Francis Sabourin holds a degree in Economics and Finance from McGill University (1992) and earned his Financial Planner designation from the Institut québécois de planification financière in 1999. With more than 25 years of experience in the securities industry, he currently serves as Senior Portfolio Manager and Senior Investment Advisor at Richardson Wealth in Montreal.

Before joining the firm in 2006, Francis worked as a financial advisor for several brokerage firms, including Groupe Option Retraite and Merrill Lynch Canada (now CIBC Wood Gundy). Known for his forward-thinking approach, he developed the Vision – Planning – Guidance (VPG) framework to help clients define and achieve their most important financial and personal goals.

A respected voice in the financial community, Francis frequently contributes to industry media. He has published articles in Finance et Investissement, participated in LaPresse.ca’s “Sur le radar” column, and is often quoted by outlets such as Conseiller.ca, Wealth Professional, and Canal Argent on emerging financial topics. He is also an experienced speaker, having taken part in expert panels on wealth transfer strategies aimed at legal, financial, and tax professionals.

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Francis is deeply engaged in philanthropic initiatives. He has served on the boards of several organizations, including the Fondation des Jeux du Québec and Sports-Québec, and is an active member of the Canadian Olympic Committee. As honorary chair of the Bal de l’avenir for the Fondation du Collège Bourget, he helped raise more than $90,000. He also played a key role in the development of the Placements Sports program, which supports amateur athletics across Quebec.

Most recently, Francis has extended his expertise to the Canadian Association of Alternative Strategies & Assets (CAASA), where he hosts a monthly podcast focused on alternative investments—highlighting new trends, industry insights, and his ongoing commitment to advancing the profession.

Julie is a vice president and an institutional portfolio manager at RBC GAM Inc. Prior to joining the firm in 2020, Julie spent eight years on the institutional team at BlackRock, where she had multiple client-facing responsibilities, including most recently, the role of systematic active equity product strategist. Previously, she was director, Global Consultant Relations. In this role, she headed the Canadian business for developing and maintaining relationships with investment consultants. Before that, Julie worked at Mercer for over a decade, initially responsible for manager research across a variety of alternative asset classes, and then transitioning to a client service role for their delegated business. Julie began her career in the investment industry in 1998.

FIAM welcomes a new ambassador: Cordell L. Tanny, who brings a strong focus on technology applied to finance and asset management, thanks to more than 25 years of experience in financial services, specializing in quantitative finance.

Cordell is currently the President and co-founder of Trend Prophets, a quantitative finance and AI solutions firm. He is also the Managing Director of DigitalHub Insights, an educational resource dedicated to introducing AI into investment management. Prior to his current position, he worked as a quantitative analyst and portfolio manager for a leading Canadian institution, overseeing a $2 billion multi-asset retail investment program. Cordell is a CFA Charterholder, a certified Financial Risk Manager, and holds the Financial Data Professional charter.

Welcome to the initiative, Cordell!

The richness and growth of the FIAM ecosystem are based on the relevance of its mission and the quality and added value of its initiatives and events. With this in mind, we invite professionals who share our vision and values to contribute to our mission.

Does our initiative speak to you? Contact us to discuss your potential role as a FIAM ambassador, according to your interests and availability.

We are delighted to announce the addition of Pierre-Philippe Ste-Marie in the select group of FIAM Ambassadors. In this role, he will cultivate the partnership between FIAM and Bodhi Research, thereby enriching discussions around data science and AI/ML within the finance/asset management industry.

Pierre-Philippe brings a highly relevant profile for our mission, combining more than 25 years of experience in the asset management industry and deep technological knowledge thanks to his academic journey, including a Master of Science in Computational Finance from Carnegie Mellon University. Over the course of his career, he worked with fixed income and cross asset absolute returns teams. Prior to joining Bodhi Research as a Visiting Researcher, Pierre‐Philippe was CIO fixed income then Co-CIO of an asset manager until March 2022. He is also known as the founder of Razorbill Advisors, a Montreal‐based investment management firm focused on fixed income, absolute return, total return and relative‐value strategies.

Welcome in the initiative, Pierre-Philippe!

François Melançon holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Financial Risk Manager (FRM) certifications from the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP), Certificate in Derivatives Market Strategies (CDMS), and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA). He has a master’s degree in Economics from the Université de Montréal and is a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute (FCSI).

For the past thirty-five years, François has had the opportunity to work at various levels in the field of fixed-income securities, derivatives and asset management. He began his career as an analyst at Deragon Langlois in 1986 and then in 1990 at Levesque Beaubien, where he held several positions in equity, fixed income and derivatives management. In 1998, he became a partner/manager at Scheer Rowlett & Associates, a young investment management firm. In 2001, with the collaboration of the financial group Connor, Clark & ​​Lunn, he took charge of bond management at Baker Gilmore, once again as a partner/manager.

Passionate about his work, François Melançon sought to expose himself to all facets of the company’s responsibilities during his 20 years of collaboration. In 2019-2020, he participated in the reorganization of the investment sector at the Fonds de solidarité FTQ as interim investment manager, and then became part of the team that overhauled the investment policy and investment management.

Today, François is also an external member of the investment committee of the Industrial Alliance Pension Plan, a member of the risk committee at McGill St-Laurent and CWP Énergie, a commodities logistics firm, and an advisor/partner at ByDealers, an art auctioneer.