Dave Mowat

President and CEO, ATB Financial

Thanks for considering ATB as an investment professional. We spend a lot of time getting the right people to serve our customers so we appreciate your time in “checking us out”. We are a relatively new player in Investment Advice but we have grown rapidly to over $5 billion in managed funds and have ambitious plans to be even more relevant to Albertans.

We are part of ATB Financial, a full service bank with more than 600,000 customers in Alberta. Only 50,000 of those customers are Investor Services clients so there is still lots of room for you to make your mark.

Our funds are relatively conservative and are strong performers but our focus is on building a team of advisors who can get the right investment mix for people and actively maintain and build the relationship with them. Our business is "making dreams come true" - both yours and our customers.

This site is meant to give you an idea of what makes us tick and why we love what we do. Getting the right fit is just as valuable to us and our customers as it is to you - so kick away on our tires.

Let us know if you want to talk further. Our people are the best source of intelligence on "what it’s like here" and there are some interesting stories on this site for people just like you who have joined ATB Investor Services and love it!

Thanks again for considering us in your career planning and all the best where ever your travels take you.

Sheldon Dyck CFA

President, ATB Investor Services

When I started ATB Investor Services in 2001 it was with one objective in mind, helping Albertans achieve their goals and dreams. I had conducted a research project studying Alberta investors when I was doing my CFA in the mid 90s and what I discovered was quite troubling. Firstly many Albertans were not achieving their goals as they were making a vast array of mistakes and in addition they were paying an exorbitant amount in fees. Now the fees would not have been so much of an issue if they were getting good advice, however, most of their advisors seemed to be making the same mistakes as the investors; getting carried away by the fad and sentiment of the day, being swayed by greed and fear, chasing winners, and investing in whatever was in their backyard rather than being diversified. Our mission at ATBIS was quite simple, build a firm that was truly focused on delivering great advice to our clients so they would actually achieve their goals. Sounds simple but in my research it was actually quite rare. Now don’t get me wrong, you can find that sentiment and in fact most of the things we talk about at ATBIS on a lot of websites in the industry, the difference is we live it and it guides our decisions.

So nine years ago we designed and launched ATBIS to be the kind of firm that would create sophisticated portfolios that ultra high net worth investors with hundreds of millions of dollars would have access to and deliver them to all Albertans. One of the guiding principles that has served us well was to keep front and center in all our decisions the fact that the investments of our executive team and many of our friends and families assets were managed by ATBIS. You are a lot more focused when you know you will have to defend your decisions over the Christmas dinner table as well as in the board room.

What has clearly defined ATBIS from the beginning and will do so in the future, however, is not our portfolios but our people. I believe we understand more about the attributes that lead to a great advisor – client connection than anyone in the industry. It probably shouldn’t be a surprise then that what many of our team will tell you about their experience here is that at ATBIS it feels like you a part of something, a family that is very focused on achieving our dream.

Brian Kjenner

SVP, Advisory Services

Why I love working with Investor Services?

Upfront, I have to disclose I am biased. I have been working for Investor Services for 6 years and have truly enjoyed the experience. This is undoubtedly the best company I have ever worked for. That said, I distilled my fulfillment down to three points:

For me, the first reason I love working with Investor Services is our focus on our clients and helping them to realize their dreams...that is the foundation that we were built on. With everyone at Investor Services pulling in the same direction, we truly have an opportunity to make a tremendous impact on the lives of the customers we serve and when all is said and done, there couldn’t be a more gratifying cause than that.

The second reason I love my job is the entrepreneurial culture we enjoy here. We have been able to amass some of the most talented people in the industry and through unharnessed creativity, hard work, and a solid team approach we continue to outpace the ambitious targets we have set for the business year after year.

The third reason is the focus on our people. It’s great to work with a company that is so committed and concerned about maintaining an environment that attracts and retains the best people, that has allowed us to enjoy Top 50 employer status year after year. Happy employees = happy customers...it’s a pretty simple formula.

Mike Frederick

SVP, Finance & CFO

I joined Investor Services in February 2003 for the chance to be part of this great new opportunity for ATB. I was excited to be on the ground floor of a venture with the same vision I held for a client centric view of the investment industry. In a little over 7 years we’ve grown almost 30 times from our humble beginnings. Every day is an exciting discovery in personal growth in our challenge to be the world leader in understanding our clients and helping them realize their dreams.

Miles Kotylak

VP, Advisory Services

Why did I come to ATBIS, and why do I stay at ATBIS?” – Culture & Innovation!

I started my career working for a large Canadian financial institution and after enjoying 12 successful years there, I started to feel like I was just a part of a large company. I questioned if I could ever reach my potential in that size of an organization. A former colleague, who had moved to ATB Financial, suggested that I consider moving to Alberta (from Saskatchewan) to work for ATB because it offered a great opportunity to create my own success. So I did, and I have never looked back!

