Kensington has an active Advisory Board of business leaders who provide strategic advice to our Firm. The Advisory Board holds formal meetings on a quarterly basis, with more frequent interactions on an ad hoc basis relating to specific issues. Our Advisory Board also provides advice to the Kensington Managing Directors where we encounter real or potential conflicts of interest. The thoughtful outside perspective of the Kensington Advisory Board is intended to ensure that Kensington consistently does the right thing with respect to its investors, its investments, and its other stakeholders.
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Sean has excelled as a tax partner at Osler Hoskin & Harcourt, and as a private investor in several companies. His experience is particularly helpful in complex conflict matters and in ensuring that thorough documentation is in place at the time when decisions are being made.
Sean Aylward is a Partner in the Toronto Tax Department of Osler Hoskin & Harcourt primarily focused on commodity taxation, customs and related cross-border matters.
Sean co-owned and served as a Director of Riverfront Medical Services, at the time one of Canada’s largest privately owned third party medical assessment companies. He is currently a Director of a privately held company that is involved in enterprises including specialty finance and lending, real estate, and developing and marketing products for the sporting industry that will lead to early detection of concussion.
Sean graduated with a B.A. from the University of Ottawa in 1982. He obtained his LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1985 and his LL.M. from the London School of Economics in 1988. Sean is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Tax Foundation and the International Fiscal Association.
Greg’s marketing, sales, and operating background have proven helpful in many cases considered by the Advisory Board. He has successfully built and sold companies in the marketing, insurance, and sales support businesses. His many business contacts prove helpful in quickly accessing people and information.
Greg is the Chief Executive Officer of Data Communications Management Corp with overall operating responsibility for the company. He’s had an extensive career in marketing services, communication and event management, as well as private equity investment. Greg began his marketing career in product management with General Electric and then S.C. Johnson.
In 1981, he bought into Mariposa Communications. By 1997, when the company was sold to Mosaic Group, he and his partner had built the largest event company in Canada. In 2001, he became a lead investor in Pareto Corporation, a start-up marketing services business which became a publicly traded entity in 2004. He served as a director until 2010, when the company was sold to a private equity firm. In 2011, Greg joined VRG Capital, a private equity family office, being the lead investor and a director in a number of public and private companies including Wheels Group, Capri Media Group, Jones Brown Insurance Brokerage and Founders Advantage Capital.
In 2016, he joined Data Communications as an investor and director. He is a founding donor of the Centre for Business Venturing at Queen’s University and is a member of the Business School’s Advisory Board. Greg is also the founding co-chair for “Capitalize 4 Kids,” Canada’s premier investment conference. He has served on boards for groups and associations such as Junior Achievement, The Down Syndrome Association of Toronto, The Canadian Business Hall of Fame, St. Josephs Health Centre, and several others.
In 1992, Greg received Canada’s 125th Commemorative Anniversary medal for volunteerism in the community. Greg has an MBA from The Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, and a BBA from Bishops University in Lennoxville, Quebec.
Ruby’s experience as a finance executive, and his knowledge of the tech space have helped Kensington in many ways over his tenure as an Advisory Board member. He has always focused on the company’s financial performance and takes the lead in grilling the audit team.
Rubin Osten is President and Chief Executive Officer of Raspberry Investments Corp., an investment and consulting firm. He is also a director and advisor to a number of private companies as well as a member of the Board of Governors of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Ruby is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.
Ruby co-founded PC DOCS Group International Inc., formerly a TSX and NASDAQ-listed company, and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer until the company’s sale in 1999. PC DOCS was a global software company and the leading provider of document management with revenues in excess of $200 million and offices in 20 countries worldwide.
Ruby was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cowboy Corp., a provider of customer relationship management software for the automotive industry from January 2000 until the company’s sale in February 2003. Ruby was a director of Spectra Securities Software Inc., a provider of software to the financial services industry focused on wealth management from January 2000 until the Company’s sale in July 2002. He was also a director and chair of the audit committees of the Movie Distribution Income Fund, an income trust (TSX listed) and of MediSolution Ltd. (TSX listed), a provider of information technology to the healthcare industry.
Barbara has experience as a professional investor and as an author and speaker on women and finance. She helps with the ESG policies and programs that Kensington engages in and has international connections that help identify solutions in matters related to her field of research.
Barbara Stewart is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 30 years of investment industry experience; five years as a foreign currency trader, more than two decades as a portfolio manager for high-net-worth entrepreneurs, and for the past six years doing interview-driven research for multiple global financial institutions.
