Our Team
Our team exhibits a tremendous wealth of experience and a great depth of knowledge, bringing to bear our combined expertise on every investment decision we make. The team consists of:
John P. Carswell, CFA, MBA, BA (Commerce), President
Robert Swan, MA, BA, Vice President
Gail Mudie, MBA, BSc (Hon), Vice President
Heather Mason-Wood, CFA, MBA, BSc (Mathematics), Vice President
Vivek Verma, CFA, MBA, MA, BA (Economics), Vice President
Elizabeth Sit, CSC, Vice President
Brenda Burns, B.Comm., Vice President
Richard Usher-Jones, BA, CIM, FCSI, Vice President
Joe Morin, MBA, BA, Vice President
Timothy Hicks, B.Comm., CFA, Vice President
John P. Carswell
John graduated from the Royal Military College with a Bachelor of Arts (Commerce) and served as an Air Force navigator. He then earned an MBA degree from Queen’s University (Dean’s List, Award in Finance) in 1985. John completed the Chartered Financial Analyst program and was awarded a CFA charter in 1988. He began his investment career at Mutual Life of Canada in 1985 where he was an Investment Analyst in the Private Placement and Corporate Debt area. He then moved to TAL Investment Counsel Ltd. in 1988 where he was Vice President, Fixed Income, responsible for credit analysis and specialty fixed income products. In 1992, John then moved to Foyston, Gordon & Payne, where he was the Partner responsible for fixed income and preferred shares. He founded Canso Investment Counsel Ltd. in 1997.
Robert A. Swan
Following graduation from the University of Western Ontario in 1967 with an MA in Econometrics, Bob joined Sun Life Assurance as an equity research analyst. After two years of managing equities with Gerbro Corp., Bob joined the then fledgling TAL Investment Counsel. During his eighteen TAL years, his primary focus was global asset mix and debt markets. He was a major contributor to making TAL one of Canada's largest and most successful money managers. In 1991, Bob was one of two entrepreneurs who created the Clean Environment Funds. In 1996, he joined CT Investment Management Group as Chief Investment Officer and then assumed management of the Asian portfolio. Bob completed his second MA in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at University of Toronto. Bob joined Canso in 2000 and his prime focus is the management of international portfolios.
Gail Mudie
Gail attended the University of Toronto, graduating with Honours in Microbiology in 1979 and achieving her MBA (Dean's List) in 1981. She then worked for Procter & Gamble Inc., where she held many positions including Financial Analyst, Treasury Supervisor and Financial Manager until 1985. In 1985 Gail joined the Bank of Montreal in corporate banking where after several years she became Director, Investment Analysis, Loan Portfolio Management. Gail joined Canso in 1998 and is responsible for credit analysis and portfolio management.
Heather Mason-Wood
Heather attended the University of Toronto, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in 1983. She graduated from the McMaster MBA program with a specialization in Finance in 1985. She then worked as a representative for Investors Group for two years before joining The Bank of Nova Scotia in 1988. She held many positions including Manager Corporate Credit, Manager Corporate Banking, Director of Risk Management, and Senior Relationship Manager Commercial Banking in her 15-year career with the bank. Heather joined Canso in February 2003 and in 2005 she was awarded her CFA charter. Heather is responsible for credit analysis and portfolio management as well as marketing and client servicing.
Vivek Verma
Vivek attended the University of New Delhi, graduating with a Masters in Economics in 1994. In 1997 he completed the MBA program at University of Manchester. Vivek then worked as a Senior Analyst, Credit Rating at ICRA, Moody's Indian affiliate for three years. He then moved to HCL Technologies as Manager of Investor Relations for two years. He joined Canso in 2002 as a Research Analyst. Vivek was awarded his CFA charter in 2004 and is now a portfolio manager with Canso.
Elizabeth Sit
Liz worked in the banking and securities industry for many years, specializing in system analysis and operations. She then joined FRI, a financial systems company, as a client support specialist. Subsequently, she joined Foyston, Gordon & Payne, an investment counseling firm, as a systems analyst and portfolio administrator. She then moved to JR Senecal, another investment counselor, in investment administration. Later, Liz worked for Goodman and Company, where she was a performance measurement specialist, and assisted in the trading operation.
Liz joined Canso in 2000, as an investment analyst. She completed the Partners, Directors and Senior Officers Course in 2009. Liz is currently responsible for Securities and Trading Operations.
Brenda Burns
Brenda attended Mount Allison University, graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) in 1981. Brenda joined Canso in 2005 after working in small business and the non-profit sectors. She completed the Canadian Securities Course in 2007 and the Partners, Directors and Senior Officers Course in 2009. Brenda is Corporate Secretary and is responsible for Personnel and Corporate Operations for the Canso group of companies.
Richard Usher-Jones
Richard attended Queen’s University, graduating with a BA in Sociology. He joined Nesbitt Thomson in 1991 as an investment advisor. Richard earned his Canadian Investment Manager (CIM) designation and later became a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute (FCSI). Richard joined Trimark Investment Management in 1993 where he was a manager in the pensions area. Richard then joined Russell Investments in 1996 where he worked on product development and was a member of Russell’s Canadian executive team. Richard joined Canso in 2009 and is responsible for credit analysis and the coordination of Canso’s sales and client service activities.
Joe Morin
Joe Morin graduated from the Royal Military College with a Honours Bachelor of Arts (Economics and Commerce) in 1986 and served as an officer in the Canadian Navy. He subsequently earned an MBA degree from the University of British Columbia in 1995.
Joe has held various positions in private lending, credit management and credit research in the past number of years including Export Development Canada, Nortel Networks, and Standard & Poor’s. Prior to joining Canso, Joe was a Director of Corporate Debt Research at BMO Capital Markets responsible for covering the Canadian telecom, cable, media, retail, real estate and credit card ABS sectors. Joe joined Canso in May 2009 as Director of Investment Research and is responsible for coordinating all Canso investment research activities.
Timothy Hicks
Tim graduated from Carleton University with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1981 and earned his CFA charter in 1990. He joined General Reinsurance Corporation in Toronto as a facultative underwriter in 1981. In 1987, Tim joined SEI Financial Services as an Account Executive, specializing in portfolio performance evaluation and manager research. Tim then joined the Asset Consulting Group of Towers Perrin in 1989 and spent four years there consulting to institutional clients on manager search and asset allocation policy. Tim joined Russell Investments Canada in 1993 and held a variety of roles including Research Analyst and Portfolio Manager. Tim then served as Chief Investment Officer for Canada and Director of North American Equity in Russell’s U.S. head office in Tacoma, Washington. Tim joined Canso in 2009 where he is responsible for product development and also contributes to compliance, client service, and portfolio management.