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At Best Startup Canada we track over 100,000 Canadian startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Alberta based President operating in the Financial Services space. If you think a President is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.ca.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Donald Shumka
President and Managing Director of Walden International
Mr. Shumka was first appointed to the board of directors in May 2005. He holds a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard and a Bachelor of Arts from UBC. Mr. Shumka is, and has been since 2004, the President and Managing Director of Walden Management Ltd., a firm that provides financial consulting and advisory services to the financial, manufacturing and processing industries. From 1993 to 2004, he was Managing Director, Raymond James Ltd. Mr. Shumka has extensive financial and management experience – 15 years in investment banking with Raymond James and CIBC World Markets and 25 years in the forest industry where he was Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of West Fraser Timber Company for a decade. Mr. Shumka also serves on the boards of Alterra Power Corp, Odin Mining and Exploration Ltd and Paladin Energy Ltd.
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About Walden International: Walden International is a venture capital firm.
Stephen King
Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer of Alaris Equity Partners
Prior to joining the Alaris Royalty Corp. in July 2008, Mr. King was and continues to be the President and Chief Executive Officer of Alaris IGF Corp. and its predecessor since April 2004 when he co-founded Alaris. Steve spent 12 years in the investment banking industry, most recently as director of investment banking for First Associates Investments Inc., a predecessor of Blackmont Capital Inc. He has also held similar positions with Research Capital Corporation and Sprott Securities Inc. Mr. King is a director of Metropolitan Investment Corporation, a private investment company and a director of the general partner of LifeMark Health. Steve manages the investment process every step of the way and uses his creative financial mind to structure deals that benefit all parties involved. Steve is a married father of three children and an avid sports fan, player and coach.
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About Alaris Equity Partners: Alaris Royalty provides alternative financial services, such as long-term equity capital, for private businesses in North America.
Jeffrey J. Smith
President and CEO of DCBank
Jeffrey J. Smith is a co-founder of DCBank and is the President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Smith is an entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience in operating, financing, growing and managing large scale international financial services businesses.
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About Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), DCBank: DCBank operates as a chartered bank.
Jeff Desjardins
Founder & President of Visual Capitalist
Jeff is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Visual Capitalist (www.visualcapitalist.com), a digital media brand that publishes rich and intuitive visual content on business and investing. He is a regular contributor to the World Economic Forum and Business Insider, and his posts have also been featured on Forbes, CNBC, MarketWatch, Huffington Post, Fast Company, BNN, and TechCrunch.
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About Visual Capitalist: Visual Capitalist is a new way to discover business opportunities and learn about investment trends.
Marc Staniloff
President, CEO & Founding Partner of Superior Lodging Corp
Marc Staniloff is President and Chief Executive Officer, as well as the founding Partner, of Superior Lodging Corp., a privately owned, vertically integrated hotel company, focused on the development, investment, and management of nationally franchised, limited service hotels in Canada. Staniloff is a director of Superior Lodging Development TL Corporation, the entity that owns the development rights for Travelodge® and Thriftlodge® for Canada. As well, he is a director of Superior Development S8 Corporation, the entity that owns the development rights for Super 8® in Canada. He is also a director of a corporation that owns the development rights for Microtel® Inn and Suites for Canada. Mr. Staniloff received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary.
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About Superior Lodging Corp: Superior Lodging Corp. is a privately owned, Calgary-based hotel development and investment company.
Stephen Reid
President & Chief Executive Officer of FCF Capital
Stephen has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Group West Corporation, an investment company founded by Stephen since January 1996. Stephen served as Senior Vice President of Business Development of Alaris Royalty Corp. from July 2008 until March 2015. His role with Alaris was to create and build relationships with all sources of investment leads. In 2004, Stephen co-founded Alaris IGF Corp., the general partner of Alaris Income Growth Fund L.P., which invested in a diversified portfolio of private businesses in exchange for royalties or distributions from the portfolio companies, with the principal objective of generating stable and predictable cash flows for dividend payments to its securityholders. From 2004 to 2008, Stephen oversaw the business development efforts of Alaris IGF Corp. and increased the company’s presence among the advisory referral networks across North America. In July 2008, Alaris Royalty Corp. acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding units of Alaris Income Growth Fund L.P. and all of the outstanding shares of Alaris IGF Corp. Stephen holds an Honours in Business Administration.
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About FCF Capital: FCF Capital is an investment issuer.
Amar S Leekha
Senior Vice President of FCF Capital
As Co-Head of the Investments team, Amar is actively involved with building and maintaining relationships to source investment opportunities, transaction related due diligence as well as leading capital raising initiatives. Prior to joining FA Capital, Amar worked in Investment Banking with Scotiabank’s Diversified Industries Group where he had senior roles on the execution of numerous mandates with both strategic operators and financial sponsors across debt and equity financings and Mergers & Acquisitions. Amar also spent several years in Commercial Banking, Corporate Banking and Corporate Credit with both Royal Bank of Canada and ATB Financial. Amar holds an MBA from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree (Finance & International Business) from Simon Fraser University.
