Justin Warren

President – Radius Financial Education

In his role, he oversees multiple sales and support teams across three CIFP subsidiaries, driving strategic growth and client engagement. Justin holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Ryerson University and is currently pursuing an MBA in Strategic Management at Niagara University, further enhancing his expertise in business strategy and development.

Pat Bolland

Head of Advisor Recruitment – Justwealth Financial

With more than 45 years in financial markets and media, Pat began his career on the floor of the Toronto Stock Exchange before spending decades as a business editor and host on major networks. Today, he is Head of Advisor Partnerships at Justwealth Financial.

Carl Elia, CFA

Vice President & Director, Global Infrastructure Investments – TD Asset Management Inc.

Carl is a senior member of the Infrastructure Investments team, responsible for investment strategy, and execution, operations, fund raising and client servicing for the TD Greystone Infrastructure Fund. He has experience across infrastructure investing, private equity and investment banking. He was previously Vice President at a private equity firm and Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions at a major Global alternative asset manager. Post-MBA, Carl developed his career as an Associate in investment banking at various securities firms. Pre-MBA, he gained experience in business development at a multi-unit franchise operator. Carl holds a B. Comm. from the Toronto Metropolitan University and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Dale Barrett

Partner – VIP Family Office

Dale Barrett is a Canadian tax lawyer, best-selling author, and the founder of Barrett Tax Law, where his practice is focused on tax and estate planning for business owners, professionals, and families. He helps clients implement sophisticated planning strategies to preserve wealth, reduce tax exposure, facilitate succession, and achieve long-term estate and business objectives.

His work includes advising on corporate reorganizations, estate freezes, trust and holding company structures, succession planning, LCGE and QSBC planning, post-mortem planning, and cross-border tax matters. Dale is known for taking a holistic approach to planning, working closely with clients and their other professional advisors to ensure that tax strategy, estate planning, asset protection, and legacy goals are aligned.

Meena Sandhu

VP Marketing & Revenue Operations – Maximizer

Meena Sandhu is a revenue leader with experience in B2B software and financial services. At Maximizer, she serves as VP Marketing & Revenue Operations. Her professional interests include business growth, marketing strategy, and leadership development, and she is active as a public speaker and business consultant.

Meena studied at the University of British Columbia and contributed the marketing chapter to the second edition of From Impossible to Inevitable. She was recognized among B.C.’s Most Influential Women in the STEM Stars category in 2018.

Dr. Laura Shoots, MD, CCFP(EM), MSc QuIPS

Founder & CEO – Take Care

Dr. Laura Shoots, Founder and CEO, is a dedicated frontline ER physician in Ontario who has witnessed firsthand the unnecessary stress families face during life's emergencies when plans are not in place. Her profound experiences in the emergency room, coupled with the aftermath of the death of several of her own family members, inspired her to create Take Care for families experiencing the decline/death of a loved one.

As a frontline physician in the pandemic, she is also keenly aware of how important our relationships with loved ones are, and just how vulnerable our elderly loved ones can be. She recognizes many families have experienced the highs and lows of caregiving for their family members through this time, and has a passion to make the conflict and chaos associated with caregiving and the end of life journey a lot less for families.

Shoots is also an expert in quality improvement, holding a MSc in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety from the University of Toronto. She teaches at McMaster University and has held multiple leadership roles throughout her career, driven by her love for making things work better and advocating for system level changes instead of band aid solutions.

Outside of her professional life, Dr. Shoots is a mom of two small children and an avid soccer player who is a proud member of the Canadian Women's Medical Football Team!

Reid Baker

CEO – ForAll Investment Research

Reid is the founder of ForAll Investment Research, creator of the ForAll Indices and the FORU ETF. With 15 years in the financial services industry, he led teams building data-driven tools to evaluate investment funds on performance, risk, and ESG—helping investors and advisors make smarter decisions.

He spent a decade as Chair of the Canadian Investment Funds Standards Committee (CIFSC), guiding fund categorization and launching its Responsible Investment framework. Reid has been a trusted voice as a speaker at investment conferences, on industry panels, webinars, in media interviews, and on BNN.

He holds a B.Sc. in Actuarial Science and Finance from the University of Alberta, along with the CERA and ASA designations from the Society of Actuaries, and completed the Sustainable Investing Program at Queen’s University.

Babita Ramanan

Home Trust

Babita Ramanan is a financial services professional with nearly two decades of experience, specializing in deposits and broker relationships. In her current role, she works closely with deposit brokers, internal partners, and technology teams to enhance the client and broker experience at Home Trust. She is passionate about building strong partnerships, improving the customer experience, and finding practical solutions that create meaningful impact.

Linda Ma, CFA

Director, ETFs & Financial Products Research – National Bank of Canada Capital Markets

Linda Ma is Director, ETFs & Financial Products Research, at National Bank of Canada Capital Markets. She has been a member of the National Bank ETF Research team for the past decade, producing actionable research for institutional and retail investors. The award-winning team publishes top-tier reports on the ETF landscape in Canada and the U.S., including thematic research, flow reports, model portfolios, trade ideas, and strategy reports. Their ETF research has been regularly featured in media outlets such as BNN, National Post, Bloomberg TV, Les Affaires, and the Globe and Mail.

Before entering the ETF industry, Linda researched and traded fixed income securities at Jarislowsky Fraser. She is also the co-head of the Sponsorship Committee at the Canadian chapter of Women in ETFs, a nonprofit organization that promotes diversity and inclusion in the ETF industry and serves more than 14,000 members globally.

Linda holds a bachelor’s degree in Computing and Financial Management from the University of Waterloo and is a CFA charterholder.

John L. Connell

Founder and CEO – Focal AI

John began his career at Microsoft, where he managed a $1B P&L within Office 365 and contributed strategically to the company’s acquisition of LinkedIn. After relocating to San Francisco, he joined a video conferencing startup that was later acquired by Dialpad. He went on to invest in enterprise SaaS and AI/ML at a $5B AUM venture capital fund before becoming the first business hire at an AI-driven compliance startup, helping scale the company as business hire #1 from pre-revenue to $36M in funding within three years.

He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with studies in Finance and Management Information Systems, and had touchpoints early career across wealth management at Merrill Lynch and equity trading at Jefferies in New York.