We recently sat down to interview Bernardine Perreira CFP® TEP, to talk about her work as a financial advisor at Perreira Wealth Advisory of Raymond James Ltd. and her vision for the MAPLE Ontario Chapter.
Q1. Bernardine – thank you for taking the time to share some of your background and perspectives with our readers. Would you tell us about how you first got interested in cross-border business between Canada and the U.S.?
I own a Canada – U.S. wealth management business at Raymond James Ltd. and Raymond James (USA) Ltd. I am a dual licensed financial advisor specializing in Canada/U.S. cross-border investment management and financial planning for executives and professionals. I began to see the flow of executive and professional clients moving across the Canada US border for career opportunities and coming home to retire. I had a few U.S. citizen clients and I thought that this was a niche I could serve and help people through this complex transition. I acquired my U.S. securities license in 2014 to complement my existing Canadian securities license.
I was one of the first advisors at Raymond James to take an interest in my firm's cross-border investment management service. I have developed a real expertise in this area and am immersed in the Canada /U.S. cross-border community in Toronto and have been asked frequently to speak at US tax symposiums and professional development webinars for tax professionals who wish to learn more about cross border investment management strategies.
The bulk of my practice is devoted to Canada – U.S. wealth management issues. We have many executive clients with wealth and family on both sides of the border. We’ve worked with clients in moving them both north and south of the 49th parallel. Recently I have been helping families with elderly dual citizen parents who may have lived for a time in the U.S. and then in their later years decided to move back to Canada to be closer to family. We have also seen the reverse of this – elderly clients changing residence from Canada to U.S. to be closer to family. These clients often have U.S. and Canadian retirement accounts, U.S. and Canadian Trusts, U.S. investment accounts and other complications.
We have the unique ability to manage Canadian currency and securities in our multi-currency platform in the U.S. This is helpful when clients move to the U.S., they don’t have to sell all their Canadian securities and take a currency hit.
We can manage IRA accounts and inherited IRA accounts for Canadian residents. We can provide dual reporting for tax purposes on Canadian and U.S. cost basis.
We work closely with client’s tax and legal advisors to ensure their accounts and investments are managed with these important considerations. Clients are thankful that we take such great care of all these details.
Sometimes people ask me if I have seen cross-border work and moves increase in recent years. It seems there is a constant flow of people moving back and forth across the border.
Q2. How significant a role has the economic ties between Canada and the U.S. played in your career?
As an investment professional in Canada for a U.S. financial services firm there is an inherent cross-border awareness. I witness daily how the two economies are tied and interrelated. We closely monitor both economies, economic policies, what’s happening in Washington and Parliament Hill, “the Fed” and the Bank of Canada. We have teams of analysts and economist throughout the U.S. and Canada.
The two countries are also intertwined from a cultural perspective. From an early age I was a fan of Hockey Night in Canada and was always rooting for the Boston Bruins star player, Bobby Orr and many of his Canadian teammates.
Watching the recent Grammy awards I took note of how many Canadian entertainers were being highlighted and winning awards on a U.S. awards program.
I am presently watching “Tales of the City” on Netflix – a drama inspired by Armistead Maupin’s novels about LGBTQ culture set-in modern-day San Francisco – two of the leads are Canadian – Elliot Page and Paul Gross.
On a personal note, we have a large extended family across the U.S. I’ve been travelling to the U.S. for family gatherings since the age of three. Every summer we looked forward to a road trip to visit family in Pennsylvania or New York. Every time I go to MAPLE meetings in Southern California, I stop by Long Beach to visit with my cousin and his family.
Q3. As a financial/wealth advisor at Raymond James you are dealing with executives and their families whose careers and lives may include both Canada and the U.S. What are some of the typical questions that you encounter for Canadians moving from Ontario to the U.S.?
There are so many questions but one of the most frequent questions for Canadians moving to the US is can I keep their retirement and investment accounts in Canada. The answer is it’s complicated. There are regulatory, tax, legal, and currency considerations. I ensure they get qualified tax advice from a firm specializing in expat Canadian tax work so that they can do necessary preplanning. It is important that they get wills, power of attorney and any other relevant documents in place for life in the U.S. I help clients smooth the transition from Canadian to U.S. residency. It is very rewarding work.
Q4. For those who are not familiar with MAPLE Business Council, what is the mission of the organization and what benefits or opportunities does it offer to businesses?
MAPLE Business Council is a membership-based executive networking organization focused on promoting bilateral trade, investment and innovation between Canada and the U.S. and in the markets where we operate. Through in-person and online networking events, content sharing through established media platforms, partnerships with economic development stakeholders and Canada-U.S. news curation, MAPLE connects business leaders across sectors and across markets. Founded in Southern California in 2015, MAPLE has grown to include Chapters in British Columbia, New York and now Ontario. Now one of the largest Canada-U.S. business councils, MAPLE members work in over 20 sectors in over 20 markets across North America.
Members benefit by connecting with fellow business leaders outside of their traditional ‘swim lanes’ who share their experience, expertise, and interest in growing businesses north and south of the Canada-U.S. border. MAPLE sets the table for meaningful conversations through our events and storytelling platforms.
Q5. What excites you about the Toronto region as one of the largest economic centers in North America?
There is a certain energy in Toronto. With economic success comes a vibrant and culturally diverse city that I’m proud to call home.
It’s hard not to be excited about all that is happening in the Greater Toronto region currently. It seems like every week there is a new milestone being reached whether it is inbound investment, job creation, scaling businesses, new innovations in sectors like tech and health sciences, to the size and strength of the talent pool (many from our many world class institutions of higher learning), the cultural richness of our region, even to how many building cranes are in our skyline! All this being said, however, Toronto is just one corner of the province of Ontario, albeit a very large and international one, a province whose GDP at $630 billion represents 40% of Canada’s national GDP.
