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COVER STORY: HOT LIST 2016 JULIA CHUNG JYC Financial
International Women’s Day was particularly memorable for Julia Chung this year, as she marked the occasion by collaborating on an e-book, Women & Money. In it, Chung and co-authors Sandi Martin and Krysten Merriman call on their years of experience in financial planning to offer guidance to women on managing debt and creating wealth. Holding CFP, CLU and FEA designations, Chung is a fee-for-service financial planner with expertise in corporate, family and cross-border finance at the firm she founded, JYC Financial. Outside of JYC, the Vancouver resident manages to keep busy with Admin Slayer, the virtual business services company she co-founded, as well as acting as business editor for Gazette and PowHerHouse magazines.
DOUG GUZMAN Royal Bank of Canada
As group head of wealth management and insurance at Royal Bank of Canada, Doug Guzman is tasked with overseeing the institution’s continued growth, both domestically and internationally. To achieve those goals, RBC obviously needs to stay ahead of the pack when it comes to using technology to enhance its business. The bank is clearly on the right track under Guzman’s leadership, judging by its awards for Innovative Technology: Client Experience and Innovative Technology: Back Office Systems in the 2016 Euromoney Private Banking and Wealth Management Survey. Coming into the role in November last year after heading up RBC’s global investment banking and capital markets divisions, Guzman continues to ensure that RBC’s affluent and high-net-worth clients in Canada and abroad receive the best in financial services.
JEAN-FRANÇOIS CHALIFOUX
BETH HAMILTON-KEEN
SSQ Financial Group
CFA Institute
Like many other firms, SSQ Financial built its name and reputation as a leader in the life insurance industry before expanding into wealth management. Having cleared $10 billion in AUM some time ago, the company has its eye on expansion, and Jean-François Chalifoux will play a key role in that. Appointed last September to replace outgoing CEO René Hamel, Chalifoux has a wealth of experience in the wealth management industry, most recently with Desjardins Group. Pierre Genest, chairman of SSQ, heralded Chalifoux as a man with great expertise in the markets and an ability to drive innovation. As CEO, Chalifoux will seek to move the company forward in other key areas, principally its investment and real estate arms.
Beth Hamilton-Keen is chair of the board of governors for the CFA Institute, the global association for CFAs. Overseeing more than 135,000 members worldwide, stretching across 150 countries, is quite the responsibility – especially when you consider the economic climate and changing investment landscape the organization must adapt to. In her other role as director of investment counselling at Mawer Investment Management, Hamilton-Keen has frequently voiced her opinion that financial planning is in need of an overhaul to ensure that clients receive the right kind of advice. As such, she argues that moving away from the commission-based model is a step in the right direction toward creating better relationships between advisors and clients.
RANDY BROWN Sun Life Financial
It’s been a good year for Sun Life Financial and its Canadian business, and by appointing Randy Brown as chief investment officer in January, Sun Life hopes for more of the same as the company attempts further expansion on the world stage. Brown, who will oversee the investment operations of Sun Life in Canada and its general account, will be tasked with growing what has become a thriving business. Launched in 2014, Sun Life Investment Management now comprises the investment operations of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, Ryan Labs Asset Management, Prime Advisors, and Bentall Kennedy Group. The firm’s base in Canada is among its biggest sources of revenue ($14.6 billion in 2015), while AUM grew to $153 billion, representing an 8% boost over 2014.
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