Finance
Rhodri Rees-Jones has been appointed desk head, Western Canada, at UBS Bank (Canada). Rees-Jones came to Canada from the U.K. in 2005 and has been with UBS for almost 19 years. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, UBS Bank (Canada) provides bespoke, global and endowment-style portfolio management services to ultra-high-net-worth families. UBS (Canada) has been in Vancouver for more than 35 years.
The Insurance Institute of BC has announced its 2017-18 governing council: Manjit Biring (president), HUB International Insurance Brokers; Sharon Craver (first vice-president, academic division), Insurance Corp. of British Columbia (ICBC); Kerry McLaughlin (second vice-president, professional division), BCAA Insurance Corp.; Kelly Krakonchuk (secretary/treasurer), RSA; Jennifer Perry (past-president), HUB International Insurance Brokers; Melissa Stedman (Vancouver Island chapter president), Aon Reed Stenhouse; Debra Copeland (chair, marketing and communications), Intact Insurance; Sharon Knotts, (chair, future directions), The Guarantee; Lianna Crawford (chair, seminars), HUB International Insurance Brokers; Angela McIldoon (chair, education), ICBC; Sarah Tung (chair, events), XL Catlin; and Terry Leibel (chair, Okanagan), Capri Insurance Services.
Brigitte Parent, formerly senior vice-president of group benefits at Sun Life Financial Canada, has joined the advisory board of Rise People, a new digital human resources and group health insurance platform.
Hospitality/Tourism/Convention
Stash Bylicki has been appointed executive director of Chor Leoni Men’s Choir. Bylicki had previously served as the choir’s general manager and is a past board member. Chor Leoni sang to over 15,000 people in 2016-17, is one of most active choral ensembles on the continent and marks its 25th anniversary this coming season.
Legal
Stephen Hedley, associate, has joined Dentons’ Vancouver office’s financial services and entertainment groups. Prior to attending law school, Hedley worked for nine years in the entertainment industry as a writer, production co-ordinator, producer and musician. His law practice encompasses a variety of corporate activities, including financing, mergers and acquisitions and commercial matters.
Megan Coyle, Natanya Garcia and Virginia Zhao have recently joined Singleton Urquhart as associates. Coyle has joined the firm’s commercial property group and will be focused on BC Housing’s HOME (Home Owner Mortgage and Equity) Partnership program in the coming months. Garcia will primarily focus on commercial real estate law as well as practising as part of the firm’s corporate commercial group. Zhao has also joined the corporate commercial group, advising clients on corporate commercial transactions and corporate reorganizations as well as wills and estate planning.
Media
Andrea Visscher has joined Fever Pitch Marketing Communications Inc. Prior to this appointment, Visscher led Tourism Calgary’s public relations team and also worked with Vancouver, Coast and Mountains Tourism.
Companies on the Move
New Brand
CrossonVoyer Trust Co. has been rebranded as CV TrustCo. This local, boutique and independent trust company providing executor and trustee services in addition to estate and business owner advisory also has two new shareholders: Steve Ivacko and Sarah McGrath.
Sheinin & Co., a taxation firm that has been in Vancouver for 35 years, has relaunched as an independent, tax-specialty chartered professional accounting firm. The firm was partnered in-house with a Vancouver law firm starting in 2008, and has now concluded that business relationship. Sheinin & Co. will be providing its specialized taxation services from its new office at 920 – 1040 West Georgia Street.
Hats Off
Odlum Brown, a Vancouver-based independent full-service investment firm, donated $60,000 over three years to Streetohome Foundation to fund supportive housing and homelessness prevention strategies that address homelessness in Vancouver. Streetohome, which has contributed capital funding to more than 1,300 units of housing in Vancouver since it began in 2008, is now exploring a comprehensive approach to help individuals to move on with their lives. This includes supporting individual employment and addiction recovery goals through innovative services provided by community partners.
The seventh iteration of the Hooked on Miracles fundraiser, a three-day fishing tournament where mining industry executives, suppliers and associates get together to raise money for BC Children’s Hospital, raised and donated more than $250,000 to the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation this past June. This year’s focus was the Transplantation and Cell Therapy (TRACE) program. TRACE is working towards providing personalized medicine using the patient’s own cells to kill cancer cells, fight infection and prevent rejection of organ transplants. Through Mining for Miracles support, TRACE plans on establishing two state-of-the-art facilities, a translational biomarker facility and a clinical cell therapy facility.
The employees of Safeway stores in British Columbia donated $35,590 to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of BC & Yukon through their 2016 employee giving campaign.
The North Shore Mayors’ Golf Tournament, co-ordinated by the North Shore Community Foundation, raised more than $190,000. Quest Food Exchange and Turning Point Recovery Society each received $50,000 in support of new North Shore locations. The remaining funds were donated to the North Shore Community Foundation and the West Vancouver Community Foundation. •
