Fall 2009 Toronto Chapter Newsletter - FEI Canada

financial executives international
toronto
OCTOBER 2009 ISSUE
CONTENTS
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President’s Corner
I am honoured to serve as the President of the FEI
President’s Corner
Program
Pg 1
Pg 2
Canada, Toronto Chapter for the 2009/2010 year. I
have been a member of the Toronto Chapter since
relocating from Seattle in 2003 and have played
an active role on the Membership Committee
RSVP Policy
Pg 3
and on the Board of Directors. My membership
Career Services
Pg 3
in FEI Canada has been instrumental in helping
me develop my network of professional contacts
Membership News
Pg 4
in Toronto and across Canada. I have developed
4th Annual Best in Class Pg 5
valuable relationships through my membership
and continue to benefit from my active participation
Financials Pg 6
in FEI Canada. If you are a new member or a
Board of Directors Pg 7
Kay Brekken
member who hasn’t attended very many events,
I would encourage you to participate in as many
Toronto Chapter Sponsors Pg 7
events as possible to maximize the value of your
membership. We have an exceptional schedule
of events planned for this year including lunch and dinner meetings, Career Services meetings, social events, a
golf tournament, an MBA case competition, National breakfast meetings and a number of conferences including the
National conference which will take place in Victoria in June of 2010. You will see additional details on our Chapter
events throughout this newsletter.
From the time I joined FEI Canada in 2003, I have seen significant growth in our Chapter and in what our Chapter
offers to its members for a very reasonable annual fee. However, last year, for the first time in several years,
membership in our Chapter declined due to the difficult economic times. This has made member retention and
member recruitment a top priority for the current year for all of the FEI Canada Chapters across Canada. It is
important that we all work together to ensure that our existing members renew their memberships and that we
encourage our colleagues and friends to join FEI Canada. This will allow us to continue to offer all of the programs
that are currently in place and be able to fund new initiatives. One of our additional goals for this year is to bring
better attention to what we refer to as “Value for Your Membership”. You will note additional information is now
available on our website at http://www.feicanada.org/join/cpd_center.html which identifies all the ways you can earn
Continuing Professional Development credits through attending FEI Canada events.
I am excited about the upcoming year and would like to thank all of the volunteers that make our Chapter a reality
through countless hours of volunteer time. I would also like to thank Liz Bowell who is our Chapter Administrator
for all that she does to ensure things run smoothly on a day-to-day basis. If you have an interest in becoming more
involved in our Chapter, please do not hesitate to contact me or any of our board or committee members. We are
constantly seeking ways to improve our offerings so feel free to reach out to any one of us with your suggestions.
We look forward to an exciting year and seeing you at an upcoming event!
Kay Brekken
kbrekken@indigo.ca
416-646-8945
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OCTOBER 2009 ISSUE financial executives international toronto chapter newsletter
Program
by Patrick Doig, Chair, Program Committee
The Program Committee is responsible for providing educational content to the FEI Canada, Toronto Chapter
membership, mainly through scheduling speakers for our monthly lunch/dinner meetings.
2009-2010 Program
Dinner and lunch events for the fall of 2009 have now been confirmed. Thanks to the program committee members and
our chapter administrator Liz Bowell for arranging these events. Our first event, held on September 21 at the National
Club, was very successful and included a presentation Discovering a Golden Touch in Turbulent Times from Canada’s
CFO of the Year for 2009, David Garofalo, Senior Vice President, Finance & Chief Financial Officer of Agnico-Eagle
Mines Limited.
In addition to the events sponsored by FEI Canada, the Toronto Chapter’s plans for the fall and winter program are well
underway. See the Career Services section for additional events. For the fall of 2009, we will be presenting the following
events:
October 14, 2009 – Dinner meeting at The National Club. Speaker Bernie Wilson, former Vice Chairman,
PricewaterhouseCoopers, CFOs and Audit Committees...friends, foes or...something in between?
December 8, 2009 – 2010 Economic Outlook lunch meeting at Le Meridien King Edward presented by Dr. Sherry
Cooper, Executive Vice-President, Global Economic Strategist, BMO Financial Group; Chief Economist, BMO Capital
Markets
Other potential topics we are pursuing for the remainder of the program year include: Artificial Intelligence and the future
of computing; Deloitte’s 50 Best program and leading in adversity.
Other Upcoming Chapter Events:
October 22, 2009 - 2nd Annual SME Conference - Growing Your SME in a Changing Economy, Mississauga Convention
Centre
November 20 & 21, 2009 – 4th Annual Best in Class Invitational Case Competition, Ted Rogers School of Management
November 24, 2009 – 15th Annual November Social Evening, Wines of Prince Edward County, Vaughan Estate, The
Estates of Sunnybrook
Committee Members
All of the Chapter committees are run by member volunteers – it is a great way to make new contacts and to get the most
from your membership. The Program Committee welcomes new volunteers to the committee or ideas you might have
about speakers and topics. Please contact us if you would like to help out. Current committee members are as follows:
Patrick Doig, Chair patrick.doig@marsh.com
Jonathan Brindley, Vice Chair
Cliff Truax, Vice Chair
Ron Duke
Greg Guyatt
Nikhil Sathe
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Toronto Chapter RSVP Policy
The Toronto Chapter encourages Chapter members to take advantage of all the benefits and privileges that come with FEI
Canada membership, especially the numerous no or low-cost professional development events offered throughout the year.
