Board of Directors

Senior Vice-President, Head Of Legal – Canada, Invesco

Shalomi Abraham is Senior Vice President, Head of Legal – Canada for Invesco. He is primarily responsible for delivering legal advice for Invesco Canada’s business lines and the oversight of the Canadian legal team. Prior to joining Invesco, Shalomi practiced in the corporate and securities law group at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP in Toronto. Shalomi obtained his BBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University and holds a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School. He also has an LLM from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. In his spare time, Shalomi volunteers on the National Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada and is currently the Vice Chair of the Board. He also chairs the Strategy & Vision Committee of the BBBSC.

Co-President and Co-CEO, Manulife Investment Management Limited, and Head of Retail Intermediary Distribution, Canada

Jordy joined Manulife as Head of Retail Intermediary Distribution, Canada in 2023 and is a key leader on the Manulife Investment Management (Canada) and global retail leadership teams. He leads all aspects of intermediary distribution of investment products in Canada, including sales effort, developing and marketing new investment products, and maintaining and increasing the Manulife Investment Management customer base. As a member of the global retail leadership team, he brings a Canadian perspective to the table and capitalizes on his extensive knowledge of the global industry to help drive opportunities across all geographies.

Jordy has been an industry leader for more than 30 years across the Canadian wealth management and financial services industry. He has held several leadership positions across numerous asset management businesses, as well as the overall leadership and growth of advisor management firms.

Prior to joining Manulife, Jordy was president of Wellington-Altus Private Wealth Inc., where he helped grow assets under administration from $10 billion to more than $27 billion over three years. Previously, Jordy was president of Sun Life Global Investments, where he was responsible for leading the overall development, management, and growth of the company. His career in financial services includes leading the Scotia Global Asset Management business, involving multiple wealth and asset management companies across Canada, Mexico, and Asia, and president and CEO of Dynamic Funds. He also held a number of other senior leadership roles at Dynamic Funds, Standard Life Mutual Funds, and IG Wealth Management, having begun his career as a securities trader. Jordy’s strength lies in his ability to analyze and optimize a firm’s distribution footprint, and he has a proven track record of assembling and enabling high-performing teams while empowering an entrepreneurial spirit to drive growth.

Jordy holds the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation and has completed the Senior Executive Program at the Fuqua School of Business of Duke University.

Senior Vice-President, Chief Trading Officer, AGF Management

John Christofilos is Senior Vice-President, Chief Trading Officer at AGF Management, a Global Asset Manager based in Toronto, Canada. In this role, John leads a trading team responsible for AGF’s $38 Billion, Institutional, Retail and High Net Worth portfolios spanning 44 global markets and multiple asset classes. John is also a member of the AGF’s Business Development unit with additional responsibility for reviewing Capital Markets opportunities and technology advancements that can benefit AGF’s global business.

John has extensive experience of more than 25-year career on both the buy and sell side of our industry. Before joining AGF in 2014, John was a Managing Director at Canaccord Genuity leading their efforts in electronic and program trading. Prior to Canaccord, he worked as Senior Managing Director for E*TRADE Institutional, a full-service financial services firm based in New York City.

John is a member of the Canadian and U.S. Securities Traders Associations and is also on the Board of Directors of CETFA – Canadian ETF Association.

John holds a Bachelor of Science degree from San Diego California-based United States International University, where he played Division 1 Hockey.

Vice President Of Product, Fidelity Investments

Andrew Clee is currently the Vice President of Product at Fidelity Investments. In this role, he is responsible for the Canadian product strategy including the development and operations of ETFs, Mutual Funds & Alternatives. Prior to joining Fidelity, Andrew was an ETF Analyst and Portfolio Manager at an independent broker-dealer where he was responsible for Canadian ETF research and lead manager of an asset allocation strategy comprised of ETFs. He holds a Master in Business Administration from the Ivey Business School and holds the CFA & CMT designations.

Senior Vice President – Head of Retail ETF Distribution

Ahmed Farooq is Senior Vice President – Head of Retail ETF Distribution, responsible for directing and expanding the Franklin Templeton’s ETF business across major Canadian Investment Dealers and financial professionals. Mr. Farooq has 16 years of experience in the ETF industry and 18 years in the investment industry overall.

Prior to joining Franklin Templeton in 2017, Mr. Farooq spent 10 years at BlackRock Canada supporting the promotion and growth of iShares ETFs. Recently, Ahmed was a senior wholesaler covering Toronto and Ottawa. Previously, he managed the internal sales team for the iShares ETF business across Canada and lead wholesaler activities in Atlantic Canada.

Mr. Farooq earned his Bachelor of Commerce degree with a specialization in Commerce and Finance, and a major in Economics from the University of Toronto. He has completed the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and has earned his CIMA designation from the Investments and Wealth Institute in conjunction with the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Farooq has also completed the Canadian Securities Course (CSC), Conduct & Practices Handbook (CPH), Professional Financial Planning Course (PFP), Wealth Management Techniques (WMT) and has received the designation of Financial Management Advisor (FMA).

