At the age of 11, I took my first job working in the basement hanger room of a storied Vancouver retailer – and still have my first pay stub to prove it! It was around then that my mother said to me “it’s a lot harder to keep it than to make it”, a lesson I’d later learn the hard way when I took a flyer on some penny stocks with a portion of my savings.

After completing an Honours degree in Commerce at Queen’s University, I started my career with a large bank-owned investment dealer. My tenure there gave me a broad range of initial experience, serving both institutional and private clients and covering a wide array of asset classes and portfolio mandates. Soon after, I was offered a position in Toronto with what was then Canada’s largest hedge fund and, while my five years there added another layer to my investment background, I soon realized that I’d been away from my home province for nearly a decade.

In 2012, I returned to Vancouver with my wife and young son and daughter. As a first-generation Canadian, I was reconnecting with my Swiss roots in a way when I took the role of Director, Products, and Services with a Zurich-based global bank. This part of my career deepened my expertise in the private client area and piqued my interest in retirement income planning. At Dixon Mitchell I’ve expanded on this work, developing tools that help us show clients where their current savings plans are taking them, what withdrawal amounts their assets will safely support, and how to take these funds in the most tax-efficient way. When I’m not helping families chart their way toward and through retirement, I like to spend my time with my wife and kids enjoying the mountains and beaches near our North Shore home.