Event Speakers
For 2023, the Advocis Estate Planning Summit is focusing on a select group of speakers from across the industry. From sought after estate lawyers, to cross-border tax specialists, to financial planners - you can be sure to benefit from their first-hand experience.
Amin Njonkou Kouandou
Legal and Tax Expert
Industrial Alliance, Insurance and Financial Services
Amin Njonkou Kouandou is a lawyer and a member of the Quebec Bar and holds a master's degree in taxation from Sherbrooke University. He has more than ten years of experience in accounting and legal firms where he practiced transactional and corporate law, tax litigation, tax reorganization and estate planning for companies and their shareholders. Since joining iA in 2022, Amin has been practicing as a legal advisor and tax expert. More specifically, he supports high net worth clients who require more complex financial strategies in terms of taxation, sales concepts and optimization of individual insurance and savings products. He also participates in drafting and developing reference documents and new tax products.
Angelina Hung
Financial Marketing Nerd
Financial Tech Tools
Angelina is a highly experienced professional with a background spanning over 20 years in the financial services, marketing, and technology industries. With a track record of excellence, she has earned CFP, CLU, CHS, and EPC designations. She is known for providing financial advisors with top-quality investment and insurance content and the latest digital marketing strategies to support their business growth. At Financial Tech Tools, Angelina combines her extensive knowledge and expertise to provide advisors with customized digital marketing solutions, which can save them a minimum of 40 hours when creating a website, content, email, and social media strategies. This unique offering has positioned Financial Tech Tools as a leading provider of digital marketing solutions in the industry. Angelina has been recognized for her outstanding achievements and was featured as one of the top "50 Women of Influence in Canada" in The Insurance and Investment Journal.
Chris Geldert
Advanced Market Strategist - Insurance
Financial Horizons
Tax geek, insurance nerd - I own it all. My career started in the accounting world where I obtained my CA designation and deep understanding of tax planning through programs such as the In-Depth tax program offered by the CICA. The past 20 years have been focused on planning for business owners. Since joining the life insurance industry in 2003 I have had the fortunate opportunity to work with many great advisors, tax planning professionals and, of course, their clients. For the past decade, I have been with Financial Horizons where I continue to work along side independent advisors to uncover the ideal insurance solutions for their clients' needs. With a passion for personal development, I have obtained a number of other designations along the way including: Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Certified Executor Advisor (CEA), and most recently completed the diploma program for the Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) designation.
Elysa Jacobs
Lawyer
Bell Alliance LLP
Elysa's goal is to provide clear, rounded and innovative legal solutions, which is often achieved by working collaboratively with her clients and their professional advisors. She focuses her practice on estate and incapacity planning, as well as the administration of both trusts and estates, often with an international or inter-provincial component. Elysa is a full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), which is a global organization for professionals specializing in trust and estate matters, and is dual-qualified in both British Columbia and England & Wales.
Felicia Lee
Clarity Planning Inc.
Before becoming a financial planner, Felicia spent 6 years as a business coach to over 200 business owners who grossed between $200K – $5M. This gave her a front row seat to noticing how making money doesn’t always translate to keeping the money. She watched many smart people generate good revenue, while on the flip side, not being strategic about what to do with the money they were making, to live the flexible future that they most wanted. She got into financial planning because she noticed that as her client’s finances grew and they were working harder, they weren’t sure they were gaining ground financially to meet the future that they envisioned for themselves. Her approach to financial planning may look different from your typical financial planner. For starters, her insight as a business coach and the tested ability to navigate the complexities of growing a business or practice is married with financial planning competencies. With her engineering background, her left brain is trained to analyze, evaluate, and create solutions, while her right brain is seasoned from years of coaching to help clients clarify and navigate to the big picture.
Gabriel Dhahan
Partner
Bellrock Benchmarking Inc.
Gabriel (Gabe) Dhahan is a Partner with Bellrock. An experienced professional with many years working in a management consulting capacity, Gabe is known for his broad knowledge and ability to explain complex concepts and ideas. He has worked with small business and family enterprise clients in construction, food services, digital marketing, distribution, and more. Like the rest of the Bellrock team, he is passionate about solving tough problems and enjoys digging in to ensure that leaders achieve lasting, valuable change. Before Bellrock, Gabe spent several years in technology consulting and worked for a wide variety of small businesses. He earned his MBA from Royal Roads University, is a designated Family Enterprise Advisor (FEA) through Family Enterprise Canada (FEC), and is an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation (ICF). He serves as an FEC Ambassador, is a Project Advisor with FEC’s FEA program, and participated as a mentor in YWCA’s NextStep program. Work aside, Gabe lives in Victoria (Canada's best kept secret) with his wife and three kids.
