Private Equity

Antoine Bisson McLernon is Partner and Chief Executive Officer at Fiera Comox.

He chairs the firm’s Investment Committee and oversees its three strategies: Agriculture, Private Equity and Private Credit. Prior to establishing Fiera Comox in 2016, Antoine spent seven years with PSP Investments, where he last was Managing Director and head of Private Equity for the Americas and Asia. He ran both direct and fund investments, oversaw a $11.0 billion portfolio and a team of 25 people. In 2011, he started PSP Investments’ global Natural Resources group and led the group for five years, building a $3.0 billion portfolio of direct investments. Under his leadership, the group acquired over 2 million acres of timberland and farmland. During this period, Natural Resources was the top performing asset class at PSP. Antoine was a member of PSP Investments’ firm‑wide Investment Committee from 2011 until he left PSP Investments in July 2016.

Before joining PSP Investments in 2009, Antoine worked in private equity at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and in investment banking at National Bank of Canada. He currently sits on the boards of directors of Auvil Fruit Company (US), Golden Pear Funding (US), Rangitata Dairies (New Zealand), and Lassen Land Company (US). He has previously sat on the boards of directors of Telesat (Canada), AmWins Group Inc. (US), Haymarket Financial LLP (UK), TimberWest Forest Corp.(Canada), Kaingaroa Timberlands (New Zealand), YBY Agro (Brazil) and X2 Resources (UK). Antoine received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce (Great Distinction) from McGill University and is a CFA charterholder.

Bradley Mashinter is a Partner at Fiera Comox. In this role, he leads the Private Equity strategy. He is also a member of the firm’s Management Investment Committee overseeing Fiera Comox’s three strategies: Agriculture, Private Equity and Private Credit.

Prior to Fiera Comox, Brad was a Managing Director at CPP Investments where he was a member of the firm-wide Global Leadership Team and Investment Committee member of CPPIB’s $125 billion global private equity portfolio. His career spans both private equity and private credit. Brad was one of the early leaders in CPPIB’s private debt group and was instrumental in building the Fund’s high performing global private credit franchise and was a member of its Investment Committee. He managed CPPIB’s investment in Antares Capital, the largest North American senior lender to middle-market private equity sponsors with over $50 billion in AUM and was the Head of the Antares Holdings Credit Committee.

Prior to CPP Investments, Brad was in the Direct Private Equity group at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in Toronto and at Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners in New York. Brad holds a BBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a CFA charterholder.

Partner, Private Equity

Maxime is a Partner in Private Equity at Fiera Comox. In his role, Maxime leads the due diligence and execution of private equity transactions across several sectors and geographies through directs, co-investments secondaries and funds. Maxime is actively involved in sourcing and managing our portfolio investments. 

Prior to joining Fiera Comox, Maxime worked in private equity at Bain Capital in Boston and PSP Investments in Montreal, and in investment banking at Goldman Sachs in New York. Maxime worked on numerous successful private equity transactions worth in excess of US $7 billion primarily in business services, and the retail, industrial and energy sectors. During his years at Goldman Sachs, Maxime was involved in multiple transactions in the Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT) space.

Maxime holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BCom (Honours) from Queen’s University.

Jeff Zweig is Partner, Vice-Chair, and Head of Asset Management at Fiera Comox.  He sits on the Management Investment Committee and the Fiera Comox Board of Directors.  With 25 years experience, Jeff provides governance oversight across Fiera Comox’s global portfolio of private investments to drive long-term value and improve sustainability outcomes.

Jeff was most recently the President & CEO of Mosaic Forest Management (“Mosaic”), Canada’s leading timberland manager with 585,000 hectares (1.45 million acres) of privately owned forest, a role he held at Mosaic and predecessor companies for over seven years. In 2018, he successfully led the multi-billion-dollar transaction that brought together Island Timberlands and TimberWest under the ownership of two leading Canadian pension funds to create Mosaic Forest Management.   

During his tenure, he drove significant improvements in safety, sustainability, and financial performance. Mosaic became the first forest company in British Columbia to achieve the Progressive Aboriginal Relations certification and the first forest company globally to certify its organizational carbon footprint through the UK Carbon Trust. Most recently, the organization launched the largest nature-based carbon credit project in Canada. 

