Norshield Financial Group Joins SFU GAWN Business Council

Date: Wednesday, April 23, 2003

Montreal-based Norshield Financial Group is the latest firm to join the national Global Asset and Wealth Management (GAWM) Business Council at Simon Fraser University. The Council, whose members rank among the top Canadian investment firms and organizations, was established in January 2002 with 11 members in order to provide curriculum guidance, mentorship and internships for the university's new Global Asset and Wealth Management MBA program. Since then, the membership has grown to 14 members and three associate members. The new Global Asset and Wealth Management MBA program teaches financial services professionals the more sophisticated aspects of investment management and provides students with a high level of expertise in the 'engineering' and 'architecture' of wealth management. Students acquire first class technical skills in financial theory, asset allocation and security selection. They also develop the softer, 'architectural' skills associated with investment counseling, estate planning and client relationships. Norshield is an investment management company with a historically active focus on hedge funds, an alternative investment vehicle for high-worth individuals and institutions. Peter Klein, academic director for the Global Asset and Wealth Management MBA program, is pleased to welcome Norshield to the Council. "Having representation on our Business Council from Norshield provides an important link to the growing alternative investment sector of the wealth management community," he says. "One of the key components of our vision at Norshield is to invest in the education of the next generation," says John Xanthoudakis, chairman and chief investment officer of Norshield Financial Group. "Joining the Global Asset and Wealth Management Council provides us with another avenue to move towards the realization of this vision."