CIM PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES
November  4, 2025


INTRODUCTION TO THE CANADIAN HEDGE FUND INDUSTRY:
What Students and Graduates Need to Know and How to Succeed in a Competitive Environment
July 19, 2011 from 4:00-7:00 pm

Co-sponsored by:

hosted by the Fields Institute,
222 College Street, Toronto
Map to Fields Fields Activities in Commercial and Industrial Mathematics

Time

4:00pm Registration
4:30pm Moderated by: Neil Simons, Vice President of Decision Dynamics at Northwater Capital Management (U of T, U of Manitoba)
  • Michael Kuan, Portfolio Manager with Picton Mahoney Asset Management (U of T)
  • Blair Levinsky, PM and co-founder of Waratah Advisors (Dalhousie)
  • Daren Smith, Director of Hedge Funds with UTAM (Western, UBC, McMaster)
  • Mark Purdy, Chief Investment Officer at Arrow Capital (U of T)
  • Kurt Hagerman, Managing Director with Citco Fund Services (Waterloo)
  • Kripa Kapadia, Associate with Scotia Capital (London School of Economics and Political Science, U. of London)
6:00pm Networking and Cocktails.

Overview

This event will educate and enlighten students and graduates about the Canadian hedge fund industry and how they might find a place in it. Organised by AIMA Canada’s Education and Research Committee, which supports a greater understanding of alternative investments in general and Canadian hedge funds and derivatives markets in particular, this session will include participants from some of the most successful (and largest) hedge funds in Canada and aims to show attendees how these pools of capital operate in the markets and how those attending might, perhaps, find employment with such funds—if not at least a greater understanding of their key characteristics.

Topics to be discussed will include:

  • Background on the Canadian hedge fund industry
  • Curriculum vitae of the funds presenting (their strategy, AUM, particular edge and sector focus, if any) as well as their key personnel (academic and experience credentials, team composition, tenure as manager and performance record)
  • Elaboration on opportunities and challenges in the Canadian financial markets (or for Canadian resident managers active in Canadian and/or global securities markets).
  • Discussion of prerequisites needed to enter the industry and do well (e.g., fields of study or majors, particular skills and aptitudes, work experience) as well as the path the participants followed to their current position.

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