Prior to Mosaic, Jeff held senior executive roles at BHP and Inco in Australia, Europe, and Canada. He is past Chair of the Business Council of British Columbia, and the current Chair of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, the federally funded organization responsible for stewarding Canada’s national cancer control strategy.

Jeff holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Laws, and a Master of Business Administration (gold medalist) from the University of Western Ontario.

Frédéric Despars is Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Fiera Comox.

Prior to Fiera Comox, Frédéric spent six years with PSP Investments where he last was Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer overseeing a team of 35 people. Prior to his nomination as CLO, Frédéric led a team of transactional lawyers advising PSP’s natural resources, private equity, private debt, and infrastructure asset classes representing $24 billion of net assets. During his six years at PSP, Frédéric was directly involved with some of PSP’s most significant transactions, including leading the deal structuring and execution of the acquisition of a 50% interest in TimberWest ForestCorp. (Canada), the acquisition of a majority interest in Kaingaroa Timberlands (New Zealand) and the take private of Charter Hall Office REIT (Australia). Frédéric sat on the Boards of TimberWest Forest Corp. (Canada) and YBY Agro (Brazil).

Before joining PSP, Frédéric occupied the top legal position for a Montreal-based pharmaceutical company and held senior legal positions within the Quebecor group of companies. He started his career in private practice with Fasken Martineau (Montreal) and Clifford Chance (Paris). In 2005, he was recognized as one of Canada’s “Top 40 under 40” in-house counsel by Lexpert and the National Post. Over the years, Frédéric worked on transactions in more than twelve countries, including setting up joint ventures in the UK, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Italy and Egypt.

Frédéric holds an MBA from Laval University, law degrees in civil and common law from Ottawa University and a B.B.A. from HEC Montréal.

Stéphanie Lachance is a recognized sustainable investment expert and experienced corporate director. Prior to joining Fiera Comox, Stéphanie spent 15 years at PSP Investments where she was most recently Managing Director and Head of Responsible Investment.  She played a central role in the development of PSP Investments’ responsible investment strategy. She led the Responsible Investment group of PSP Investments which played a key role in the organization’s investment strategy in ensuring that environmental, social and governance factors are incorporated in investment decisions and across all asset classes.

Lawyer with a strong background in corporate governance, responsible investment, securities law and regulations, Stéphanie was providing legal advice to public issuers, stock exchanges and securities regulators prior to joining PSP Investments.  She namely held senior positions at Québecor Media, Autorité des marchés financiers, Toronto Stock Exchange and Montréal Exchange.

Stéphanie holds a Law Degree (LL.B.) from the Université de Montréal and is a member of the Quebec Bar. She is a holder of the Institute of Corporate Directors Director designation (ICD.D). She serves on the board of the Food Banks of Quebec, is a member of the Investment Fund Review Committee of the Corporation de services du Barreau du Québec, is a member of the Investment Committee of the Canadian Medical Protective Association and is a member of the Independent Review Committee on Standard Setting in Canada.

Stéphanie is an instructor at the Institute of Corporate Directors for the sustainability module. She is also the co-author of ‘The Origins of ESG in Pensions: Strategies and Outcomes’, published by Wharton University Pension Research Council in 2021.

Daniel is Head of Investor Relations at Fiera Comox. In his role, Daniel is responsible for the investor relations program for current and potential investors. Consistent with his prior role at Fiera Comox, Daniel continues to assist in the sourcing, executing, and monitoring of private equity investments and in certain operational initiatives.

Prior to joining Fiera Comox, Daniel was the CEO of a mid-market closely held manufacturing company based in Montreal.  Daniel was previously a corporate lawyer at Stikeman Elliott LLP. At Stikeman, Daniel practiced primarily in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, securities and corporate law, with a focus on cross border private equity transactions.

Daniel holds a law degree (BCL / LLB / JD) and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and is a certified member of the Quebec Bar.

Ross is a Vice President in Private Equity at Fiera Comox. In his role, Ross is responsible for evaluating and executing private equity transactions across several sectors and geographies through directs, co-investments secondaries and funds. Ross is actively involved in the management of our portfolio investments.

