Industry

Industry moves: BlackRock Canada, Kensington Capital Partners add leaders

Plus, new appointments at Ninepoint Partners, Sun Life Asset Management, Manulife Wealth and more

Alisha Hiyate

Each week, we summarize notable moves across the financial industry.

  • Katherine Tweedie has joined BlackRock as country head of Canada, succeeding Marcia Moffat, who left the role in February. Tweedie was previously with Ninety One for 14 years, including as co-head North America institutional, and spent three years at the World Economic Forum as director, head of Africa. Her career in the investment industry began in the late 1990s with BMO Nesbitt Burns and CIBC Capital Partners, before heading to HSG (now Stonehage Fleming) in South Africa, where she served as principal, private equity.
  • Saar Pikar has been named president of Kensington Capital Partners Ltd., starting July 28. Pikar comes from OMERS, where he’s served in several roles over the past seven years, including his current post as managing director and head of ventures and growth. He was previously a CEO of CDI Computer Dealers Inc., and has served on a number of boards, including Purpose Advisor Solutions. Bogdan Cenanovic will also join Kensington as senior managing director and head of private equity on Aug. 10. Cenanovic spent nearly 13 years with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan as managing director and global group sector head with responsibility for technology, financial services and health care, and more recently was a managing director with U.S.-based software and tech-focused investment firm PSG.
  • Tony Maiorino is now president and CEO of RBC Wealth Management Financial Services Inc. and head of its family office services. He will also remain vice-president and head of RBC Family Office Services, a role he’s held for close to 20 years. Maiorino has been with RBC in various roles since the early 1990s.
  • Tony Genua has joined Ninepoint Partners LP as lead manager of the Ninepoint Global Select Fund, coming out of retirement. He has more than 40 years of portfolio managing experience, and was senior vice-president with AGF Investments for nearly 20 years, leading the growth equity team before retiring in November 2024.
  • Rohit Goenka has been appointed chief financial officer (CFO) of Sun Life Asset Management, leaving Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Aleem Qureshi is also joining the firm as senior vice-president, head of insurance solutions, leaving BMO Insurance, where he spent a year as a managing director leading the institutional business. Qureshi previously held life senior roles with Canada Life and Legal & General Reinsurance.
  • David Parent has been promoted to head of MGA at Manulife Wealth after two years as regional vice-president (VP) of retail distribution and individual insurance. Parent brings more than 25 years of experience in insurance, including in senior roles at Marsh Canada Ltd., Sun Life Financial and Groupe Cloutier. He succeeds Richard Burjoski in the role as he moves to head of advisor growth and development, Manulife Wealth Insurance Services Inc. Burjoski has more than 40 years of industry experience and has served in senior roles at Raymond James, PPI and HollisWealth, among others.
  • Sarah Cheng has joined AGF Capital Partners as principal, wealth solutions, family office and high net worth. She has a decade of experience in investor relations and business development, most recently with Kilgour Williams Capital.
  • Avagail Igonia has been appointed regional VP insurance for B.C. with Canada Life, leaving iA Financial Group after five years as director of sales insurance. She was previously a regional sales manager with Canada Life.
  • Ritu Gupta has been promoted to managing director, wealth technology portfolio management and critical services with BMO. She’s been with the bank for nine years, largely in tech-focused roles, and most recently was head of wealth tech strategy and operations.
  • Aarnoud van Weelderen has joined Alberta’s Heritage Fund Opportunities Corp. as CEO. He was previously senior managing director with Macquarie Group’s commodities and global markets division, and has served in senior roles with J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs.
  • Arun Channan has been appointed chair of the board at Advocis, succeeding Curtis Kimpton. Channan, founder of management consultancy myndwerx, has served as vice-chair for the past five years. Three new directors have also been elected to the board: Michael Camacho, president of CSI Brokers Inc. and co-founder of Snowbird Advisor Insurance Inc.; Catherine Hiscott, president and CEO of PPI; and Wai-Ke Kim, Odlum Brown Ltd.’s head of practice management. Meanwhile, Al Jones, Sara La Gamba and Ejaz Nadeem have completed their terms as directors.
  • Tarek A. Robbiati has been appointed to the board of Royal Bank of Canada, effective Sept. 1. He’s CFO of Everpure, an enterprise data storage and data management firm. He previously held executive roles at Ring Central, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Sprint Corp.
  • The Investor Advisory Panel at the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization has several new members. Brett Kimak, president of Opportunus Advisory Ltd. and a past executive with ATB Wealth, as well as chief compliance officer at Alberta Investment Management Corp.; Rob Wells, who brings more than 35 years of wealth management industry experience, including as a former senior VP and investment advisor with TD; and Christine Zaizal, who brings 35 years of experience in financial services, including in executive roles with responsibilities for digital investment platforms at Aviso Wealth and Scotiabank.
  • Andrew Pennington has been appointed chair of the Canadian Advocacy Council, which represents CFA Societies Canada and Canadian CFA charterholders. He was previously first vice-chair, and is currently senior VP, advisor solutions and market knowledge with Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management.
  • Ying Wu, director of risk management at Vestcor, has been named board chair at the Pension Investment Association of Canada. Daniel Hudgin, director of pension investments with Emera, will be vice-chair, and Sean Kulik, managing director of investments with Nunavut Trust, secretary-treasurer. David Lawson, VP investment management with Telus, will continue in his role as past chair.
  • Dan Nguyen has been appointed deputy executive director of the Canadian Bond Investors’ Association. He was previously executive director of the Canadian Alternative Mortgage Lenders Association.

If you know of other people moves in the financial industry and/or would like us to consider your announcement, email Alisha Hiyate at alisha.h@newcom.ca.