SciVest brings together both science and investing – in our name and in our portfolio management.
SciVest is a fast-growing, London Ontario based investment manager and financial technology (“FinTech”) company founded by a Western University PhD in Finance, and Professor of Portfolio Management and Investments, Dr. John Schmitz.
Scivest's mission is to deliver efficient, technology-enabled, investment management solutions and services directly to the Canadian mass market, across a wide range of diversified, superior quality investment strategies, at a client cost-structure that is amongst the lowest in Canada.
John J. Schmitz, PhD, CFA
Portfolio Manager, CEO
John has been professionally managing global equity and equity derivative investment portfolios for over 20 years, and prior to that he acted as a consultant to investment management firms and funds. John has managed many different types of investment portfolios ranging from long-only mutual funds and pooled fund trusts to market neutral equity, net short equity and long-short equity hedge funds. He has also managed portable alpha strategies, as well as several arbitrage-based and event driven hedge strategies. John’s expertise is the portfolio management of global equities and global equity derivatives using both highly sophisticated quantitative models, as well as traditional fundamental methods. John’s current professional focus is his firm’s global, common equity,
fundamental, growth of dividends investment strategy which is often implemented with an options writing income generating overlay. John is also considered an expert in asset allocation and portfolio formation.
John has received several top money manager awards including the global GAIM awards for Best Early and Best Mid Stage Market Neutral Equity Manager in the World (2003), as well as a couple of Canadian Investment Awards for the Best Relative Value Hedge Fund (2004). In addition, John was the top performing Global Equity fund manager in Canada for calendar 2016 (out of the 747 unique Global Equity funds tracked by Fundata).
John has held Senior Vice President level portfolio management positions at Financial Concept Group (a subsidiary of Midland Walwyn Inc., and later Merrill Lynch Canada) and Maxxum Fund Management (later Mackenzie Financial, each subsidiaries of Investors Group). However, John is an entrepreneur at heart and since 2002 he has been President and CEO of SciVest Capital Management Inc., a London, Ontario, based registered portfolio management firm which he founded and holds majority ownership. At SciVest and its affiliates, John has managed teams of professionals and launched numerous investment products. While John has extensive Canadian experience, he also has offshore experience having previously been professionally based in The Bahamas for nine years overseeing Bahamas and Cayman Islands based investment entities, as well as the Canadian operations.
In addition to his professional duties, John is currently an Associate Professor (part-time) teaching Master of Financial Economics students at the University of Western Ontario in one of the top programs in the world. Previously, he taught a senior-level Investments course for a number of years at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. John has authored a number of refereed academic publications and practitioner articles, and has been a presenter at numerous academic and practitioner conferences and events. John is also currently a member of the Investment Committee at the London Community Foundation, one of Canada’s larger community foundations.
John holds a BESc (Mechanical Engineering), a BA (Economics) and a DHS (Honors Economics) from the University of Western Ontario, a MA (Economics) from the University of Toronto, and a PhD (Finance) from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
Carolyn Schmitz, BComm, CIM, CFP
Client Relations Management Specialist
With over 25 years of experience in the financial advisory industry, Carolyn has established a respected career in investment advice, wealth management, and financial consulting.
Carolyn holds both the Chartered Investment Manager (CIM) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designations, demonstrating her commitment to professional excellence. A native of London, Ontario, she earned an undergraduate degree in Finance from Western University, followed by an Honours Commerce degree (BComm) from the University of Windsor.
As a Key member of the SciVest Team, Carolyn applies her extensive experience to managing client accounts, and also serves as the first point contact for new clients. She is dedicated to a client-first approach, ensuring tailored financial strategies that align with individual goals.
Sahil is a candidate for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, driven by a profound interest in financial markets. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration as well as an MBA, both specializing in Finance from Brock University, where he developed a solid foundation in financial principles and practices. Sahil is involved in the day-to-day operational tasks that keep financial operations running smoothly. His responsibilities include monitoring market developments, preparing detailed reports and working on various marketing initiatives.
Sana Irshad, BSc, MFE
Associate Investment and Portfolio Analyst
Sana holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Economics and Finance from the University of Nottingham, UK, and a Master’s in Financial Economics from Western University. With a strong interest in investment research, management, and portfolio analysis, she applies her skills to creating and streamlining financial research at SciVest. She also works with in-house quantitative techniques to optimize portfolio asset allocation and enhance investment decision-making.
Daniel Hart
Advisory Board Member
Daniel Hart is the co-founder and principal consultant at EV Angels, where he leverages his entrepreneurial experience in the start-up community to help founders scale their businesses in the Canadian market. Known for his strategic vision and expertise in scaling companies, Daniel has led organizations through periods of rapid growth and transformation, positioning them as industry leaders in competitive markets.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Software Engineering from Western University, which laid the foundation for his career in technology and innovation. As the former CEO of Masterkey and founder of Airlist, two pioneering real estate software companies based in Dubai, he played a key role in redefining the digital landscape for the real estate industry across the Middle East.
Brad Farquhar
Advisory Board Member
Brad Farquhar is an experienced senior corporate executive and director of several publicly traded companies, serving on numerous board committees. He is the co-founder, director, CFO, and Executive Vice President of Security Services Corp. (TSXV: SSC) which employs over 3,000 people and provides physical, cyber and electronic security services across Canada. In addition to his senior corporate and board experience, Brad is also a trained financial planner, thereby bringing a unique collection of skills and experiences to SciVest. He received a Master of Public Administration degree in Electoral Governance from Griffith University in Australia, studied political science at Carleton University, and completed a BA in Liberal Arts at Providence College.