Prior to joining Fiera Comox, Ross worked in Power Corporation’s Corporate Finance department in Montreal where he worked on major investments, acquisitions, value creation, and strategic initiatives for the holding company and its subsidiaries. Prior to that, Ross was in investment banking at RBC Capital Markets in London where he worked in the Diversified Industrials & Services group, completing several M&A and financing transactions in Europe. Ross started his career as an actuary at Reinsurance Group of America in Toronto.

Ross has BSc. in Actuarial Mathematics / Finance from Concordia and a MSc. in Financial Economics from the Said Business School at Oxford.

Maxime Goulet is a Senior Associate in Private Equity at Fiera Comox. Maxime evaluates and executes private equity transactions across several sectors and geographies through directs, co-investments secondaries and funds. Maxime is also actively involved in the management of our portfolio investments.

Prior to joining Fiera Comox, Maxime worked in private investments at Investissement Quebec and in real estate private equity at Ivanhoe Cambridge, the real estate investment arm of CDPQ. During his time at Ivanhoe, Maxime was involved in several international transactions across various real estate sectors.

Maxime holds an MBA in finance and a B.B.A. from Laval University.

Roxana Bica is an Associate on the Private Equity team at Fiera Comox. Roxana evaluates and executes private equity transactions across multiple sectors and geographies with a primary focus on direct investments. Roxana is also actively involved in the management of our portfolio investments.

Prior to joining Fiera Comox, Roxana worked in investment banking at Stifel in Montreal where she closed multiple M&A transactions as well as public and private equity financings across the consumer and technology sectors.

Roxana holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance (with Distinction) from Concordia University.

Jasmine Mussani is an Analyst at Fiera Comox for the Agriculture, Private Equity, and Private Credit strategies. In her role she is involved in financial analysis and due diligence processes.

Prior to joining Fiera Comox, Jasmine worked as a healthcare equity analyst at Desautels Capital Management during her graduate studies. She has also worked in various clinical and academic research settings in healthcare, including at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.

Jasmine holds a Masters in Finance from McGill University, a BScH (Honors) from Queen’s University, and is a Marcels A. Desautels Fellow.

Michel Piette is a member of the Institutional Markets team and is responsible for client servicing and business development for institutional clients for private investment strategies.

Michel has 19 years of industry experience. Prior experiences include various positions as analyst and portfolio manager within investment management firms in the United Kingdom. Additionally, he held various business development roles within Deutsche Bank AG, based in London (UK). Prior to joining Fiera Capital, Michel was in charge of business development for Mercer’s Outsourced Chief Investment Officer and alternatives solutions in Montreal.

Michel graduated from University Laval with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), majoring in Finance. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Sophie is responsible for leading the firm’s Finance function, which includes the management of the financial accounting, performance, valuation, treasury, taxation and budgeting functions.

Sophie has 20 years of experience in the accounting and finance fields. She joined Fiera Comox in 2020. Prior to leading the finance team of Fiera Comox, Sophie served as Chief Financial Officer, Vice-President Finance and Administration at the securities dealer arm of the Laurentian Bank, where she led finance, human resources and operations, overseeing a team of 35 people. Prior to Laurentian Bank Securities, Sophie held senior accounting positions in large financial institutions such as Société Générale and National Bank Financial.

Over the years, Sophie has developed significant expertise in accounting, financial disclosure, audit, compliance and operation optimization. She also lived and worked in Boston (USA) for 5 years primarily with a real estate investment management firm.

Sophie is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) since 1999.

Anne David is a valuation expert with 16 years of industry experience. Her role as Vice President Valuation at Fiera Comox is to lead and coordinate the valuation work related to the establishment of the fair value of our fund investments for each of our private investment strategies, to provide on-going support to our investment teams in a transactional context and to ensure a high level of excellence on the quality of information through an advanced level of technical knowledge.

Prior to joining Fiera Comox, Anne served as Head of Valuation at Investissement Quebec, where she laid the foundation of their valuation department and helped strengthen valuation for financial reporting procedures. Before that, she led numerous consulting and auditing engagements at KPMG. She has also been an active member of the CBV Institute’s Education Committee and has served as a course instructor in the CBV Program of Studies. She also lived and worked in Australia for 2 years working in the natural resources industry.