Barbara is a keynote speaker for CFA Societies, banks, stock exchanges and industry conferences globally, and she is a columnist for CFA Institute, Canadian Family Offices and Canadian Money Saver magazine. She is on the Advisory Board of Kensington Capital Partners and also is the Ambassador for the Kensington Women’s Forum.
Thirteen years ago Barbara saw a need to challenge outdated financial industry stereotypes and share positive messages about women and money. Today, Barbara is recognized worldwide as one of the leading researchers in women and finance. Rich Thinking® global research papers quote smart women and men of all ages, professions and countries and are released annually on International Women’s Day, March 8.
To find out more about Barbara’s research, visit www.barbarastewart.ca.
John has a background in the power industry in both private and public company executive positions. He was a Managing Director of Kensington prior to his retirement and continues to help the company in matters related to the power industry.
John Walker was a Kensington Managing Director and a member of the Investment Committee. He has been on our Advisory Board as of May 12, 2017. He was responsible for Kensington’s infrastructure business, with a seat on the Board of Directors of the Kensington Crowsnest Alberta L.P. and Genalta Power Inc. He is currently on the Board of Directors of WaterTap in the water technology sector. John was Chairman of U.S. Geothermal Inc. [NYSE: HTM] from 2003 until 2018 which was initially listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange, and then TSE, AMEX and finally the NYSE. The company was successfully sold to Ormat [NYSE:ORA] the largest geothermal company in the world based in Reno, Nevada in April 2018. The firm operated 50 MW of geothermal power in Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada and was based in Boise, Idaho. He has a 40-year history in urban planning, energy security and power plant development in Canada and internationally. John was a founding director of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority in 1992 and chaired the first Planning and Development Committee of that Board, which provided oversight in the construction of the $4.4 billion terminal complex at Toronto Pearson Airport completed in 2004. Additionally, he was co-founder and a founding Director of the Borealis Infrastructure Fund in 1997 which is now owned by the Ontario Municipal Employee Retirement System (OMERS).
John has worked in the financial services industry as an investment banker with Loewen Ondaatje McCutcheon and has served on the Board of Directors of Sheridan College and was President of the Canada-Sri Lanka Business Council from 1994 to 1997. His background includes 10 years at Ontario Hydro where he was responsible for community impact studies, alternative energy and latterly for international market development for the New Business Ventures Division which became Ontario Hydro International. John has also acted as a senior advisor to Falconbridge on the Koniambo project now owned by SMSP and Glencore Xstrata, a $4 billion mine, smelter, power plant and port project in New Caledonia which was completed in 2013. He has also worked in infrastructure fund development for Aurion Capital and Integrated Private Debt. Currently, John sits on the Board of Trustees of Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts and is a Trustee of the Turneffe Atoll Trust ( TAT ). The TAT is a non-governmental organization ( NGO ) dedicating to protecting the coastal marine environment of the Turneffe Atoll in Belize.
John is a Registered Professional Planner in the Province of Ontario and a member of the Canadian Institute of Planners. John has a BSc. from Springfield College in Massachusetts and a Master of Environmental Studies (Urban/Environmental Planning) from York University in Ontario.
Keith has been the CFO of some of Canada’s leading industrial companies and has led the budgeting and planning processes of several significant businesses. His input with Kensington’s Advisory Board has been focused on strategy.
Keith Wettlaufer is the former Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Commercial Services of Bruce Power LLP. Prior to joining Bruce Power, Keith served as Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Strategic Development for Linamar Corporation.
Keith sits on several corporate boards including the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories; RDM Corporation, a TSX listed technology company based in Waterloo; LTGE, an alternative investment fund (AIF) in Luxembourg; EnerMotion, a green technology start-up entity. In addition, Keith represents Kensington on the board of directors for CGL Manufacturing, a private precision machining company and Prodomax, a supplier of automotive manufacturing systems and processes.
From 1996 through 2000, Keith served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, President and Chief Operation Officer, and as President and Chief Executive Officer for A.G. Simpson Co. Limited, a major metal fabrication company in the automotive industry.
Previously, Keith served as Senior Vice President & CFO of InterTAN Inc., which owned and operated 3,000 Radio Shack retail stores across Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Belgium, France and Holland. Keith spent seven years with Magna International as Treasurer and as Executive Vice President, Finance & Administration for Cosma International, a unit of Magna that focused on automotive body systems. Keith was Director of Internal Audit at The Oshawa Group and prior to that, he spent six years with Price Waterhouse Chartered Accountants.
Keith holds an undergraduate degree in Economics and Accounting from Wilfrid Laurier University and obtained his Chartered Accountant designation in 1976.
