Our Team

Matt Evans, CFA

President & CEO

Matt joined CWB Financial Group as a private wealth advisor more than a decade ago. Prior to assuming leadership for CWB Wealth Management in 2020, Matt held progressive leadership roles with CWB in corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and investor relations.

Jim Andrews, CA, CPA, MBA

Chief Operating Officer

With nearly 20 years in the financial services industry, Jim has extensive experience in sales, operations, and management. Jim has held a number of primary leadership roles in his career, including Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President at MGI Securities.

Scott Blair, CFA

Chief Investment Officer

Scott serves as Chief Investment Officer, and has in excess of 25 year of experience in investment management and equities research.

Joelle Ritter, CFP^® 

VP, Wealth Management Client Solutions

For over 20 years, Joelle’s career has seen her work in a diverse range of roles, building on her experience and expertise in financial planning and client relations. She’s previously worked in wealth management and banking and held senior leadership roles in client experience, sales and marketing.

Loretta Carbonelli

Chief Compliance Officer

Earning a long list of titles, responsibilities and designations, Loretta’s more than 30 years in the financial services has seen her previously work with a variety of organizations, providing oversight in compliance, operations and human resources.

Linnea McKercher, CFA

VP, Portfolio Manager

Linnea’s more than 20 years in the investment management industry has seen her work in a multitude of roles, including senior leadership experience in all areas of investment management including asset management, compliance, client management and sales.

Tracy Easveld-Pontone

Head of Operations

Tracy's career in the industry began over 28 years ago. In her role as Head of Operations, she is responsible for all aspects of operations and client service administration, hardware and software development, technology issues, office administration, and client reporting.

Kevin Dehod, CIM^® 

President & CEO, CWB McLean & Partners

As a founding member of CWB McLean & Partners Wealth Management, Kevin has more than 25 years of investment management experience. He specializes in corporate strategy and team coaching, all while managing the wealth and finances for a limited client base.

Linnea McKercher, CFA

VP, Portfolio Manager

Linnea’s more than 20 years in the investment management industry has seen her work in a multitude of roles, including senior leadership experience in all areas of investment management including asset management, compliance, client management and sales.

Robert Bradburn, CFP^®, CIM^®, CLU^® 

General Manager, CWB Insurance Solutions

Robert’s background includes over 10 years of helping business owners with financial planning, which has helped specialize him in wealth preservation, risk management, wealth integration and retirement planning. He now leads the insurance solutions team, ensuring a consistent approach to advice and strategies to all wealth management clients.

Karen Nguyen

Director of Marketing

Karen’s role sees her leading all marketing and communications strategies for CWB Wealth Management and subsidiaries. Previously, she worked with CWB McLean & Partners, where she oversaw marketing and communications strategies and provided support in business development and culture initiatives.

Robert Bradburn, CFP^®, CIM^®, CLU^® 

General Manager, CWB Insurance Solutions

Robert’s background includes over 10 years of helping business owners with financial planning, which has helped specialize him in wealth preservation, risk management, wealth integration and retirement planning. He now leads the insurance solutions team, ensuring a consistent approach to advice and strategies to all wealth management clients.

Kim Stevens, CFP^®, CLU^®, CHS

Wealth Preservation Advisor

Kim’s more than 20 years in the financial service industry has given him extensive experience with life and living benefits insurance, including expertise with concepts and sales strategies, as well as tax and estate planning considerations.

Amit Tewary, BComm.

Wealth Advisory Associate

Amit has over 15 years of industry experience helping high net worth clients and professionals with comprehensive financial and investment planning. He is currently working diligently to build his career as a financial planner.

Linnea McKercher, CFA

VP, Portfolio Manager

Linnea’s more than 20 years in the investment management industry has seen her work in a multitude of roles, including senior leadership experience in all areas of investment management including asset management, compliance, client management and sales.

Orest Fialka, P.Geo, CFA

AVP, Portfolio Manager

Orest’s more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry has helped develop his specialization in the energy (oil and gas) and materials (gold and mining) sectors. He previously worked in securities analysis, portfolio analysis and in private wealth management.

Richard Pearson, CFA

AVP, Portfolio Manager

Richard has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. He previously worked in asset management, sales, marketing, private wealth management and portfolio analysis. 