Gary Hagel
Pryke Lambert Leathley Russell
Partner, Mediator and Lawyer
I am a lawyer and mediator, practising civil litigation since 1999. I hold the Qualified Mediator designation through the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada (ADRIC) and am a member of the ADRIC civil roster and the MediateBC Associate Civil Roster. I am a partner at PLLR Lawyers in Richmond.
PLLR is a full-service firm, with both solicitors and litigators, that provides advice and representation in a wide variety of areas including: Estate Planning, Administration and Litigation; Family Law; Employment Law; Construction Law; Real Estate Development; Real Estate Purchase and Sale Disputes; Banking and Lending; Corporate Structures and Reorganization.
Jacqueline Knoblauch
Insurance Planning Specialist
Raymond James Financial Planning
Jacqueline works primarily with incorporated business owners to assess risks and provide solutions and strategies to mitigate against them. Working with advisors and clients across the country, she approaches each situation with the mentality of questions and planning first, solutions second. As the Advocacy Chair for the Advocis Greater Vancouver chapter, she is focused on educating the public and other professionals about the importance of title protection and what needs to be done here in British Columbia.
John Natale
Head of the Tax, Retirement & Estate Planning Services, Wealth Team
Manulife Investment Management
John is the Head of the Tax, Retirement & Estate Planning Services, Wealth Team at Manulife Investment Management. He and his team provide case-level support on tax, retirement, and estate planning matters to advisors across the country.
John joined Manulife in 2001, having previously worked as a tax lawyer with a national accounting firm and a private law firm. He has experience with estate and retirement planning strategies and a wide variety of general tax matters, including personal and corporate taxation, trusts, and investment-related topics generally.
He’s a frequent speaker at industry conferences and seminars, and has appeared as a guest expert on industry podcasts and BNN Bloomberg TV. John has published numerous articles on tax and estate planning, and is co-editor of Canadian Taxation of Life Insurance.
He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of British Columbia. John was called to the Ontario Bar in 1998. He has obtained his Canadian Securities Course certificate and completed the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants In-Depth Tax Course. John has Elder Planning Counselor and Certified Financial Planner designations, and is a member of the Ontario Bar Association and the Canadian Tax Foundation.
Education: B. Comm. University of Toronto (1993); LL.B. University of British Columbia (1996)
Joined company: 2001
Began career: 1996
Jos Herman
Wealth, Tax & Estate Advisor
Resources & Solutions Professional Corporation
Jos is a well sought out industry professional that is able to address asset protection, succession planning, philanthropy, and explain the tax efficiency gained in the planning process. At her boutique consulting firm, she provides private business and personal solutions focused on tax concepts, tax efficient investment and insurance strategies, asset protection and wealth planning. Along with holding her Bachelor of Commerce degree, Jos proudly earned her Chartered Accountant designation from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta. Jos is a member of both the Chartered Professional Accountants of Saskatchewan and Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia. She has also achieved her Certified Financial Planners (CFP) designation and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU). And proudly holds her Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) designation.
Krista Simon
Partner
Hammerco Lawyers LLP
My estate litigation practice involves a wide variety of claims, including: representing children and spouses in wills variation claims, challenging the validity of a will, representing beneficiaries to defend a will, removing/replacing attorneys and trustees, and appointments of committees and adult guardians. I have represented clients in all levels of court in British Columbia: Provincial Court, Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. While I am a trial lawyer, my practice is focused on problem-solving and dispute resolution. I am a conflict management strategist. This means I focus most of my time finding solutions outside of the formal court system for my clients, through negotiation and mediation. I have enjoyed enhancing my mediation skills at Harvard University and Pepperdine University. In 2021, I completed my LLM (Dispute Resolution) from Osgoode Hall Law School. The practice of law is about working with clients, building a relationship with them and their families, and building relationships in our community. I am committed to providing the highest quality of service, and I respect the trust and confidence granted by my clients. I had the privilege of serving as President of the Trial Lawyers Association of BC (TLABC), and I remain a committed member of the TLABC Board.
Laurent Munier
Safe Pacific Financial Inc.
