CFA Society Toronto has expanded its board of directors and appointed a new president and five new members to the board, following an election meeting held earlier this week.
The non-profit organization, which supports the professional and business development of chartered financial analysts (CFAs), has increased the size of its board to 13 members from 11. This change aims to provide a better diversity of expertise on the board, and enables an increased focus on programming for members, according to the society.
“We deliver high-quality professional development programming to chartered financial analysts, including almost 100 courses, seminars, conferences and industry speakers each year to keep our members at the forefront of their professions,” said Greg Woynarski, who was named board president at the election meeting. “The increase in board size will help us better meet our members’ diverse needs.”
Woynarski, managing director and head of the global debt capital markets group and global co-head of the credit capital markets group at Scotia Capital, held the position of vice president of the CFA Society Toronto board last year. He has more than 16 years of capital markets experience, and has been a CFA charterholder since 2001.
CFA Society Toronto also appointed five new members to the board. Sara Alvarado, managing director of Canadian private placements at Manulife Financial Corp., was appointed chairwoman of programming. An active member of CFA Society Toronto, Alvarado has previously served as chairwoman of the fixed income committee and vice chairwoman of programming.
Chris Polson, a director with Veracap Corporate Finance Limited and Campbell Valuation Partners Limited, was appointed vice chairman of programming. Polson provides clients throughout North America with advice on business planning and shareholder value initiatives at both the corporate and individual level.
Ron Schwarz, an independent portfolio manager and capital markets professional, has been appointed chairman of member communications. Schwarz has more than 20 years of experience as a senior executive within equity research, wholesale banking and asset management; most recently serving as executive director and small cap portfolio manager with UBS Global Asset Management.
Dan Lavallee, senior portfolio manager and director of public equities at the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan CFA, has been appointed board member at large. Lavallee has 17 years of capital markets experience, and has been a CFA charterholder since 2000.
Andrew Turnbull, managing director of strategy and business development for wealth management at CIBC, has also been appointed board member at large. Turnbull earned his CFA charter in 2004 and is an active mentor in CFA Society Toronto.
CFA Society Toronto expressed its gratitude to Nancy Hoi Bertrand, Rossa O’Reilly, and Peter Rusheleau, who have completed their terms on the board of directors.