Q6. We understand MAPLE Business Council began in Southern California which continues as its base of operations. How long have you been involved with the organization and what value has it brought to your work?
I have been involved with MAPLE Business Council since 2016. It has given me insight into the Canadian expat community in California and helped raise the profile of my business in the right circles.
I’ve enjoyed sharing my work with clients through presentations in San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles, sponsoring past MAPLE events in Toronto, to sharing my thoughts on northbound and southbound Canada-U.S. border moves in the MAPLE Conversations video series. What’s special about MAPLE is that it is both executive and grassroots at the same time. The organization truly celebrates its members and their work and provides meaningful ways to amplify their work in a way that corporations and individual executives can both benefit.
Q7. MAPLE has had members in the Toronto region for many years now and prior to the pandemic, the organization held annual networking events and led a delegation from Southern California. Can you share a little bit about the current membership in the region?
Ontario has played a key role in the membership of MAPLE since the council’s founding in 2015. In fact, Toronto was the very first market outside of Southern California where MAPLE held a networking event and until the pandemic, there has been a MAPLE event in Toronto each year. Since this time, the community has leveraged a variety of online event formats to keep an active connection between Toronto, Ontario, and the U.S. markets where MAPLE operates which now includes New York.
In 2017, MAPLE led a delegation from Southern California for a ’48 Hours in Toronto’ delegation that visited our city’s centres of innovation, leading businesses in the financial sector and economic development organizations like the Toronto Board of Trade and Toronto Global not to mention the U.S. Consulate General in Toronto.
MAPLE members in Ontario are based in Southwestern Ontario, Waterloo Region and the GTA of course. I am excited to be the local point of contact for MAPLE to help connect our members in the region with one another and leverage our presence to grow our community further.
Q8. As a membership-based organization, from what types of companies are you looking to attract interest in the Ontario Chapter?
The possibilities are endless! Tax, legal, tech, global mobility, manufacturing, and finance are a few that come to mind.
Q9. As we continue to exit the pandemic, what role do you see the MAPLE community playing in terms of regional economic development and how does it relate to the work of the U.S. government’s presence in Ontario in the form of the Consulate General?
With our members working in two dozen sectors in markets across Canada and the U.S. connected by a shared interest in Canada-U.S. economic ties, MAPLE is a powerful platform for making new connections that can grow existing businesses, find new partners, and bring innovations to new markets. So, our community is in a small way an economic engine for growth. As part of the MAPLE leadership team, our role is simply to set the table for meaningful conversations to happen.
At a community level, while we leave public advocacy work to our governments and partners to pursue, we have a voice online and in-person to champion greater economic ties between our countries and an opportunity to shed light on markets in the U.S. when we are in Canada and vice-versa through our events, speakers, and content platforms.
Specific to the U.S. presence in Canada, we recently co-hosted a SelectUSA InvesTech program involving several of our members as speakers with the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service that went very well. This is the second time we’ve collaborated on this program in Western Canada.
We look forward to working with the U.S. Consulate General team in Toronto on programs like this to support Ontario businesses interested in how to be successful in the U.S. With our MAPLE Chapter in New York headed by former Purolator International President John Costanzo, we have an opportunity to work closely with our New York state neighbour in addition to our presence in Southern California.
Q10. Bernardine – would you share a little about other initiatives you are involved with in the community?
One of my first leadership roles in the LGBTQ community was as President of the Pride and Remembrance Run. The Pride Run Toronto is a 5k fun run to raise funds for LGBTQ community charities.
I am one of the founding members of the Raymond James Inclusion Council established in 2019. I was involved in the launch of the first Raymond James Pride celebration in our Toronto office and other educational and community initiatives.
I was recruited to be a member of the Raymond James Pride Financial Advisor Network Council alongside my U.S. colleagues in 2020. Last year we launched the Inaugural Business of Pride Symposium to help Raymond James advisors better serve the LGBTQ community.
I also serve on the MAPLE Business Council Diversity and Inclusion committee.
In the professional realm I am Past President of the Estate Planning Council of Toronto, Executive Committee. I am an active member of STEP – Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.
I was recently asked to speak at my firm’s recent National Business Conference about successful business building strategies and on my volunteer work in diversity and inclusion.
I have been interviewed by the Globe and Mail, “How to create an environment friendly to LGBTQ investors.”
Q11. So, what can we expect from the new MAPLE Ontario Chapter in 2022?
We are looking forward to our launch event in September. It’s an opportunity to bring together the long time Toronto based members and start to expand the community.
And for our current members in Ontario, I look forward to meeting you to thank you for your membership and to hear from you how you would like to see our community to grow in the coming years.
Thank you for your time today, Bernardine. How can people who are interested in learning more about the new MAPLE Ontario Chapter, find more information?
The MAPLE Business Council website is a great resource and provides an overview of our work. www.maplecouncil.org.
Those interested in more information on joining our Ontario Chapter may contact me at bernardine@maplecouncil.org
Raymond James (USA)Ltd., member FINRA/SIPC. The ideas in this email above do not represent Raymond James (USA)Ltd. It is furnished on the basis and understanding that Raymond James (USA) Ltd. is to be under no liability whatsoever in respect thereof. It is for information purposes only and is not to be construed as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities. Raymond James (USA) Ltd. financial advisors may only transact business in provinces and/or states where they are registered. Raymond James (USA) Ltd., member FINRA/SIPC.