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About FCF Capital: FCF Capital is an investment issuer.
Kenny Nicholls
President & Chief Executive Officer of Western Financial Group
As the Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Kenny Nicholls oversees all of Western Financial Group’s affiliates and business units providing the overarching strategic management for the entire company. With over 25 years of experience in the financial institutions sector, Kenny spent 17 years with Desjardins prior to joining Western Financial Group in 2011. He has a wealth of experience having occupied several finance, compliance, and risk management positions, as well as executive positions in asset management, pooled and mutual funds, real estate management, securities brokerage, back office and wealth management companies. Prior to being named to the CEO position, Kenny acted as the Chief Financial and Risk Officer at Western Financial Group from 2011-2016. Throughout these 25 years, Kenny has had the opportunity to build high performing teams and to work with a wide spectrum of professionals. From this experience, he was able to develop extensive knowledge around operational processes and financial performance. Prior to joining Desjardins, Kenny spent five years as an auditor with Deloitte & Touche in Montreal specializing in financial institutions. Kenny holds a graduate diploma in public accountancy from McGill University and a bachelor of commerce degree in accountancy from Concordia University. Along with being a CPA-CGA, Kenny is also an associate CFA member.
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About Western Financial Group: Western Financial Group (Western) is a diversified insurance company serving more than 800,000 customers across Western Canada.
Scott Koyich
President of Brisco Capital
Scott Koyich has driven the DSK and BRISCO strategy since inception, parallel to his personal investment strategies. By carrying a balanced portfolio of equities representing varied business or commodity sectors, one can lessen volatility and offsets portfolio depreciation. Scott has taken this strategy and applied it to the client base for both DSK Consulting Ltd and Brisco Capital Partners Corp. DSK and Brisco represent equities from a multitude of sectors, a something for everyone approach. This lessens the business risks and increases the chances of representing winners in almost every business cycle. Scott has earned the respect of the investment community by representing companies with strong management, corporate vision and unwavering strategy with integrity and honesty. Scott also has a passion for life which often crosses over into other business environments; he is a partner in one of Western Canada’s top restaurants, Il Sogno (Calgary, AB) and also Co-producer of Hollywood and Vines starring his business partners and Canadian celebrities; Terry David Mulligan and Jason Priestley.
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About Brisco Capital: An Investor Relations consultancy that acts as a bridge of communication between public equities and the investment community.
Paula Kaner
Executive Vice-President & Chief Risk Officer of Wellington-Altus Financial
Paula Kaner is the Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer at Wellington-Altus.
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About Wellington-Altus Financial: Wellington-Altus Financial is a financial services wealth management company located in Winnipeg.
Debra Ross-Chmelyk
President and CEO of Oro Services
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About Oro Services: Oro Services improves the way people use remittance to support families while working abroad.
Felix Berube
President and CEO of ActionTax.ca
Mr. Berube has developed the specialty services model over the past three years. His experience with service large customer bases has been instrumental in moving ActionTax.ca towards a national launch.
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About ActionTax.ca: Taking Action for You! ActionTax is a leading Canadian tax preparation, accounting and tax law specialist.
Tracy A. Graf
President & CEO of Carfinco Financial Group
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About Carfinco Financial Group: Carfinco Financial Group Inc. provides vehicle financing to consumers who are not able to obtain it from more traditional lending sources.
Tate Hackert
Founder & President of ZayZoon
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About ZayZoon: ZayZoon gives employees access to their paycheck at any point in the pay cycle.
Dave Burwell
Vice President of The Howard Group
Dave joined The Howard Group in 2007. He has a full and diverse marketing/communications background and a specialization in online marketing. Prior to joining The Howard Group, Dave held marketing positions at Shaw Communications, Rare Method, Regional Governments of Niagara & Halton and the Canadian Red Cross. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Business – Marketing from Brock University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Relations from Niagara College.
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About The Howard Group: The Howard Group has been providing Corporate Communication and Capital Market services for micro and small-cap companies since 1988.
Ryan Suchet
President of Capital Growth Financial Corporation
Business Consultant, Capital Introducer, Serial Entrepreneur. Currently owner/president of Capital Growth Financial Corporation, a commission advance company offering advances to Canadian realtors and real estate agents. Through our partnerships with real estate offices and brokerages, we are fast becoming one of the largest commission advance companies in Canada.: [Capital Growth](http://www.CapitalGrowth.ca)
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About Capital Growth Financial Corporation, Heat Maps: We are a commission advance company, offering advances to Canadian realtors and real estate agents.
Ryan Suchet
President of Capital Growth Financial Corporation
Business Consultant, Capital Introducer, Serial Entrepreneur. Currently owner/president of Capital Growth Financial Corporation, a commission advance company offering advances to Canadian realtors and real estate agents. Through our partnerships with real estate offices and brokerages, we are fast becoming one of the largest commission advance companies in Canada.: [Capital Growth](http://www.CapitalGrowth.ca)
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About Capital Growth Financial Corporation, Heat Maps: We are a commission advance company, offering advances to Canadian realtors and real estate agents.
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