BULLWEALTH was founded in March 2000 to offer investment advisory and consulting solutions to high net worth families, not-for-profit organizations and institutional investors.
At BULLWEALTH, we invest our time to understand your needs. We take the time to get to know you in order to help you understand all of your options. We invest our time to share our insights, so together we can make the most informed decisions that align with your investment goals.
BULLWEALTH is independent. Our independence means we are conflict-free to advise you on your investment portfolio. We are only compensated by you – our clients! We receive no commissions or any other fees from any other organization; nor do we own, in whole or in part, any of the underlying investment managers we propose.What this means is pure, unbiased consulting advice.
We have a defined approach that aims to deliver superior independent and strategic consulting advice to our clients, which includes:
1. Building a sophisticated, customized asset allocation;
2. Completing extensive investment manager due diligence; and
3. Producing comprehensive quarterly reports to all of our clients.
Asset allocation is the cornerstone of all of our client portfolios.
BULLWEALTH assesses the goals for each of our clients, then optimizes their investment portfolio by using non-correlated, global asset classes. Once we understand our client’s specific needs, we customize their asset allocation to construct a portfolio to meet their objectives.
Since our founding, we have embraced institutional asset allocation methodologies to reduce our client’s portfolio volatility, while aiming to achieve their expected returns. By using our proprietary optimization software (‘OASIS’), we can build portfolios with multiple combinations of different risk and return outcomes, so together we can make the most informed decisions that align with your investment goals.
Our clients have access to global asset classes that include:
Equities
Canadian equities, global equities, international equities and/or
US equities across the market capitalization spectrum;
Fixed Income
Canadian fixed income, high yield fixed income, private
credit (mortgage investments & debt) and/or global fixed income;
Alternatives
Canadian real estate, US real estate, global real estate,
hedge funds and/or private equity.
BULLWEALTH completes extensive investment manager due diligence.
Our due diligence includes an initial search process to annual onsite visits to quarterly conference calls to regular reviews of Statements of Investment Policies and audited financial statements for each investment manager. Most investors see the returns and high level process of an investment manager, however we apply both quantitative and qualitative criteria to uncover what is below the surface.
1. Why did an investment manager outperform or underperform their benchmark during specific time periods?
2. Does the investment policy match the holdings of the investment manager?
3. Is the volatility too high to meet our client’s investment goals?
BULLWEALTH searches for and hires high quality, global investment managers that can add “alpha” and provide downside protection to meet our client’s needs.
Each quarter BULLWEALTH delivers a comprehensive quarterly report detailing all of our client’s quarterly, annual and multi-year returns against their customized benchmark. In other words, we measure your investment portfolio against its customized benchmark for an apples to apples comparison!
Along with quantitative analysis of our client’s portfolio’s returns, we share insights into their investment managers through detailed quarterly commentaries, so all clients may understand which investment managers they are invested in and why.
Following the receipt of their quarterly report, we will review their portfolio’s results on a quarterly basis, or as and when they would like, so we may provide our clients with independent and strategic consulting advice.
Julian has over 15 years of investment advisory and consulting experience. He started his career as an investment advisor at Merrill Lynch before leaving to head business development at Charles Schwab Canada. Julian spent over 5 years as Senior Vice President at Raymond James Ltd. heading its Asset Management and Product Development divisions, then left to co-found a global government bond investment management firm. Julian’s expertise includes investment advisory and consulting, operational management, compliance and risk management, and leadership.
At BULLWEALTH, Julian provides investment advisory and consulting advice to high net worth families and not-for-profit organizations, along with research and due diligence of our client’s investment managers. Julian is also a voting member of the BULLWEALTH Investment Committee.
Julian is a graduate of Trent University with a B.Sc. in Economics and holds the CIM® designation (Certified Investment Manager). Julian also serves as a governor on the Trent University board of governors.
Peter was a Principal of KCS Fund Strategies Inc. before joining BULLWEALTH in 2014. Earlier in his career he was a Vice-President with CIBC/Wood Gundy Inc. He engaged in a wide range of capital market activities in their Toronto and Tokyo offices and was also Chief Trader of the bank's European derivatives portfolio while based in their London, UK office.
Peter is currently a Professor of finance at Simon Fraser University. His research on investment policy, hedge funds and asset pricing models has been published in leading academic journals and earned numerous awards. Peter leverages this knowledge in the asset allocation modeling and implementation of our client portfolios and also serves as the Chair and voting member of the BULLWEALTH Investment Committee.
Peter holds a Ph.D. in financial economics from the University of Toronto, an MBA, LL.B. and B.Sc. from the University of Western Ontario, is a CFA® charterholder and also holds the CPA, CGA and CBV designations. He was formerly the Chair of the Simon Fraser University Academic Pension Plan.
Kevin has over 15 years of investment advisory and consulting experience, and continues to play a key role in our investment manager research and due diligence process, while maintaining investment advisory and consulting relationships at BULLWEALTH. Kevin uses his extensive background in manager research and due diligence, along with his expertise in analysis to foster strong relationships with our high net worth families, not-for-profit organizations and institutional clients. Kevin is also a voting member of the BULLWEALTH Investment Committee.
Prior to joining BULLWEALTH, Kevin worked at Merrill Lynch and CIBC Wood Gundy within their Managed Account platforms. Kevin graduated from the University of Western Ontario with an Honours BA in Economics and is a CFA® charterholder. He is member of the CFA Society Toronto and the CFA Institute.
Steve is an accomplished wealth management professional, with 35 years experience, across the financial services spectrum, including life insurance and pensions, international banking, investments, and international trust and fiduciary services. Before joining BULLWEALTH, Steve spent 24 years with RBC developing and implementing comprehensive international financial planning strategies for high net worth families, in conjunction with their advisors. Born in New Zealand and educated in England, Steve spent over 15 years in Guernsey, Channel Islands before moving to Canada in August 2006.
Steve is a graduate of the University of Liverpool and a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, Steve uses his innovative thinking, cultural and emotional intelligence, and communication skills to quickly develop trust and respect, and build productive relationships with global clients and their advisors.
Jo has over 10 years of investment advisory and investment management experience. She was an investment analyst at Ernst & Young's Investment Advisory Services, an investment analyst at Mercer Investment Consulting and an Assistant Portfolio Manager at Jarislowsky Fraser Limited. Jo is responsible for our firm’s compliance policies and procedures, and ensures we maintain compliance with all securities regulations. Jo also provides operational support to our team and works closely with our clients by providing investment advisory and consulting advice.
Jo graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA. She is a CFA® charterholder and also holds the CIM® (Chartered Investment Manager) designation.
Justin is a portfolio manager at BULLWEALTH and specializes in due diligence of alternative investment strategies, along with hedge fund portfolio construction. Justin supports our institutional clients and high net worth families who have invested in portfolios of hedge funds. Justin’s due diligence and analysis helps our clients access greater diversification and broader access to non-correlated asset classes. Justin is also a voting member of the BULLWEALTH Investment Committee.
Justin graduated from McGill University with a degree in Economics, Finance, and Japanese Language and Literature. Following his graduation, Justin spent time working in Toronto and Hong Kong in the financial services industry. Today, Justin is in his final year of the University of Toronto Rotman’s Masters of Finance program. Justin is a CFA® charterholder and is a member of the CFA Society Toronto.