Ann Bawden, CIM^®

AVP, Portfolio Manager

Ann has been a Licensed Portfolio Manager since 2015, the same year she earned her Chartered Investment Manager designation. Her experience in the wealth management industry includes previous roles in operations, trading, securities and asset management.

Brett Phare, FMA, CFP^®, CIM^®, FCSI^®

AVP, Private Wealth Specialist

With over 20 years of experience working in the private wealth industry, Brett deeply understands the intricacies of high-net-worth clients.

Stephanie Mann, BBA, CFP^®, PFP

AVP, Private Wealth Specialist

With over 20 years of experience in the private wealth management industry, Stephanie has a deep understanding of the intricacies and complexities of high net worth clients. The client is at the center of everything Stephanie does. 

Praveen Thyagarajan, CAIA

An accomplished financial management professional with over 12 years of industry experience, Praveen works with our portfolio management team to create focused and sophisticated financial management plans. A true student of what makes people tick, Praveen loves to fully understand our clients’ goals and help our experts deliver smart financial strategies.

Scott Blair, CFA

Chief Investment Officer

Scott serves as Chief Investment Officer, and has in excess of 25 year of experience in investment management and equities research.

Liliana Tzvetkova, CFA

Portfolio Manager, U.S. Equities

Lilly has close to 10 years of experience in the investment management industry as an equity analyst and portfolio manager. She spent half of her career with CWB, where she oversees the Equity Portfolio with the Adroit Investment Method. Previously, she worked with Dundee Capital Markets and Industrial Alliance securities.

Saket Mundra, CFA, MBA

Portfolio Manager, U.S. Equities

Saket manages our US equity pool. His previous experience includes co-founding an investment firm, Genesis Financials.

Glen Chui

Research Analyst, U.S. Equities

Prior to joining CWB McLean & Partners in July 2020, Glen worked with several banks in their corporate banking and distressed loans departments, primarily covering companies in the resources and energy industry. He enjoys reading up on business and psychology, and applies this knowledge to his research.

Gil Lamothe, CFA

Senior Portfolio Manager, Canadian Equities

Gil Lamothe draws from over 25 years of financial expertise to manage Canadian Dividend portfolios for high-net-worth families, individuals and corporation at Leon Frazer & Associates. Gil views his clients’ financial success as more than just an accumulation of assets. In his view, their wealth represents a lifetime of effort and accomplishments. He considers it a great privilege to be entrusted with the task of securing this.

Scott Cuthbert, CFA

Associate Portfolio Manager, Canadian Equities

Scott joined the investment management team at Leon Frazer in 2018. His role is concentrated on stock analysis and structure of the Canadian portfolio.

Connor Barth, CFA

Senior Research Analyst, Canadian Equities

Connor graduated the University of Alberta with a degree in mechanical engineering. He worked for Canadian Natural Resources as a facility engineer, while working towards his CFA designation and also has experience working at a sell-side firm.

Ric Palombi, CFA

Senior Portfolio Manager, International Equities and Alternative Income 

Ric provides leadership to the research team as head portfolio manager for CWB Wealth Management’s international equities and alternative income.

Edward Friedman, CFA, MBA

Portfolio Manager, International Equities

Edward has been managing Canadian Equity Pool at CWB McLean & Partners for the past five years, and moving forward, will be more focused on our International investing strategy. 

Jimmy Desai, CFA, MBA

Associate Portfolio Manager, International Equities

Jimmy is the lead of the firm’s Global Equity Pool and he also covers international equities. Prior to joining CWB McLean & Partners, Jimmy worked as an environment consultant and was a software developer.

Imran Usmani, CFA, CPA, CA

Associate Portfolio Manager, International Equities

Imran is part of the international equities team. He comes to CWB McLean & Partners with experience as a financial auditor and, more recently, was an analyst at a well-respected local investment firm.

Malcolm Jones, MBA, CFA

Senior Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income

Malcolm has 25 years of experience in wealth management. He joined the CWB team in 2010 and now directs the analysis and execution of fixed income projects for Onyx Managed Solutions and Adroit Investment Method. Today, he manages more than 60 different client relationships with CWB Wealth Management.

Mykel Samuel, MBA

Manager, Trading & Investment Performance

Mykel spent his first year with CWB Wealth Management on our operations team as the Mutual Fund Administrator before moving to Research. His previous experience also includes private banking, asset management and executing fixed income and equity trades. His current role sees him take on leadership for trading, settlement, and investment performance analysis.