Calgary Connects - A CFA Society Calgary Podcast

Welcome back to Calgary Connects! 

In today's episode we're speaking with Amy Freedman of Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners about activist investing. Amy joins Matthew to shares about her experiences and what she's learned about shareholder activism. 

Amy is a corporate governance and public capital markets expert with over 25 years of experience. She is currently an advisor to Ewing Morris and Co. Investment Partners and Longacre Square Partners. Prior to serving as an advisor to Ewing Morris, Amy was a Partner and Head of Engagement Fund Investing at Ewing Morris. Previously, she was CEO of Kingsdale Advisors, a leading shareholder services and advisory firm, and she spent over 15 years in capital markets as an investment banker with multiple global firms. 

Ms. Freedman is currently a director on the boards of Mandalay Resources Corporation, Irish Residential Properties REIT, and American Hotel Income Properties REIT. She is also currently a director of Canaccord Genuity with her tenure ending this month. 

Today we have a special 'student takeover' episode! Mount Royal University student, Melina Illodo, asks Jeff Fetterly what a career is equity research is like, the opportunities, the struggles, and what advice he would give to a student considering a career in this field. 

Jeff is a seasoned finance and investment professional with 20+ years of experience. He spent over 15 years in capital markets as an equity research analyst, providing analysis and investment recommendations across the energy services, transition fuels, and industrial services sectors. He joined Enerflex in 2023 and currently leads corporate development and investor relations for the company. Prior to Enerflex, he was involved in the development of a private single family office. Mr. Fetterly holds a Bilingual Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta and is a CFA Charterholder. 

Melina is a fourth year BBA student double majoring in Finance and Human Resources, and is a CFA Level I Candidate set to take the exam in November 2024. Melina plans to specialize in equity research. Her finance journey began in high school with an investment principles class that ignited her passion for financial markets. Currently, she is completing a co-op term at Richmond Equity Management, gaining hands-on experience in the field. 

Welcome back to Calgary Connects! 

This month, in honour of International Women's Day (celebrated on March 8th), Matthew connects with Geeta Kapadia, CFA, to learn from her experience as a woman in finance as well as her experience being a mixed race, first generation Indian American. Additionally, Geeta has lived and worked in the United States, England, Scotland, and India. Join us to hear Geeta's story - her enthusiasm and energy is sure to leave you feeling inspired!

Geeta Kapadia is the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Fordham University, where she manages the endowment of $1 billion in assets and oversees all aspects of the portfolio management process. Prior to joining Fordham in August 2022, she was the Associate Treasurer of Investments at Yale New Haven Heath System, where she led the team responsible for managing over $5 billion in system assets. She is a CFA Charterholder and serves as Board President of Chester Country Family Academy. 

Today's episode features a special face-to-face conversation between Matthew and Genevieve Roch-Decter, CFA. Genevieve is the CEO of GRIT, a financial media company democratizing access to institutional insights for the masses. She founded GRIT after realizing that only the top 1% were receiving the best insights. 

Genevieve joined us in Calgary at the 47th Annual Forecast Dinner. While in Calgary, her and Matthew sat down to discuss the inception of GRIT, why democratizing access to financial insights has become such a passion for her, and more. Join us to learn all about Genevieve's career journey!

Genevieve is a CFA Charterholder with a Level 1 Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation. She and her content have been featured on FOX, Bloombert, VICE, CNN, The Globe & Mail, The National Post, and BNN. Outside of her professional pursuits, Genevieve is an avid skier, tennis player, golfer, and wake surfer. 

Today's episode brings back Hugo Ste-Marie from Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets (GBM) to recap 2023 and dive into what’s in store for 2024. What most surprised Hugo about the markets in 2023 and what surprised him the least? What can we expect in 2024?

Hugo leads the Scotiabank GBM portfolio strategy team, which uses macroeconomic trends, equity market fundamentals, and quantitative models to determine optimal asset-mix, global-equity, and sector-allocation strategies, complementing the top-down perspectives offered by Scotiabank Economics, as well as the bottom-up research of sector-specific analysts.

This special episode features a discussion with Jan Stuart regarding the current situation in the Middle East as it relates to the war in Israel and the implications it holds for both geopolitics as well as the commodities market. 

Johannes (Jan) Stuart serves as Global Energy Strategist at Piper Sandler. A self-described oil-geek, Jan and his team take a micro-fundamentals approach to energy analysis and forecasting – which frequently lands them away from consensus.

Previously, Jan spent 11 years in sell-side research, building leading energy-macro franchises at Credit Suisse, Macquarie and UBS. He was a journalist for much of the nineties and started his career at the International Energy Agency in Paris. 

(Recorded on October 27, 2023)

This episode features a discussion of current trends, hiring practices, and what to watch for in the labour market with Adam Pekarsky. 

Adam Pekarsky is the Founding Partner of Pekarsky & Co. and has been recruiting executives, advising Boards, and offering thought leadership in Western Canada for over 20 years. A frequent writer, teacher, and speaker on topics of interest to the legal and business communities, Adam has achieved success as a member of the management team of a national law firm, a Partner in a global executive search firm and, once upon a time, a practicing lawyer.

An active member in good standing of the Law Society of Alberta, Adam has also earned a reputation for honesty, integrity, and discretion in all that he does.

This episode features a discussion on the wide-ranging world of infrastructure investing with Jared Waldron. 

Jared leads Northleaf’s infrastructure investing activities in North America, with a primary focus on transaction origination, market research, due diligence, execution and asset management. Jared acts as the Asset Manager for a number of Northleaf’s infrastructure investments and serves as a director on several asset-level boards.

Prior to joining Northleaf in 2012, Jared was at ONCAP, the middle-market private equity platform of Onex Corporation, where he was involved in sourcing and evaluating principal investment opportunities and managing existing portfolio companies. Previously, he worked with the Macquarie Group as part of the Public-Private Partnerships and Industrials teams where he was primarily involved in principal acquisitions and M&A advisory assignments.

This episode features a discussion on investing in India with Sunil Singhania, CFA, Founder of Abakkus Asset Manager LLP. Abakkus is an independent, Mumbai-based equities specialist founded in 2018. Today, Abakkus manages equity AUM of $1.6 billion USD broadly under two diversified strategies by following a fundamental, research-driven, bottom-up investment process. Sunil was previously CIO Equities of Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management overseeing $11 billion USD in equity assets and consistently rated among the top fund managers in India. 

 Sunil joins Matthew to highlight the investment opportunities in the fast-growing market of India. Sunil shares how democracy, demographics, the digital dividend, and the domestic market make India a unique market on the global stage.

Welcome back to Calgary Connects!

Today's episode features Dov Baron, founder and CEO of Dov Baron International. Dov is a preeminent expert in helping leaders create life-and-work meaning. His models and strategies of the Emotional Source Code and the Anatomy of Meaning are used by leaders in business and government worldwide.

Dov has been named a Top 30 Global Leadership Guru five times and an Inc. Magazine Top Leadership Speaker twice.He has written for or been interviewed by many media outlets, including CEO World, CNN, Elle Italia, Entrepreneur, and FOX. Dov is an author, podcaster, speaker, and international consultant. 

In this episode, Dov joins Matthew to discuss everything involved in "Full Monty Leadership" from dignity and humanity to reciprocal vulnerability and our post-pandemic workplace realities. Dov provides valuable insights on how meaningful and authentic leadership relates to the creation of a highly effective company culture.