Michael H. Gilchrist
BSc, MBA, CFP, CLU, CHFC

Mike Gilchrist has been a financial planner serving high net worth individuals in the areas of estate and tax planning for more than 12 years. He has extensive experience in life insurance and estate planning practice.

He graduated from the University of Alberta in with an MBA in Marketing and Statistical Analysis, following a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry.

After university, Mr. Gilchrist was recruited by London Life Insurance Company and spent several years as an agent building a client practice, followed by a transfer to management and a move to London Life's Head Office in London, Ontario. While in London, Mr. Gilchrist was involved in developing training strategies, recruitment initiatives, and was involved extensively in corporate projects. Mr. Gilchrist was appointed Field Manager in 1997 to build a sales staff in Edmonton, Alberta catering to the high net worth market. In 1999 Mr. Gilchrist was approached by Canada Trust to start the Wealth & Estate Planning (WEP) division for the region serving Canada Trust's High Net Worth clients and, when the Toronto Dominion Bank purchased Canada Trust in 2000, also as Estate Planning Advisor to TD Evergreen HNW clients.

Mr. Gilchrist rejoined London Life (now Great West Life owned) in 2000 as Regional Life Manager - Calgary, where he was responsible for all life insurance sales in Southern Alberta by Great West Life, London Life, Investors Group, and Liberty Mutual. Responsibilities included marketing and positioning of product into the high net worth markets.

Mr. Gilchrist is a specialist in risk management and advanced tax and estate planning for business owners and other high net worth individuals. He is responsible for integrating investment management products and investment policies with the financial planning process and estate planning requirements of clients. He is a principal shareholder and President of Zielsdorf Financial Group Ltd., an estate planning and money management practice that specializes in dealing with High Net Worth and Business Owner planning.

In addition to being a current Tax and Estate Practitioner candidate (TEP), Mr. Gilchrist holds the designations of CFP (Certified Financial Planner), CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter), and CHFC (Chartered Financial Consultant).

Mr. Gilchrist lives in Calgary, is married and has three lovely children

Gary Cooper
B. Comm. (Hons.), CFA, CFP

Gary Cooper is the Portfolio Manager and Chief Investment Strategist for Cornerstone Investment Counsel and is responsible for all investment strategies, portfolio construction, and compliance.

He has been working in the investment management industry since 1992, with extensive experience in all aspects of the portfolio management process. Prior to his current roles, Mr. Cooper held the position of Senior Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income with a large asset management firm, where he oversaw the management of three global fixed income funds totalling over $600 million.

Mr. Cooper started in 1998, managing a Canadian fixed income pool, then designed and developed the business model and management process for global fixed income, including the models and strategies used to manage it, and integrating global fixed into the overall asset mix.

In addition to managing funds, he was responsible for defining, building and implementing portfolio management strategies for fixed income products. He participated in product creation and design, manager monitoring, quantitative research and model construction, and was a member of the Investment Committee.

Prior to that, he spent four years with TD Securities as Manager, Commercial Treasury Services where he held trading and sales roles in fixed income, currency and derivative products, and developed hedging strategies for commercial and institutional clients. He started his career at Credit Union Central of Manitoba in 1992 as a financial analyst.

Mr. Cooper is an honours graduate of the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Commerce degree (1992). In addition, he achieved the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 1998, a Financial Market Association ACI diploma in 1997, and the Certified Financial Planner designation in 2003.