Partner
We have a great show for you at the Advocis Estate Planning Summit 2023. Please message me or come and say hi in person at the event. I will be hosting the event all day on stage and mingling in between sessions and at the lunch break and cocktail reception. Outside of hosting this event, I am a partner at Safe Pacific Financial Inc for the past 12 years. We are experts in how whole life strategies can benefit business owners who want to pass a legacy to their family next generation. See more at https://safepacific.com/about/
Raman Johal
Lawyer Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP
Gowling
Raman Johal is a partner with Gowling WLG's national Private Client Services Group and Advocacy Group. She brings to her legal practice a keen understanding and compassion for the deeply personal and sensitive issues surrounding estate and elder law matters. She is sought after for both her commitment to gently navigating clients through these matters, as well as for her significant legal experience in complicated and contentious estates. Her estates experience includes the following specialities: - Estate and incapacity planning; - Challenging the validity of documents based on incapacity and/or undue influence; - Wills variation and disinheritance claims; - Partition of Property Act and division of property claims; - Challenging abuse of fiduciary duties, including executors and powers of attorneys; - Court proceedings to remove executors; - Adult guardianship and committeeships matters; and - Elder abuse and predatory marriages/relationships. Raman is also adept at estate administration work. She has experience obtaining grants of administration where there is an urgency or a risk to property; advising the executor or administrator on their fiduciary obligations; and advising on the implications of litigation on estate administration. Raman understands issues of gender and racial bias in estate matters and how to ensure that these issues do not interfere with the fair distribution of estates or the care for the elderly. Charitable giving is a big part of Raman's life and that has carried over to her practice as trusted advisor to charitable and not-for-profit organisations and specialization in society disputes. She is also a director on the boards of the Coast Mental Health Foundation and Alzheimer Society of BC. She is highly active within Canada's estates community. She is the past chair of the CBA Wills & Trusts Vancouver subsection, and has contributed to the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia Estate Planning and Wealth Preservation Manual, the BC Probate and Estate Administration Practice Manual, the Canadian Association of Gift Planner's Executors' Guide and Estate Disputes in BC: A Litigator's Guide.
Rick Mah
Chief Financial Officer
CV Trustco Inc.
Rick is a highly accomplished financial executive with a distinguished career spanning over 25 years in the field of corporate finance. His extensive expertise in financial analysis, strategic planning, accounting and resource allocation has solidified his reputation as a respected leader in the industry. Rick's unparalleled insights into the intricate world of finance and accounting, business negotiations, coupled with his dedication to helping clients achieve their financial goals, truly sets him apart in the realm of trust and estate administration by inspiring confidence and success every step of the way.
Sara Johnson
RBC Wealth Management
Partner & Head of Private Client Services Group in Vancouver
Sara specializes in international estate planning, art collection and digital legacy planning for UHNW families in developing their wealth and legacy plans. Her guidance supports clients in their relationships with their external professionals advisors. with whom she frequently interacts Education and Experience Sara has two decades of professional experience in complex estate and trust administration and planning; business succession; cross-border tax planning (STEP Advanced Certificate in Cross-Border Estates); family governance (STEP Advanced Certificate on family enterprise advising); philanthropy; art and collections planning ("Art as Global Business" certificate the Sotheby's Institute of Art and European Institute of Sustainability, "Art Disruption." NETS and tokenization of Art, legal and tax planning; and benavioural economic research Digital Assets estate management). she is a graduate Masters in US Law at George Mason UniversitY. VA. USA. and has been called to the california State Bar in 2021. Sara achieved her Ph.D. in Internationa Management Behavioura! Finance and Law\ at the International school or Management. Paris. France. and completed the Federation of law Societies of canada. National committee on Accreditation at UBC Peter A. Allard School of LOw Professional and Inauscry American Bar Association; Member - vancouver and Okanagan chapter or stee canada and co-Deputy char - STEP Global, specialty interest Group on Digital Assets and member of the specialty Interest Group on Cross-Border Estates: active member of the Professional Services to the Air Market (PAIAMI IN NYC. USA: and Board member of Third Space Lite Charity in the Okanagan. She lectures the fall/winter seminars on International Business Law, Business Succession, Trust, International Arbitration and M&A at ISEG, MBA course, Paris, France, and is a visiting lecturer in Blockchain and NFTs at UCLA Law school, Los Angeles, California; Sara is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Ecole des Ponts, Paris, France. She is Fluent in Italian and English and has working knowledge of French and Spanish
Steven McLeod
Director, Tax and Estate Planning Group
Canada Life
Steve is a tax lawyer and a Director in Canada Life's Tax and Estate Planning Group. Before joining Canada Life in 2010 as a tax consultant, Steven practiced tax law with the Toronto office of a boutique law firm specializing exclusively in tax. Steve's tax and estate planning experience is mainly with private business owners and their families, and high-net-worth individuals. Steven leads a team that supports the wholesaling organization with their complex case work and develops articles and presentations on taxation and strategies relating to life insurance, living benefits and wealth products.