About Us
Leadership

Brenda King, CPA, CA, CFA

Brenda was the Treasurer at the Hospital for Sick Children for over fifteen years and was responsible for the treasury management, investments, banking relations, pension plan administration and financial reporting. Previous experience includes two years at a Real Estate Investment Management firm, seven years at McGill University, Department of Pension Management and five years at Deloitte as Audit Manager. Brenda holds a Graduate Degree in Public Accountancy from McGill University and Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University. Brenda is Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder and member of CFA Society Toronto and a Chartered Professional Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario. Brenda is also very active in the Pension Investment Association of Canada (PIAC) and currently is the Chair of the Board and member of the Member Services Committee.

Mari Jensen, CFA

Mari is Head of Treasury at MUFG Bank Canada, where she oversees asset-liability management and foreign exchange sales for Canadian clients and serves on MUFG’s Executive Committee of Canada. Mari has over 25 years of progressive experience in capital markets, wealth management and banking. Previous to joining MUFG Bank Canada in 2019, Mari was Director, Institutional FX Sales at Scotiabank Global Banking & Markets, where she provided FX coverage to investment managers in North America. Mari has served on the Board of CFA Society Toronto since 2019. Mari served on the Board of Directors of Women in Capital Markets from 2011 to 2019, including a term as Chair. Her leadership and dedication were recognized as the 2013 recipient of the WCM Rising Star Award. Mari completed her MBA from Simon Fraser University in 2004 and holds a BBA in Finance, also from SFU. She holds the Chartered Market Technician and Chartered Financial Analyst designations.

Robert Cultraro, CFA

Robert is the Chief Investment and Pension Officer at Hydro One Inc.  Robert's expertise is in strategic decision-making, managing a team of investment professionals and managers, strategic and tactical asset mix management, the selection and monitoring of investments, governance and risk management. Robert has over twenty years of extensive experience in the investment industry, which includes working collaboratively with Boards, investment research and analysis, investment advising and managing investment portfolios. Robert holds relevant industry credentials including the Chartered Financial Analyst, Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst and the Certified Investment Manager designations. Robert is professionally affiliated with the CFA Institute, CFA Society Toronto, Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association, and is a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute. Robert is a member of the Investment Advisory Committee for the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee, a Senior Advisor to the CFA Society Toronto Institutional Asset Management Committee, a member of the Board of Directors of the Pension Investment Association of Canada and is a member and past Chair of its Investment Practices Committee.

Bobby Thompson, CFA

Bobby Thompson is a Partner at KPMG to in the Audit Practice focusing on financial institutions in the insurance sector. Previous to his role at KPMG, Bobby was a Senior Manager at EY providing audit and accounting advisory services to insurance and financial services clients across Canada. In addition to holding the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst, he holds the designation of Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant. He has served on the CFA Society Toronto Finance Committee since 2015. He has lectured senior finance and accounting courses at Wilfrid Laurier University and Conestoga College. A community member of Waterloo Region, he enjoys spending free time with his partner Jenna and three children, Brooklyn, Mason and Juliet.

Karl Cheong, CFA

Karl is an ETF pioneer who has been at the forefront 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 which has organically raised over $1.3 billion in AUM since inception. Previous to First Trust, Karl was the Head of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Structured Product Development for Claymore Investments, one of the fastest growing asset management firms in Canada's history. Karl provides insightful market commentary on a variety of topics including current events and industry trends as a guest on BNN Bloomberg and has also been featured in a variety of publications such as The Financial Post, Globe & Mail, Reuters, Morningstar, Investment Executive, CTV and was featured as an "Industry Icon" by Wealth Professional.

Paul Hamilton, CFA

Paul joined Beutel Goodman in 2007 and has over 20 years of investment industry experience. He leads the managed assets team and is responsible for client service, marketing and business development activities for Beutel Goodman’s separately-managed account and mutual fund strategies across the central region of Canada. Prior to joining Beutel Goodman, Paul worked at Laketon Investment Management as Vice President of Managed Accounts. Paul is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder.