As one of the original pioneers of ATB Investor Services (ATBIS), I have been involved in the creation and growth of the company. Over the last seven years ATB Investor Services has been one of the fastest growing investment firms in Canada and I’ve had the opportunity to grow professionally with it. I joined ATB as an Investment Advisor in the fall of 2000 and eight years later became the Vice President of Advisory Services. When I look at our business plan for the next five years, I’m confident that we have just started our journey. I’m excited about what the next five years will offer for me and other associates in ATBIS. There is a new excitement in the company, we have spent the last seven years digging and pouring the foundation, and now we are building the house.

The opportunity to grow in ATB Investor Services is an exciting reason to work here. Even more important is the culture and fit for my personal values. I personally put family first, and ATB Investor Services allows me to enjoy a successful career and make my family a priority. ATB has a dream statement and it is, “putting people first”. I’m excited to make business decisions and work for an organization that lives this dream every day. Success in this organization is created by helping others achieve their dreams.

ATB is continuously innovating and discovering ways to maximize the use of technology. Through video conferencing, I have the ability to keep connected with associates across the province and attend regular executive meetings from an office that is less than five minutes from my home. I can be in every corner of the province all in the same day, and still be home for breakfast and dinner with my family. This is a very unique opportunity in our industry that we hope you will want to be a part of.

Dave Adams

Chief Compliance Officer

Why I joined ATB Investor Services

I can’t say enough good things about the organization, the people and the challenging work.

Relocating out to Calgary from Niagara in early 2010 has been a rewarding experience and ATB has helped me make it happen.

I have been watching ATB from far for many years as company that I have targeted to work for and that feeling was confirmed by everybody I talked to.

The Brand of an organization is determined by the stories that are told – brand is what they say about you when you are not in the room – and it’s a good news story.

Three things I look for in an organization…

First is leadership and that starts at the top of the house. I had the opportunity to meet Dave Mowat a few years ago when I was working in the Credit Union Industry and have great respect for Dave and Sheldon Dyck – both inspiring leaders.

Second is culture – having worked for a few organizations, I recognize when an organization truly values its people. As I have told people after my interview here, you can feel the culture the moment you walk in the front door.

That’s the kind of organization I want to work for.

And how about those employee engagement awards – outstanding!

Third is growth. I can’t think of a better place for growth than Alberta and ATB owns the franchise. ATB Investor Services is well positioned – great performing products, satisfied customers and investing in technology to support long term sustainable growth. I like to be challenged – both personally and professionally and growth provides that opportunity.

Being close to the mountains -skiing, hiking, biking – that’s all a bonus!

Sherri Wright-Schwietz

HR Director

Why I came and why I stay…

Funny story, I was at a performance of Cirque de Soleil and sat next to Sandy Chipchar, Chief People and Marketing officer. We were so inspired by the creative atmosphere we started to talk and share what motivates us, and low and behold, people, leadership and fun were on both our lists.

She then asked me to meet with Sheldon Dyck as his start up division was looking for an HR leader to build that aspect of his business. After meeting Sheldon and having a very honest conversation around my vision of HR’s need to sit and contribute at the executive strategic table and then hearing Sheldon’s vision for the Investor Services Division I knew this would be a great long term fit for both myself and Investor Services.

I keep being told this was the “nicest” company I would ever work for…. I had heard that so many times for so many other companies that I just didn’t buy it. When I started I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, people had to show their true colors at some point….

Well 5 years later the other shoe is still on the foot and life is great! I wanted to have fun, be challenged, be trusted and have opportunities that would stretch and grow me, and MAN have I had more than my share of all of them.

It is such a personal decision on where you want to spend your days, my philosophy is “If I am excited when I wake up each morning to come to work” I am in the right place! That is my last 5 years and I hope my next 10-15+!

Allison Comeau

Managing Director – Information Technology

“Why did I come to ATBIS, and why do I stay at ATBIS?“ – Creativity & Innovation!

I can’t imagine two easier questions to answer – and that speaks volumes about ATB Investor Services on its own.

I started my career at Nortel back in the good old days and spent 10 years growing up there through a wide variety of roles. I loved the ever-changing challenges and opportunities to make a difference combined with a strong family environment where you had support to grow and develop.

After a decade, I was ready to see what the rest of the world had to offer. Choosing a career in technology provides the luxury of being able to cross industries and fulfilled my need to constantly learn new things. I traveled through start-ups and utilities before settling in oil & gas.

And after a couple of years, it did feel like I had settled…it was a very traditional way of doing business and change took a lot of time. People stayed in their roles for a long time so opportunities were few and far between, especially for someone new to the industry. But, I did live in Alberta so it seemed like the logical place to be.

That was until I was introduced to ATB Investor Services. I admit, I was hesitant to consider leaving oil & gas after I had worked hard to break in – who would be crazy enough to leave that industry? Then, I had the pleasure of meeting several key leaders from the Investor Services executive team.

The leaders took the time to share their vision and I was thrilled with all of the opportunities to be creative and innovative. ATB Investor Services wasn’t looking to follow the top five financial institutions – they were looking to lead through new and exciting ways of providing service to their clients.

ATBIS has exceeded my expectations in their commitment to bringing their vision to life. I stay because there is no end in sight for creative and innovative ways to learn and implement new solutions…and I encourage you to embrace the opportunity to do the same!