Investment management
Independent financial planning · Alberta & Yukon
Investments that start with what the money is for.
Before we choose a single fund, we work out what you’re saving for, when you’ll need it, and how much ups and downs you can live with. Then we decide where each piece should sit, and we agree in advance what we’ll do when markets or life change.
Who's around the table
You and your partner: what the money is for, and what matters most
Us — building the plan and the portfolio that serves it
Your tax preparer — how investment income lands on your return
Fund and portfolio managers — running the underlying strategies day to day
Your lawyer — when ownership, trusts or beneficiaries come into it
How we work through it
The conversations that shape your portfolio
What is this money for?
Before we talk about a single fund, we talk about you. What are you saving for, and when will you need it? Which goals are non-negotiable and which are "nice to have"? A portfolio without a purpose is just a collection of products — this conversation is what turns it into a plan.
How much uncertainty can you really live with?
We look past the questionnaire. What happened the last time markets dropped? How secure is your income? Is there a pension behind you, or is this everything? Your comfort matters, but so does your capacity — and the two aren't always the same. We work through both honestly.
Where should each piece live?
Once we know what you need, we decide which accounts hold what. This is where coordination with your accountant pays off: the goal is a household portfolio that works together, not a handful of accounts each doing their own thing.
How will we stay on course?
We agree in advance on how the portfolio gets rebalanced, how often we review, and what we'll do in a rough year. Having that conversation when things are calm makes the hard moments much easier to get through.
What happens when life changes?
It will. When it does, we revisit the plan together, talk it through with the other professionals involved, and adjust. The portfolio should always reflect your life as it is now — not as it was when you first opened the account.
Why a team
Good decisions need the whole picture
Your tax preparer sees last year's return. Your lawyer sees your documents when needed. Your bank sees one account. Each of them is doing good work — but nobody is looking at how it all fits together.
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My role is to hold that whole picture, keep everyone working from the same plan, and make sure you're part of every decision rather than finding out about it afterwards.
What working together looks like
One written plan that everyone works from
Decisions talked through with you before they're made
Your tax preparer looped in, with your permission, when it matters
Regular reviews that look at the whole household, not just returns
Someone to call when the news gets loud
Investment management FAQ
Questions worth asking
No. The building blocks may overlap, but how they're combined, where they're held and how they're managed comes from your plan and our conversations — not from a template.
Often, yes. A pension at work or a group plan may make sense to keep. We still factor everything into the plan so the whole household picture works together.
We'll have talked about it long before it happens. When it does, we check in, revisit the plan, and make decisions calmly — together — rather than reacting to headlines.
With your permission, absolutely. Some of the most useful work happens when your tax preparer and I are looking at the same information at the same time.
Every account is taxed differently
The same investment behaves differently inside an RRSP, a TFSA, a non-registered account or a corporation. Where you hold something can matter as much as what you hold.
Risk is personal
A questionnaire captures how you feel on the day you fill it out. Real risk tolerance shows up in a bad year, and it depends on your job, your pension, your timeline and your sleep.
Goals compete for the same dollars
Retirement, the kids' education, a cabin, helping aging parents. Each has its own timeline, and they all pull from the same pool.
Behaviour matters more than selection
The costliest investing mistake is usually a decision made in a scary month. Having a plan agreed on in advance — and someone to talk it through with — is what keeps you steady.
Markets drift, portfolios drift
Over time your mix wanders away from what you intended. Bringing it back needs discipline, and it needs to be done with taxes and cash needs in mind.
Life doesn't stay still
A new job, an inheritance, a separation, a business sale, a health scare. Each one changes what the portfolio should be doing.
Why it's more than choosing funds
A lot of moving parts, all connected
Each of these is manageable on its own. The difficulty is that they all affect each other — change one and the others move too.