From September through May, Toronto Chapter holds approximately eight lunch or dinner events and six career services
workshops, all of which are free for any FEI Canada member to attend.
We simply ask that if you RSVP to attend one of these excellent meetings that you keep us informed should you no longer
wish to attend. We are required to report numbers for food and seating arrangements to our venue in advance, and pay for
food based on this guarantee number. In order for us to keep costs down and continue to offer a high level of programming,
we require your cooperation and assistance in accurately managing and reporting our attendance numbers.
Career Services
FEI Canada, Toronto Chapter’s Career Committee is open to being contacted by any member wanting to network or in
transition or thinking of making a change. In addition to organizing and presenting the career workshops, our committee
believes “in transition” to really mean “between successes”.
For 2009/2010 we are focusing our presentations this fall to be of most help to those in transition. We will set the theme
for the Spring 2010 program based on the strength of the job market, and the interests of our members.
Members of the Toronto Chapter Career Ser vices Committee
Chair – Leslie N. Markow, CA, CPA (Illinois) – Director and Audit Committee Chair, Jemtec Inc; Director of Client Service
- Resources Global Professionals 416 682-3372
leslie.markow@hotmail.com
Vice Chair – George Chiarucci, CA – former CFO, Atlantis Systems Inc. - in transition 647-282-5536
gchiarucci@cogeco.ca
David Farmer. MBA – VP & Underwriter Corporate Finance Loan Syndications, BMO 416 643-4216
david.farmer@bmo.com
David Minas, CA – former CFO of a public company currently in transition
dminas@sympatico.ca
Kriss Bush, CPA, CFP – Assistant Branch Manager – RBC Dominion Securities Inc. 905-277-6013
Kriss_Bush@rbc.com
Alysia Carter, CA, CMA – CFO, Ainsworth Inc. 416 750-6811
alysia_carter@ainsworth.com
New member - Michael Busuttil, MBA, CFA, CMA – former Global Finance and Operations VP in transition
mbusuttil@rogers.com
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Career Services (continued from page 3)
Agenda August 2009 – June 2010
A special session was held on August 11, 2009 – Networking from the Trenches/Effective Information Meetings -
hosted by Deb Barrett - The Woodbridge Company Limited and Ramona Dzinkowski - FEI Canada
September 15 – Interview Skills – Presented by Gord Orlikow, Korn Ferry and Day Merrill, KWA Partners
hosted by David Minas
Wednesday October 7 – Intensive Networking hosted by Michael Busuttil supported by Leslie Markow
Tuesday November 10 – Recruiters Panel – hear from a panel of 3-5 senior Executive Recruiters -
hosted by George Chiarucci
Tuesday February 9 – TBA hosted by David Farmer
Tuesday March 9 – TBA hosted by. Alysia Carter
Monday April 26 – TBA hosted by Kriss Bush
Membership News - September 2009
By Kurt Kroesen, Membership Committee Member
The Committee met in June 2009 to discuss approaches to increasing membership in the Chapter over the next year. It
set a target of increasing membership by +10 members or +1.5% despite declining membership over the last fiscal year
(683 members at June 30, 2009 versus 719 at July 1, 2008).
The Chapter started the year on July 1, 2009 at 683 members. At the end of August membership was down by 16, or
-2.3% to 667. Despite 5 new members, the resignations of 13 members combined with the non-payment of eight
members and a few transfers in and out, resulted in the net reduction.
The Committee has a number of ideas by which it hopes to increase membership, including a fall membership drive
campaign, with the opportunity to win $1,000 cash prize for referral of qualified prospects to FEI Canada. Our first
Membership Networking Reception will be on October 29 at Stratus Lounge! Please join us and bring your qualified
prospect member for a chance to win the $1,000 cash prize! Stay tuned for more information on this exciting initiative.
Also, a CFO celebrity email campaign is planned and will target TSX300 prospect members.
In an effort to improve retention, Committee members will be calling those who have not paid and those who have
resigned in an effort to obtain constructive feedback and encourage them to reinstate their membership by reviewing
the many benefits of being an FEI Canada member, including the ease of attaining required professional development
credits.
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Membership News Update (continued from page 4)
Although the Committee recognizes the challenges presented by the recent recession and the impact it has likely had on
membership, it is hopeful that, with the efforts it has underway and the improving economy, the trend can be reversed and
the target achieved.
WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS
We are pleased to welcome the following new members who have joined during July and August of 2009:
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Mr. Bobby Kwon, Chief Financial Officer, Unilever Canada
Mr. Gerard J. Buckley, Managing Director, Jaguar Capital Inc.
Mr. Timothy Deacon, Vice President, International Accounting & Policy, Manulife Financial
Mrs. Flori Garcia, Controller, The Bedford Consulting Group
Mr. Kevin Gilbride, Corporate Controller, Redline Communications Inc.
and the following member who has transferred in from another chapter:
•
Mr. Arvind Dhar, Assistant Vice President & Manager, HSBC Bank Canada
4th Annual Best in Class
FEI Canada, Toronto Chapter Announces 4th Annual Best in Class Invitational Case Competition
It is with great pleasure that the Toronto Chapter of the Financial Executives International Canada, North America’s leading
business organization, announces the 4th Annual Best in Class Invitational Case Competition to be held on November 20-21,
2009 at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University. FEI Canada Toronto Chapter, with the generous support
of its sponsors, is very proud to be supporting business education in Canada with this unique case competition. The case is
based on an existing public company with company executives in attendance and presented to a live audience.
Now in its fourth year, invitations to the Best in Class competition were extended to 10 of the top ranking MBA schools across
the country: University of Alberta School of Business, DeGroote School of Business, Desautels Faculty of Management,
Haskayne School of Business, Richard Ivey School of Business, Rotman School of Management, Sauder School of
Business, Sobey School of Business, Sprott School of Business and the Ted Rogers School of Management.
The competition will be fierce as teams from each of the participating MBA schools vie for the $10,000 first place prize and an
invitation to attend the FEI Canada Annual Conference in Victoria in June 2010. Business leaders selected by FEI Canada
Toronto Chapter will form the esteemed panel of judges for the event.
The competition will end with a Reception and Awards Dinner at Hart House, University of Toronto. Individual tickets ($85 per
person) or corporate tables (Tables of 8- $600) for the evening Reception and Awards Dinner are available for purchase by
FEI Canada members, event sponsors, participating MBA schools and their alumni.
There is no charge or pre-registration required to attend the competition during the day. Everyone is welcome and
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Best in Class (continued from page 5)
encouraged to come and support Best in Class and the student participants at this stimulating event.
Please join us for some or all of the activities on Saturday, November 21, 2009 and be inspired by Canada’s best and
brightest MBA students!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Team Presentations:
Time: Semi Finals 8:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Finals – 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Location:
Auditorium, 7th Floor, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University
575 Bay Street, Toronto (enter on south side of Dundas Street West)
Cost:
No charge
Reception & Awards Dinner :
Time: 6:00 – 9:30 p.m.
Location:
Great Hall, Hart House, University of Toronto, 7 Hart House Circle
Cost: $85 per person or $600 for a table of 8
Advance registration is required for the Reception & Awards dinner only. For further information please contact Liz Bowell by
email at lb@passport.ca or by telephone at (905) 936-5422
Financials
FEI Canada Toronto Chapter Financial Statements for the Year Ended June 30, 2009 are available on our website at
http://www.feicanada.org/chapters/toronto/toronto_downloads.html.
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OCTOBER 2009 ISSUE financial executives international toronto chapter newsletter
Toronto Chapter 2009/2010
Board of Directors
Executive Committee
Kay Brekken
Fred Burke
George Chiarucci
Naresh Khosla
Steve Rosen
Jonathan Brindley
Ron Duke
Leah Halpenny
Atul Mahajan
Leslie Markow
Judy Munro
Brian McAskill
William Ross
Farhad Sethna
Cliff Truax
Russ Wong
President, kbrekken@indigo.ca
Vice President, fburke1@rogers.com
Vice President, gchiarucci@cogeco.ca
Secretary &Treasurer, khoslan@rogers.com
Past President & Chair – Communications Committee, steve.rosen.180@gmail.com
Vice Chair – Program Committee, Jonathan.Brindley@rci.rogers.com
Program Committee, ron.duke@lavalife.com
Vice Chair – Membership Committee, lhalpenny@execurisk.com
Membership Committee, amahajan@opuc.on.ca
Chair – Career Services Committee, leslie.markow@resources-ca.com
Chair – Academic & Social Committees, judy.munro@rogers.com
Co-Chair – Sponsorship Committee, brian.j.mcaskill@marsh.com
Chair – Technical & CFERF Committee, bill.ross@enbridge.com
Co-Chair – Sponsorship Committee, fsethna@shepherdvillage.org
Vice Chair – Program Committee, c.truax@HydroOne.com
Membership Committee, Russ.Wong10@Rotman.Utoronto.Ca
Liz Bowell
Chapter Administrator, lb@passport.ca
FEI Canada, Toronto Chapter Sponsors
Diners Club
International
OCTOBER 2009 ISSUE financial executives international toronto chapter newsletter