Anne holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Graduate Diploma in Professional Accountancy from HEC Montreal, as well as the CPA, CA designation (since 2009). She also holds a CBV designation since 2015.

In her role as Vice President, Finance, Anna oversees the financial accounting and reporting of investments and investment-related activities. Prior to joining Fiera Comox, Anna spent the last 10 years in asset management, as Manager of Corporate Finance at PSP Investments and as Head of Operations for Private Equity and Infrastructure at CDPQ. 

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in commerce and a graduate diploma in accountancy from Montreal’s HEC, as well as the CPA, CA designation.

Matteo Pisano is a Manager, Finance & Administration at Fiera Comox.

Matteo is responsible for supporting the firm’s financial accounting and reporting functions, as well as overseeing the investor reporting activities, for the Agriculture, Private Equity and Private Credit investment strategies.

Prior to joining Fiera Comox, Matteo worked as a Senior Auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP where he led external audits across an array of large international public and private clients operating primarily in the Asset & Wealth Management, Pension, and Real Estate sectors. Matteo is also a part-time professor at Concordia University, where he teaches core courses in Strategic Managerial Accounting and Control as part of the University’s MBA program.

Matteo holds the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA auditor) designation. He earned his Bachelor of Commerce (with Distinction) and his Graduate Diploma in Chartered Professional Accountancy at Concordia University, where he graduated as Valedictorian of his 2017 cohort.

Martin is a Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis for Fiera Comox.

He is responsible for supporting the firm’s management reporting functions, as well as overseeing the budgeting and forecasting initiatives for the Agriculture, Private Equity and Private Credit investment strategies.

Prior to joining Fiera Comox, Martin worked as a Finance Manager at Targray where he managed the financial reporting and forecasting functions for all global trading divisions. Prior to that, Martin was a Finance Manager at Onex Corporation in Toronto.

Martin holds the Chartered Professional Accountant designation. He earned his Honours Business Administration degree from the Ivey Business School at Western University.

Kevin is senior account for Fiera Comox.

He is responsible for supporting the firm’s financial accounting and reporting functions, as well as overseeing the investor reporting activities, for the Agriculture, Private Equity and Private Credit investment strategies.

Prior to joining Fiera Comox, Kevin worked as a Senior Auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he led external audits across an array of large international public and private clients operating primarily in the Asset & Wealth Management sector. Prior to that, he worked in the accounting department at Canadian National Railway. Kevin holds the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA auditor) designation. He earned his Bachelor of Commerce (with Distinction) and his Graduate Diploma in Chartered Professional Accountancy at Concordia University.

In her role as a Fund Accountant, Mihaela is responsible for supporting the firm’s financial accounting and reporting functions for the Agriculture, Private Equity and Private Credit investment strategies.

Mihaela has over 16 years of experience in financial preparation and reporting, personal and corporate taxation and audit. Prior to joining Fiera Comox, she was a property accountant at Cogir Immobilier and served as Assistant Controller for Restaurants Pacini .

For more than 12 years, Acting as Taxation and Accounting Analyst and as Senior Accountant at RSM Richter LLP and Messier Udashkin CPA Inc.for, Mihaela was implicated in various accounting and taxation projects and mandates across an array of clients operating primarily in Real Estate, Management, Information Technology, Investments, Restauration and Catering sectors.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in business administration with specialization in professional accountancy from Montreal’s HEC.

Stacey is executive assistant to the CEO and the office manager for the Fiera Comox team. Prior to joining the firm, she was office manager at an IT training school where she was responsible for day-to-day correspondence, client care and accounting duties.  Entrepreneurial by nature, she was previously the owner of a small business in downtown Montreal where she oversaw all financial, marketing and management responsibilities.
Stacey has trained in several accounting and management courses and is currently completing her web development certification at McMaster University.

Nathalie is an administrative assistant for the Fiera Comox team.

Prior to joining Fiera, Nathalie worked for 3 years as Sales Coordinator at Rheinmetall Canada working with military and commercial clients.

Prior to Rheinmetall, she was the production manager for the television show How It’s Made for 16 years. 

She holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of Quebec in Hull.