Vice President ETFs, Scotia Global Asset Management

Alan joined SGAM in 2019 and is responsible for all aspects of the development and execution of the ETF business strategy. Prior to joining SGAM, Alan was Head of ETF Markets at BlackRock Canada, a position he held since 2013. From 2011 to 2013, Alan was head of ETF Market Structure for iShares in EMEA. Alan started his career at Citigroup Global Markets EMEA in 2003 leaving as a Senior Delta One trader.

Director, Global ETF Strategy- RBC Capital Markets

Valerie Grimba runs the Global ETF Strategy team at RBC Capital Markets. In this role, she is responsible for providing solutions to help RBC’s institutional clients better understand and implement ETF strategies. She also works closely with ETF issuers to help facilitate ETF trading and create markets for their ETF products.

Valerie has more than 15 years of global institutional sales and trading experience, spanning trading floors across Canada, the US and Australasia. She started her career on the institutional equities desk at Bear Stearns in 2007, followed by several years at CIBC World Markets, based in New York City. During this time, she was trading Canadian equities for US-based asset managers and hedge funds. From there, Valerie relocated with her family to New Zealand, joining the institutional equities desk at Macquarie Global Markets before returning home to Toronto.

Valerie received her HBA with distinction from the Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University, where she was also captain of the Women’s Lacrosse team. She has attained several global market accreditations with the ability to trade on numerous international equity exchanges including Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand.

Managing Director, Exchange Traded Funds- RBC Global Asset Management Inc.

Stephen J Hoffman is Managing Director, Exchange Traded Funds at RBC Global Asset Management. Since 2012 Stephen has been responsible for the day-to-day management of RBC ETFs, including overseeing the ETF product shelf (development & management), capital markets relationships and supporting ETF utilization across multiple distribution channels.

Stephen has over 30 years of experience in Canada’s investment industry. Prior to joining RBC GAM in 2003 he spent 5 years at TD Asset Management and 6 years at Citibank Canada.

Stephen is a graduate of the Schulich School of Business at York University, earning both an MBA and BBA. He is a Chartered Accountant, a Chartered Professional Accountant, and a Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder.

In his spare time Stephen likes to spend time making sawdust in his wood shop.

President and CEO at Evolve ETFs

Prior to founding Evolve ETFs, Mr. Lala served as Head of WisdomTree Canada – a division of WisdomTree Investments Inc., one of the world’s largest ETF issuers. Prior to this, Mr. Lala was Executive Vice President and Head of Retail Markets for Fiera Capital Corporation, a prominent Canadian investment management firm with over $100 billion in assets under management. Mr. Lala co-founded and served as President and CEO of Propel Capital Corporation (which was acquired by Fiera Capital Corporation in September 2014). Propel raised approximately $1 Billion in structured products in its five years of operation. Prior to Propel, Mr. Lala worked with Jovian Capital. Mr. Lala held several roles at Jovian including President of JovFunds Inc., an asset management division of Jovian Capital. Mr. Lala holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Toronto (1994).

Vice President, Head of Asset Manager and ETF Solutions

Ron is responsible for focusing on industry and client solutions and leading the strategic priorities for the Asset Manager and ETF segments. Working across CIBC, CIBC Mellon, BNY Mellon and strategic partners he is focus on delivering solutions that help CIBC Mellon’s clients leverage the full capabilities of CIBC Mellon’s business to meet their goals. He primary goal is to create differentiated outcomes for our Asset Manager and ETF clients and to provide leadership aligned to our strategic vision.

Ron has nearly 30 years of experience in financial services. Prior to joining CIBC Mellon, Ron was President of Felcom Data Services, a recordkeeping and fund administration business acquired by CIBC Mellon in 2009. Ron also held progressively senior roles in fund accounting, corporate finance and regulatory compliance at Altamira Investment Services.

Ron is a CPA, CGA, holds an MBA from Laurentian University, and is a highly active participant in the Canadian fund services industry. Ron is a member of the Canadian ETF Association (CEFTA)’s Board of Directors, as well as its operations, policy, and tax committees. He also serves on the Alternative Investment Management Association of Canada’s Alternative Credit Council and its Legal, Finance and Compliance Committee, on the Canadian Association for Alternative Strategies and Assets Compliance and Operations Group, and the Investment Funds Institute of Canada’s accounting advisory working group.

Head Of iShares Product And Capital Markets, BlackRock Canada

Steven Leong has over 15 years of experience in the ETF industry and has extensive expertise in the development and ongoing operation of ETFs. Since 2008, he has worked at BlackRock in Toronto, having previously been based in London, where he focused on UCITS-based iShares ETFs. Steven also served two terms on the OSC’s Investment Funds Technical Advisory Committee. Steven holds a degree in economics from the London School of Economics and is a CFA Charter holder.

