Education Centre

Kornel is the host of the Build Wealth Canada Podcast, and has been featured for paying off his mortgage in only 6 years while still in his 20s, and becoming one of Canada’s youngest retirees at the age of 32. He now runs a top personal finance and investing podcast created specifically for Canadians with well over 1.4 million downloads, as well as one of Canada’s largest personal finance and investing conferences. There he interviews the top personal finance experts to share their best practices, tips and tactics when it comes to investing and financial planning in Canada.

Chris has more than 14 years of experience in the investment industry and currently serves as portfolio manager for equity-based and derivative-based ETFs. Chris also trades equity options and foreign exchange for the firm. He holds two degrees including a Master of Finance from the University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management (Dean’s List), and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Waterloo, with studies in History and Mathematics, and is a CFA charterholder.

John has strategic oversight of the Tax Consulting team, seasoned tax specialists who support BMO Private Wealth Advisors and their clients by advising high net worth professionals, business owners and their families on practical and informed tax and estate solutions. Drawing on more than two decades of tax planning experience, he acts as a trusted resource, leading high-level planning discussions, presenting tax seminars and writing timely commentaries on emerging developments in his field.

John joined BMO Wealth Management in 2007, following 13 years at international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he led a team of tax professionals in the High Net Worth Planning Group in downtown Toronto. He is experienced in a broad range of tax and estate planning issues, including personal, corporate, trusts, partnerships, international and cross border, and not-for-profit taxation. John is recognized as a prominent subject matter expert and spokesperson on tax and estate planning for national print and online media and has also consulted on developing Canadian tax legislation.

John is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA), CFP® professional and member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (TEP). He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm.) from Queen’s University.

Erin Allen has been a part of the BMO ETFs team driving growth since the beginning, joining BMO Global Asset Management in 2010 and working her way through a variety of roles gaining experience in client service, sales, and product development. For the past 5+ years, she has been working closely with capital markets desks, index providers, and portfolio managers to bring new ETFs to market that address the evolving needs of investors. More recently, Erin is committed to helping empower investors to feel confident in their investment choices through ETF education. Erin hosts the weekly ETF Market Insights broadcast, delivering ETF education to DIY investors in a clear and concise manner. Her focus is on supporting investors in their own investment journey. Erin has an honors degree from Wilfred Laurier University and her CIM designation.

Alfred Lee is a portfolio manager and investment strategist at BMO ETFs, where he currently leads the index equity team, a team which currently manages some of the largest ETFs in Canada. In addition to his portfolio manager duties, Alfred also serves as the investment strategist for the team, putting together trade ideas and model portfolios for institutional and retail clients. Prior to moving to equities, Alfred was a lead portfolio manager on the entire fixed income BMO ETF line up and also spent a year seconded to the Bank of Canada, managing their Provincial Bond Purchase Program (PBPP), one of the central bank’s emergency asset purchase programs in 2020. Prior to joining BMO, Alfred worked at two other Canadian banks as a research analyst, focusing on macro-economics and ETFs and also worked in an institutional consultant practice of a major bank.

Richard has over 19 years of experience in the financial services industry. His key responsibilities include leading growth in BMO ETFs’ business, raising product awareness, and delivering a world-class experience to investment advisors and portfolio managers. He possesses product knowledge spanning across traditional and alternative investments.

Richard previously served as Director Equity Derivatives, CRM at TMX Montréal Exchange, where he oversaw the options market. His mandate was to develop the derivatives business by helping investment advisors and investors use options. He contributed for many years to the development of the derivatives market and has held increasingly senior positions during his tenure at the Montréal Exchange, where he carried out interactions with various market participants from the buy side to the sell side. Before joining the Montréal Exchange, he was at Desjardins, onboarding and relationship management for active traders at Disnat Direct.

Richard holds a number of industry designations including Derivatives Market Specialist (DMS®), Fellow of CSI (FCSI®) and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA®) Charterholder. He is an alumnus of John Molson School of Business, Concordia University with a BComm in Finance and Management Information Systems.

Ellen Roseman is a journalist who sticks up for ordinary Canadians. She’s been advocating for consumer rights for the past 40 years.

When you hear about consumer issues in Canada, you can’t avoid finding references to Ellen Roseman. She’s become a brand name for activism and a champion at helping consumers fight back against injustices. People praise her direct, down to earth and common sense writing style.

Ellen’s personal finance and consumer columns appeared in the Toronto Star for 20 years until 2019.

She was the Star’s business editor for two years (1997-1998). Before that, she was with the Globe and Mail as a columnist and associate managing editor of the Report on Business.

Her books, Money 101: Every Canadian’s Guide to Personal Finance, and Money 201: More Personal Finance Advice for Every Canadian, are an easy-to-understand introduction to personal finance for those of us who are short of time and money.

She’s the author of four other books, Ellen Roseman’s Money Guide for Modern Families, Canadian Parent’s Sourcebook, Canadian Consumers’ Survival Book and Consumer, Beware! The most recent book is Fight Back: 81 Ways to Help You Save Money and Protect Yourself from Corporate Trickery.

She’s been teaching courses in investing and personal finance at the University of Toronto’s continuing studies department since 2004. Her specialties are learning how to invest for beginners and how to become a smart consumer.

Ellen is a former board chair and current director of the Canadian Foundation for Advancement of Investor Rights (FAIR Canada). She also hosts the MoneySaver Podcast, sponsored by Canadian MoneySaver magazine.