Chris Clarke, CA (CPA® / CA), R.F.P., TEP, CFP®

Family Office Director & CEO

CHRIS CLARKE is the CEO, co-owner and founder of First Affiliated Holdings Inc., and owner of First Affiliated Securities Inc. Chris is also the founding Family Office Director. Holding her CA designation since 1987, Chris also obtained her CFP and later R.F.P. (Registered Financial Planner) designation, meeting the highest accreditation offered by the Institute of Advanced Financial Planners. She achieved the TEP (Trust and Estate Practitioner) with the worldwide Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), and is certified with the Canadian Association of Family Enterprise (CAFÉ) as a Family Meeting Facilitator.

Chris spearheaded development of the independent Multi-Family Office (MFO) in Canada with an innovative approach towards integrated wealth, lifestyle and legacy management. Chris continues to innovate today leading the business operations at First Affiliated, modeling best practices, providing market education through the First Affiliated Academy and facilitating philanthropic initiatives through the First Affiliated Foundation.

Chris is the driving force behind the expression and preservation of our company culture, mission and strategic direction. Our leadership and innovation were recognized when The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) voted First Affiliated one of the four top Family Offices worldwide. We were also proud recipients of the Canadian Association of Family Enterprise (CAFÉ) Family Business of the Year Award – Georgian Bay Chapter. Chris is an active member of CAFÉ, STEP and the Family Firm Institute (FFI), and entertains regular speaking engagements.

Chris is also the author of a soon to be published book True Family Wealth: Love, Money & An Inspired Life. True Family Wealth is an inspiring and practical guide for parents who want to support their adult children in finding their passion to live the lives they love, while using financial strategies to support their choices and those of future generations.

Karl Mortveit

Managing Director Operations, First Affiliated Holdings Inc.
President, First Affiliated Family Office Group Inc.

KARL MORTVEIT is the co-owner of First Affiliated and is responsible for the management of First Affiliated’s business and financial operations. Karl’s strong analytical and leadership skills are supported by his background in logistics, civil engineering and aviation as well as his long-term experience and commitment to First Affiliated over the past 30 years. He ensures our information systems are state of the art, and our data security is at the highest level. He works alongside our CEO overseeing corporate strategic initiatives.

Karl is responsible for the design, development, maintenance and upgrades of our back office systems, reporting technology and corporate infrastructure while constantly working to streamline process and increase efficiencies. Karl partners with the CEO of First Affiliated to ensure corporate compliance and licensing requirements are met. Karl also oversees the back office investment and reporting systems, ensuring our clients’ consolidated performance reports are accurate and timely

W. Barton Rowe

Chief Investment Strategist, First Affiliated Holdings Inc.
Associate Advising Representative, First Affiliated Family Office Group Inc.

BARTON ROWE is a partner of First Affiliated. Barton graduated with an Honours Business degree from the University of Western Ontario’s Ivey School of Business. Upon graduating Barton earned the F.W.P. Jones Award in Finance recognizing his achievements as the top finance student.

Barton started his investment career with the Research group of Nesbitt Thomson, the leading investment research firm at that time. There, he worked as a research analyst and earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He also completed the Canadian Securities Course and received the award of excellence from the Canadian Securities Institute. He then moved to privately owned Scott Capital Group where he was Director of Capital Management. Barton was in charge of researching companies for private equity and debt financing, and managing the portfolio of private and public investments.

In 1995 Barton joined forces with First Affiliated in providing wealth management services and is responsible for the research, strategy and oversight of portfolio and business assets for our client families. Bart is a practicing CFA, and a member of: Toronto Society of Financial Analysts, the Association for Investment Management & Research, the Responsible Investment Association (RIA), the Family Enterprise Exchange (FEX) , and is a Board Member / Treasurer at the Suzuki Strings School of Guelph.

Brent Barrie, LL.B., CFA®, CIM®, CFP®

Family Office Director, First Affiliated Holdings Inc.
Advising Representative & Chief Compliance Officer, First Affiliated Family Office Group Inc.

Brent Barrie is based out of Halifax and has a breadth of financial and business management experience earned over 22 years in the financial industry. A lawyer by training and graduate of Dalhousie Law School, Brent worked for six years with CIBC Trust where he managed the financial needs of clients across Atlantic Canada. For eleven years, Brent worked at SEAMARK Asset Management Ltd., including three years as Chief Executive Officer.

