2012/2013 Executive Team

Will Van Nest (President & Chief Executive Officer)

Will is entering his fourth year of studies in the Honours Bachelor of Commerce program with a specialization in Finance with a minor in economics. This is Will’s fourth year with the MACIC and is a second time executive team member. In 2011/2012, Will spent the year as the Chief Corporate Development Officer where he established key relationships with corporate partners.He is looking forward to continue building these relationships and providing members with the opportunity to bridge the gap between University and their professional career. Will has a wealth of work experience, spending three summers as an associate with RBC Dominion Securities, and working this summer at RBC Capital Markets on the institutional equity sales and trading desk. Upon graduation Will intends to pursue a career in Equity Capital Markets

Nathan Manicom (Chief Financial Officer)

Nathan is entering his third year of studies in the Honours Bachelor of Commerce program, specializing in Finance with a minor in Economics. This is Nathan’s second year on the MACIC executive team and he is looking forward to building on the clubs past success. This year’s executive team has a lot planned to add value to all stakeholders of the MACIC. Nathan plans to increase the transparency and accountability of the club and improve its back end. This summer Nathan will be planning one of the largest events in the clubs history focused on engaging DeGroote alumni and providing an avenue to connect MACIC members with each other and alumni. Upon completion of third year Nathan will be registering to take the CFA level 1 exam and has plans of beginning the Canadian Securities Course this summer. Nathan looks forward to working with everyone next year and encourages students from all facilities and levels to get involved with the MACIC.

Kathryn Deveau (Chief Operations Officer)

Kathryn is entering her fourth year of studies in the Honours Bachelor of Commerce program with a specialization in Finance and a minor in Economics. She spent the previous year as the Club’s CFO, contributing to many of the new initiatives the Club put in place in its turnaround year. She is excited to take on the role of COO as well as focus on building the McMaster Capital Markets Conference & Competition, which she founded in 2011. Kathryn will be spending the summer working at Thomson Reuters in Toronto, and will start her final year off as a Welcome Week Representative for the Faculty of Commerce. Throughout the school year Kathryn will work as Head Supervisor and Senior Editor at the Allen H. Gould Trading Floor and as a Teaching Assistant for the Trading in Financial Markets course. Upon graduation, Kathryn hopes to have attained her CFA Level I and begin a career in banking.

Igor Kremenjas (Chief Investment Officer)

Igor is entering his fourth year of studies in the Honours Economics program with a minor in statistics. This is Igor’s second year with the MAC Investment Club, having spent this past year as a fund manager in the Mining and Materials sector. He is a first time member of the executive team and is excited to be the Club’s first Chief Investment Officer. Igor has extensive knowledge of the financial industry that he looks forward to sharing with fund managers and research associates. Igor looks forward to continue the tremendous growth that the MACIC has experienced in the past. He is studying to write the CFA Level 1 in December 2012, and intends to pursue a career in Equity Capital Markets upon graduation.

Andrew Schneider (Chief Marketing Officer)

Andrew is entering his fourth year of studies in the Bachelor of Commerce program with a specialization in Marketing.  This is Andrew’s third year with the MACIC, and he is a first time executive team member. He is very excited to be the Club’s first Chief Marketing Officer. Andrew has gained a wealth of experience working with one of Canada’s largest marketing budgets at TDL (Tim Hortons) this past summer. This year with the MACIC, Andrew will look to further build brand recognition within the Capital Markets industry as well as in the McMaster community.  Upon graduation, Andrew intends to pursue a career in marketing.

Joey Santos (Chief Economist)

Joey is entering his fourth year of studies in the Honours Bachelor of Commerce program with a specialization in Finance and a minor in Economics. He is currently returning from a 16 month finance internship at ArcelorMittal Dofasco where he has gained a wealth of real-world experience and valuable business insight. In his first executive role with the MACIC, Joey is excited to become the Club’s first Chief Economist. Joey’s primary goal is to boost the accuracy of the Club’s investmentvaluations by advancing the Club’s understanding of ongoing political events and economic policies. He believes that successful investing begins with a sound analysis of the relevant economic variables. He is therefore looking to deepen this aspect of the Club’s already outstanding analysis and, in turn, progress the Club’s mandate of “education through action.” Upon graduation, Joey aims to complete his CFA and pursue a career in wealth management.

