Manulife’s Emerald Award for his success in growing Manulife ETF assets.

Before his focus on ETFs, Robert was a District Vice-President for Manulife Mutual Funds and Segregated Funds for the regions of the West Island of Montreal, Gatineau, and Abitibi Temiscamingue. Robert started his career with Manulife Investment Management in 2012 as a Business Development Manager.

Robert graduated from the John Molson School of Business with a Bachelor in Commerce and earned his MBA from the Goodman Institute of Investment Management at Concordia University

Stephanie Wolfe is the Executive Vice President, Head of Marketing for Global X Investments Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Mirae Asset Financial Group, which manages $800 billion of assets across the globe.

At Global X, Stephanie oversees all marketing and communications activities and brings more than two decades of experience driving growth and innovation in the financial services sector. Previously, she was the Head of Canada Marketing at BlackRock and most recently, served as Strategic Advisor, Women’s Segment for BMO Private Wealth.

Stephanie is a passionate advocate for empowering women to achieve financial wellness and is a certified financial coach. In 2017, she won the Executive Coaching Award for Women in Capital Markets. She is also an active committee member of Women in ETFs, an organization focused on the advancement of women in finance.

Stephanie holds a BA from the University of Waterloo and a Masters Certificate in Marketing from Schulich School of Business York University.

Mustafa is responsible for managing Skyline Wealth’s Advisor team and sourcing new business opportunities to further expand Skyline Wealth’s investor base across Canada. He aholds a Chartered Investment Manager designation with more than 12 years of experience in the financial services industry. Mustafa has worked in Canadian banks, online brokerages, and wealth management firms, and is skilled in investment advisory services.

Will is the CEO and Lead PM of Antrim Balanced Mortgage Fund; Canada’s largest private residential MIC. Having extensive experience in both the financial advisory practice and mortgage underwriting Will leads the company by nurturing Antrim’s core competencies, creating a Firm strategy and building a sustainable competitive advantage. Will has an undergraduate degree in Finance from Simon Fraser University and an M.B.A (Finance) from Dalhousie University. Will is a Financial Management Advisor, Derivatives Markets Specialist, and Chartered Investment Manager. He has been a top 40 under 40 BC Business recipient and past president of the BC Mortgage Investment Corporation Managers Association with C

Geoff Lang is a committed investment professional with over a decade of leadership experience. His exposure to private equity in all its forms affords him a unique perspective on the asset class and the benefits it offers.

Having previously held senior management positions at various private equity firms, Geoff develops and implements strategies for Equiton’s investment solutions, focusing primarily on the financial advisory community (IIROC, MFDA, EMD and Discretionary Portfolio Management firms). His top priority is to ensure high levels of client satisfaction both at the advisor partner and individual investor level.

Outside of work, Geoff likes to spend time with his wife and daughters. An avid golfer, he has competed across North America, most recently at the US Amateur Four Ball at Winged Foot Golf Club.

Mike Spero joined the CMI operations team as Chief Operating Officer in early 2021. He is a career banker with more than 25 years’ experience leading through all phases of the business lifecycle—from vision and creation through rapid rollout and expansion. As one of the founders of President’s Choice Financial, Dundee Bank of Canada and Ally Canada, Mike took responsibility for product development and sales channels. During his time at National Bank, he helped develop the first FundServ issued Savings account in Canada.

Most recently, he oversaw operations at Street Capital Bank of Canada. Mike is a CPA, CMA and holds a BMath and an MBA.

Melissa Shin is the Editorial Director of Advisor.ca and Investment Executive. As an award-winning journalist, Melissa turns technical subject matter into accessible content for sophisticated audiences. Her reporting has been cited in university syllabi, in textbooks and to national regulators. Melissa has been with Advisor.ca since 2011. Prior to that, she was managing editor of Corporate Knights, a North American magazine focused on clean capitalism. Melissa is the vice-chair of the board for Fashion Takes Action, a non-profit focused on advancing sustainability in the fashion industry. She is a graduate of the Schulich School of Business at York University.

Cem is a Regional Sales Director for Desjardins Investment Solutions for Eastern Ontario. He joined the Desjardins Group in 2018 and worked in various business development positions until becoming a Director in 2021. In his current role, Cem uses his expertise to serve financial advisors, proposing investment solutions to help them grow their practice at every step of their journey. Before joining Desjardins, Cem worked for the Export Development Agency of Turkey, helping the external debt management team manage relationships. Cem holds an Economics degree from the University of Istanbul and a post-graduate certificate in Financial Planning.

With over a decade of experience in derivatives structuring and sales, Walid Idriss joined Desjardins Group last year as a Development Advisor in Structured Products Development and Management. In this role, Walid leads the product ideation and development of equity-linked structured investments. Prior to his role at Desjardins, Walid held key positions in international financial institutions. He was responsible for the market-linked deposits and structured notes program at Israel Discount Bank and worked for Natixis’ Cross-Asset Solution Sales group in New York. In these roles, he developed structured product strategies for investment dealers, banks, and asset managers, gaining a global perspective on the structured product industry.

Trevor leads the North American Client Advisory team at Sustainalytics, supporting asset managers and asset owners to integrate ESG research and ratings into their investment strategies. Trevor has led various projects to support investors in developing sustainable investment approaches and creating sustainable fund products. He is a regular blog contributor and co-author of the report, ‘How Investors Integrate ESG: A Typology of Approaches’ (2017). Prior to joining Sustainalytics, Trevor held sustainability-focused roles in the public and private sector. Trevor is a CFA Charterholder and is a recipient of ‘Canada’s Clean 50 – Emerging Leader’ and ‘SRI Conference 30 Under 30’ awards.

As Senior Manager and Head of Responsible Investment, Solène Hanquier is responsible for leading the development and execution of the responsible investment plan for National Bank Investments (NBI) and National Bank’s Wealth Management division.

Solène has been working in the field of responsible investment and sustainable development for over a decade. Before joining NBI, she developed her skills within the Desjardins Group’s and Bell Canada’s responsible investment and corporate social responsibility teams. Solène is a board member of the Responsible Investment Association (RIA), serves on the governance committee of Fonds Investi, and instructs in Finance Montréal’s advanced sustainable finance training program.

Michael Pilz is a skilled and passionate financial services sales professional. His 20 years of experience have provided him with specialized knowledge in insurance, investments and lending, previously working at Great West Life and BMO Life Assurance Co, IA Clarington, and BMO Nesbitt Burns. Michael is dedicated to working with advisors to deliver meaningful solutions to their clients, and makes it a priority to build and strengthen relationships within the advisor network.

Laura Klaehn, a seasoned professional with 33 years in the field, runs her own firm and holds multiple financial designations. She is an active board member for CALU and a previous board member of Advocis Toronto Chapter. She works nationally on advanced cases with other financial advisors.

Michael has been an Insurance Advisor at SafeBridge Private Wealth since 2018.Michael focuses on driving intelligent financial decisions and optimizing tax strategies through strategic Insurance planning, benefiting individuals, families, and business owners alike. Michael works with an array of professionals who assist in this process.

Samuel Sahn joined Hazelview Investments in March 2012 and is based in New York City. In his current capacity as Managing Partner, Portfolio Manager, Sam is responsible for managing Hazelview’s global real estate securities strategies and overseeing research in the United States. Sam is also involved in business development and marketing.

Sam has nearly 20 years of experience in real estate securities and financial services. Prior to joining Hazelview, Sam was an Executive Director and Portfolio Manager with Forum Securities and a senior analyst with the global real estate securities team at Citi Property Investors.

Sam holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance (Beta Gamma Sigma) from Fordham University Gabelli School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Michigan.