Managing Director, Exchange Traded Products, TMX Group

Graham leads the Exchange Traded Product business at Toronto Stock Exchange, focusing on growing the TSX’s ETF footprint and fostering their adoption in Canadian investment portfolios.

He joined TMX following an 18-year career as an equity trader, with leadership roles at CIBC Capital Markets and RBC Capital Markets. While at CIBC, Graham’s responsibilities included Portfolio Trading, Head of the Retail Execution Services and Retail Block Trading desks. At RBC, he was a pioneer in the Canadian portfolio trading business.

At both CIBC and RBC, Graham was responsible for managing their corporate trading relationships where he advised issuers on corporate buybacks, building toehold positions and disposing minority stakes. He began his trading career as an options trader on the floor of the TSX with RBC.

Vice President, ETF Product Strategy

Prerna Mathews, Vice President, ETF Product Strategy, as a subject matter expert on ETFs, Prerna is responsible for the development and execution of the ETF business strategy, including the intersection of product shelf strategy with investment capabilities and operational needs. Prerna’s team is responsible for initiating product development and shelf management activities, as well as manage ETF capital markets and exchange relationships.

Prior to joining Mackenzie Investments, Prerna held several positions within ETF capital markets, product development, and product management at an international investment company. She has extensive experience in the development and management of active, strategic beta and index ETFs having adeptly scaled and managed fund product shelves. She has also worked in institutional sales and product development at various Canadian financial services companies.

Prerna has an undergraduate degree in Finance and Economics from the University of Windsor, as well as an MBA from IE Business School, Spain.

She currently mentors professionals through the Women in Capital Markets Mentorship Program and the Women in ETFs Mentorship Program and sits on the board of directors for Toronto Fringe Festival.

President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Global X Investments Canada Inc.

Rohit Mehta is President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Global X Investments Canada Inc. (a member of the Mirae Asset Global Investments Group), where he leads the overarching strategy and affairs of the firm.

His mission: To empower Canadians to achieve their investment goals, for whatever is on their horizon. As Global X’s President and CEO, Rohit is committed to building a firm that equips investors and advisors with the innovative ETF solutions needed for modern portfolios.

With over 20 years of leadership in Canada’s financial services industry, Rohit brings an entrepreneurial spirit and a track record of growing investment management companies to Global X. His career has been rooted in working directly with investors, partnering with financial advisors, developing distribution teams, fostering organizational vision and spearheading business strategies, including many Canadian firsts.

Prior to joining Global X, Rohit was Senior Vice President, Head of Distribution, Canadian Retail Asset Management for Guardian Capital LP, where he led the firm’s broader retail distribution capabilities and oversaw its digital transformation. Rohit also served as Executive Vice President, Marketing, Product and Data Analytics at CI Financial and was a member of the CI Financial Executive Committee. As President of First Asset Exchange Traded Funds, he grew assets under management from $3 billion to over $10 billion under his leadership.

Rohit graduated from Western University with an Honours BA (Economics) and has previously served as Vice-Chair of the Canadian ETF Association (CETFA).

Managing Director, Head of ETF Services- Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets

Alex Perel is Managing Director and Head of ETF Services at Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets. In this role, Alex leads Scotiabank’s ETF market-making and client facilitation activities in Canada.

Prior to joining Scotiabank in 2017, Alex led the ETF market making desk at another Canadian financial institution where he developed an expertise in Canadian equity market microstructure and regulatory affairs. He brings a comprehensive knowledge of the Canadian ETF landscape from the perspective of investors, fund sponsors and intermediaries.

Alex graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelors of Mathematics degree, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He is a past Chair of the Canadian Security Trader Association.

Managing Director and Head of ETF Sales and Strategy, TD Securities

Andres Rincon heads ETF sales and strategy at TD Securities. His ETF team advises both institutional and wealth investors on the ETF landscape and strategies, publishes a broad array of ETF publications, and works with TD’s ETF market making team in facilitating ETF orders. Andres joined TD Securities in 2008, first managing credit risk for the dealer, and later as a member of the Equity Derivatives division. He later took on the task of expanding TD Securities’ ETF sales and strategy platform. He is also a Chartered Market Technician (CMT).

Partner – Investment Management Group at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Whitney Wakeling is a partner in the Investment Management Group at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Whitney advises clients in the asset management industry on the development, distribution and ongoing administration of investment products and services, with significant expertise advising ETF managers. Whitney has extensive experience structuring investment products and assisting fund managers with bringing new ETFs and other investment products to market. Whitney works closely with clients to plan and execute significant and high value strategic business changes, including fundamental changes to their ETF lineups. As an advocate, Whitney has been engaged on several ETF industry advocacy initiatives involving innovative regulatory solutions and compelling advocacy and submissions to securities regulators. Whitney also advises on corporate governance matters.

Whitney has been an active participant with CETFA initiatives for over 10 years, including serving on the Policy Committee, the Operations Committee and the Public Relations Committee.

Whitney received a Juris Doctor degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from Queen’s University and is called to the bar in Ontario and Alberta.