Alex Pogacean (Chief Corporate Development Officer)

Alex is entering his fourth year of studies in the Honours Bachelor of Commerce program specializing in Finance and minoring in economics. Alex has been a member of the MAC Investment Club since his first year and spent the 2011/2012 school year as an associate in the Industrial Sector. Over the past three years, Alex has been actively involved in the McMaster community, holding positions at the Student Success Centre as the Employer Relations Assistant and at the Trading Floor asthe Floor Coordinator. He hopes that he can utilize his experience with employer relations to help the Club establish more partnerships with the corporate world as well as the rest of the McMaster Community. Alex is confident that the Club will continue its exponential growth in the upcoming year and hopes that the DeGroote School of Business receives the well-deserved recognition as one of the business school leaders.

Peter Lopez (Chief Academics Officer)

Peter is entering his fourth year of studies in the Honours Bachelor of Commerce program specializing in Finance and minoring in Economics. This is Peter’s first year on the MACIC executive team and he is looking to strengthen the Clubs knowledge by continuing the “education through action” approach. After spending the 2011/2012 year as an investment valuation co-ordinator at StateStreet Canada, Peter plans to bring his wealth of knowledge and experience to the McMasterCommunity. He looks forward to sharing his experience and equipping MACIC members with the tools needed to succeed in Finance. In addition, Peter hopes to offer more exposure to the financial markets by teaching young students how to efficiently gather and analyze information in today’s environment. Peter plans on attaining his CFA Level 1 this December and pursuing a career in Mergers and Acquisitions upon graduation.

Chris Viani (Director of MBA Relations)

Chris is entering his fourth year of studies in the Bachelor of Commerce program with a specialization in finance. Chris spent this past year as the Fund Manager of the technology sector, and this is his first year on the MACIC executive team.  His maingoal for the year is to increase MBA involvement in the Club by creating awareness at the Ron Joyce Centre Burlington campus. Chris spent last summer working in the automotive finance department at the Bank of Nova Scotia. Upon graduation Chris intends to pursue a career in equity research and analysis.

Jyle Gardner (Administrative Director)

Jyle is entering his third year in the Honours Bachelor of Commerce program, planning to specialize in Accounting with a minor in English. This is Jyle’s first year as a Mac Investment Club executive and is hoping to broaden the Club’s brand by implementing user friendly systems which prospective members can exploit in order to get an experience which is tailored to each individual member. Jyle hopes to increase the Club’s productivity by utilizing more competition oriented activities whichwill foster a sense of brotherhood and loyalty among individual sectors as well as the Club as a whole. Jyle believes that financial literacy is at the pinnacle of any successful career and will be working diligently to ensure that all members have a basic understanding of financial markets. Jyle hopes to have a future career in the field of accounting as a Certified Managerial Accountant.

Nicholas Chan (Director of Social Media)

Nicholas is entering his third year of studies in the Honours Bachelor of Commerce program with a specialization in Finance. In his first year with the Club, Nicholas was an Energy Sector associate where he gained valuable experience and knowledge of securities and financial markets. This year he hopes to capitalize on the emergence of social media and use its great influenceto communicate with the public and members on a daily basis. Nicholas hopes to use different social media platforms to help the MACIC develop a better online presence. He is very excited to go on exchange in the second term of the 2012/2013 school year to Singapore.  Nicholas hopes to expand his horizons and learn how business is done in the West as he hopes to work in Asia one day.

Umer Rafiq (Director of Corporate Development)

Umer is entering his fourth year of studies in the Honours Bachelor of Commerce program with a specialization in Finance.  This is Umer’s second year with the MACIC, and he is a first time executive team member. Umer has gained significant work experience from his time at RBC Dominion Securities and Naqvi and Associates LL.Ms. This summer he willbe taking a position as a Summer Finance Intern at Reckitt Benckiser. In this upcoming year with the MACIC, Umer plans on further strengthening the foundation of corporate recruitment at MACIC and develop new relationships with corporations with the goal of bringing them on as sponsors and partners. Upon graduation, Umer intends to pursue a career in Finance.

Mathew Artemenko (Director of Technology)

Mathew is entering his fourth year of studies at McMaster University in the Software Engineering and Embedded Systems program. For the past year Mathew has done application development for the Computer Services Unit in the Faculty of Health sciences here at McMaster. Mathew looks help MacIC move forward technologically by revamping MacIC web presence and exploring the mobile application market. Upon graduation Mathew intends on pursuing a career in software development.