Brent currently serves as a director of the CFA Society Atlantic Canada and is a member, and former director, of the Responsible Investment Association, an industry organization that promotes awareness of the impact of environment, social, and governance factors on the public markets in Canada.

Jennifer Graham, CA (CPA® / CA)

Accounting & Compliance Associate

Jennifer Graham joined the First Affiliated team in 2012 in the role of Corporate Compliance Manager. Jennifer earned her Chartered Accountant designation in 2009, and worked for five years in public accounting. She gained valuable experience in her roles as Senior Accountant at Grant Thornton, LLP and Audit Manager at Gaviller & Company, LLP with a focus on auditing and assurance work. Prior to joining First Affiliated, Jenny worked for the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie, Ontario as a Senior Accountant with an emphasis on financial reporting and internal controls.

In 2016 Jennifer established her firm “Jennifer Graham CPA Professional Corporation”, and continues to support the CEO, and Director of Operations of FA as an Accounting and Compliance Associate with a focus on both Corporate and Client initiatives.

Sabine Abt

Client Service Manager

Sabine Abt is the Client Services Manager for First Affiliated Holdings. Prior to joining us in 2005, Sabine worked in Public and Corporate Affairs for over ten years at a major aerospace firm. Her current role encompasses Client Services and Investment Implementation. Sabine was born in Switzerland and is trilingual in English, French and German.

As Client Service Manager, Sabine works closely with our Corporate Client Service Manager to ensure all client tasks are managed in a proactive, efficient and timely manner. Sabine takes the lead in client meeting preparation and task implementation, and is very involved in tax return preparation and family trust administration. Sabine works closely with our Managing Director, Investment Strategy to ensure investment orders are prepared, approved and executed in a timely fashion. Sabine also oversees all fund company accounts and office administration.

Andrea Baker-Nash

HR & Corporate Projects

Andrea Baker-Nash is the Family Office Liaison for the First Affiliated Family Office Group. Andrea joined First Affiliated in 2006 after a progressive career in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior roles included Sales, Corporate Training, Communications, Recruitment, Employee Relations, Strategic Business Partner and Merger Integration.

As Family Office Liaison, Andrea focuses her efforts externally to develop relationships in the community and increase public awareness about Family Office services provided by First Affiliated. She enjoys making connections with Canadian families and business owners that can truly benefit from what First Affiliated has to offer.

In her role of Corporate Project Manager, Andrea focuses internally and is responsible for oversight and implementation of our website, marketing, FA Academy and FA Foundation initiatives, as well as corporate contracts, and Human Resources. Andrea also assists with job search, recruitment, training and benefit related projects for our clients.

Dale Berne

Office Administration

Dale Berne has worked with First Affiliated Holdings Inc. since 1997. Over the years Dale has been very dedicated in providing back office systems support and assistance with preparation of quarterly reports. Dale is also a wonderful resource to the team as she provides assistance in general office and client administration.

Rachele Mortveit

Client Administration

Rachele Mortveit first joined the First Affiliated team in 2013 as part-time receptionist and administrative support. Rachele assisted the FA Team on a full-time basis from January through August 2014 before attending University in the Fall.

Rachele is now attending Huron College at Western University, focusing on Psychology and Business. She returns to FA during the Summer months, and assists when possible during the academic year.

Stephanie Rowe

Office Administration

Stephanie Rowe has worked with First Affiliated Holdings Inc. since 1995. Stephanie offers Administrative support including data management and processing as well as book keeping services.

Stefanie Hochrein

Portfolio Administration Assistant

Stefanie Hochrein joined the First Affiliated team in 2015 as a Portfolio Administration Assistant. Prior to joining First Affiliated, Stefanie worked as a Research Analyst for a leading data provider.

Stefanie is responsible for providing back office support. She looks after everything from processing account opening documentation, processing trades, reconciliation and preparation of quarterly reports, and ensuring due diligence requirements are met.

Stefanie completed her Investment Funds Canada (IFC) certificate through the Canadian Securities Institute in 2016, and is currently working to obtain her Canadian Securities Course (CSC).

Stefanie has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University.