Aaron Vale, CFA

Aaron has been focusing on private market, real asset investing since 2006. He has extensive experience evaluating infrastructure and energy investment opportunities. Since 2014, Aaron has been with CBRE Caledon Capital Management. As Co-head of Indirect Infrastructure at CBRE Investment Management, Aaron focuses on infrastructure investment strategy, execution, and portfolio construction for its institutional clients. Previously he was engaged to help structure and raise a Mexican infrastructure and energy fund. Aaron also worked at Macquarie Bank in a variety of roles including managing their North American toll road investments, such as Chicago Skyway and Indiana Toll Road, and working out of their Mexico City and Calgary offices in various functions. Aaron received a Master of Finance with Distinction from INSEAD and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University. Aaron has also earned his CFA and CAIA designations.

Brian Madden, CFA

Brian is the Chief Investment Officer at First Avenue Investment Counsel. Brian began his investment career in 1997 with one of Canada’s foremost independent research firms. In 2003, Brian co-founded one of the predecessor firms to First Avenue Investment Counsel, where for eight years he served affluent and high net worth private clients as Vice President & Portfolio Manager in managing equity investments. Subsequently, he spent five years managing a suite of balanced funds at one of Canada’s oldest and largest mutual fund companies. Immediately prior to joining First Avenue, he spent five years as Senior Vice President & Portfolio Manager with a Toronto-based investment counsel firm, serving high net worth private clients in Canada and the United States. Brian has been a CFA charterholder since 2000, and also holds a CFP and CIM designations and graduated from the University of Toronto in 1997. Away from the office, Brian embraces an ethos of volunteerism, community and mentorship and is the proud father of a teenage son who enjoys spending time with family and enthusiastically exploring far flung corners of the planet. 

Andrew Auerbach, CFA

Andrew is responsible for leading BMO Wealth Management’s full-service investment advisory and private banking businesses for Canada and Asia and has extensive experience in both the wealth and retail businesses. Andrew is a member of the Board of Directors for BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., BMO Nesbitt Burns Holdings Corporation, BMO Private Investment Counsel Inc., BMO Trust Company and BMO Investorline Inc. He is also a member of the United Way Major Individual Giving Cabinet and holds membership in the Financial Planning Standards Council. He is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School and has a B.A. from York University and is a Certified Financial Planner and CFA Charterholder.

Sue Lemon, CFA

Sue Lemon is CFA Society Toronto’s Chief Executive Officer and leads the Society’s strategic direction which includes promoting high ethical standards in the financial industry and increasing the visibility of the charter with key partners in the financial community. CFA Society Toronto is the world’s largest group of charterholders among 160 Societies globally. An experienced and successful investment executive with over 20 years of experience in fixed income markets, Sue formed MSL Advisory Corp in 2008.

Throughout her career Sue has held progressively senior roles at Canada Trust, CT Investment Counsel, Nesbitt Thomson, and CIBC World Markets. As Managing Director and Head of Global Fixed Income Distribution at CIBC, Sue was responsible for research, analytics and sales teams across Canada, US, Asia and Europe. Sue is a Past President of the Society and has been an active volunteer for the past 20 years, notably mentoring young industry professionals. Sue is a cum laude graduate of Ryerson Business Management and earned her CFA charter in 1988. Sue has been on boards and committees of various not-for-profit organizations including Bridgepoint Hospital Foundation finance and investment committees, Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation Investment committee, Investment Dealers Association, CFA Society Toronto.

Heather Cooke, CFA

Heather Cooke is the Chief Investment Officer of The Audra Group - a single family office and affiliate of The Woodbridge Company Limited where she is responsible for the management and oversight of the investment program.  Prior to joining The Audra Group, Heather worked at Fiera Capital Corporation where she was the Deputy Chief Investment Officer and SVP of Private Alternatives.  She was also the Chair of the Global ESG Committee and expanded the Multi-Asset Class Solutions platform as SVP of Investment Solutions. Over her 30-year investment management career, she has held senior investment management and Canadian leadership roles at global asset management and consulting firms such as Unigestion Asset Management, Mercer Global Investments, Rogerscasey and Northern Trust Global Investments. Her positions predominantly focused on Outsourced CIO services and leading investment manager research and portfolio management teams.

Heather earned her Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Smith School of Business at Queen's University and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. She also volunteers at the CFA Society Toronto as a Board Member at Large and is a member of The Ticker Club of Toronto.