TEAM
Mike MacBain has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry in various trading and senior management roles for leading investment dealers. Mike was the President of Toronto Dominion (TD) Securities and Executive Vice President of TD Bank. Mike spent 12 years at TD Securities Inc. holding senior management roles with responsibility for Fixed Income, Equity, Foreign Exchange, Derivative Products, Commodities and Money Market. Mike was also the Head of Global Fixed Income, Derivatives, Commodities and Currencies at RBC Capital Markets, where his primary responsibilities included origination, research, underwriting, trading and sales of Fixed Income, Money Market, Derivative Products, Foreign Exchange and RBC`s Alternative Asset Global Products Group. Mike started his career in London England with CIBC and worked at Bank of America in the early 1990's as Head of Fixed Income and Derivative Products for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Mr. MacBain founded East Coast in 2009 and is the CEO and CIO. In this role he leads the Portfolio Management Team and oversees all trading and research decisions at the firm.
Mike has completed the Executive Management Program at Stanford University and earned his Bachelor of Arts, Honours Economics and Finance, from McGill University. He was also awarded Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 Business Person in 2004.
Mike MacBain
CEO
Sinan Akdeniz has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, most recently from 2009 to 2014, as a Commissioner, and Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee at the Ontario Securities Commission. Prior to that, Mr. Akdeniz held various roles at TD securities, including Vice-Chair, Global Credit Trading and Senior Vice-President and Global Head, Credit Portfolio Management for TD Bank. He ultimately served as Chief Operating Officer, TD Securities Inc., and was responsible for the firm’s global back office, middle office, technology, and finance departments. In his current role, Mr. Akdeniz is responsible for risk management processes and systems, is a member of the Portfolio Management Team and manages Operations, Compliance, and IT.
Sinan has earned his Bachelor of Science, Honours Physics, from the University of Manchester in 1984.
Sinan Akdeniz
CRO
Alim Harji
head of portfolio management
Alim Harji has over twelve years of investment experience with East Coast Fund Management and East Coast Asset Management SEZC. He has experience in research, analysis, trading, and risk management of a variety of credit, interest rate, and derivative products. Prior to joining the firm he worked at Google and as a quantitative analyst on the Equity Derivatives desk at TD Securities. Mr. Harji is the Head of Portfolio Management and manages the teams responsible for research and trading at ECAM.
Alim is a CFA Charterholder and has earned a Bachelor of Software Engineering (Honours) degree from the University of Waterloo.
LeeAnn Janissen has over 30 years experience with quantitative research in the capital markets. Previous activities include modeling complex derivatives with Citibank NA and TD Securities in the credit, interest rate and equity markets as well as designing and developing micro-systems solutions for trading. She is also a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with experience in leading process improvement teams and initiatives. LeeAnn received her Ph.D in Particle Physics, holds a Masters of Business Administration, and is a Chartered Investment Manager (CIM).
In her current role as Head of Research at East Coast Asset Management SEZC, Dr. Janissen develops systematic trading strategies, designs the trading system architecture, and is also Head of Cybersecurity. LeeAnn is an enthusiastic early adopter of new technologies and has a keen interest in unleashing the potential that new technical solutions can bring to improving systems and outcomes.
LeeAnn Janissen
Head of research
Steve Gould joined East Coast in 2023 and is the Head of International Business Development, where he will support the expansion of East Coasts assets under management and international investor network.
Steve has 20 years of experience in the financial services industry in various international banking roles. Steve was most recently Head of Corporate Banking of Butterfield Group, holding senior roles within the Corporate Banking divisions. Responsibilities included treasury, credit and custody products, along with leadership of the business and client services teams. He has multi-sector industry experience and knowledge and was a senior management contact for the Bank’s large corporate customers, professional services, and intermediary networks. Prior to Butterfield, Steveheld management positions with various large European and UK financial institutions, principally within the Corporate Banking divisions.
Steve has a Bachelor of Science, Honours Financial Services, from Manchester University and Bachelor of Law, LLB Honours from Northumbria University.
Steve Gould
head of INTERNATIONAL business development
Shaheer Bhimani
COO & CCO
Shaheer Bhimani has over 10 years’ experience in the financial services industry in varying roles. As the Chief Operating Office and Chief Compliance Officer, Shaheer is principally responsible for the development, implementation, and oversight of East Coast’s regulatory compliance program, operational matters, financial matters, and legal matters. Prior to joining East Coast, Shaheer worked as a lawyer in Calgary, where his practice focused on corporate finance.
Shaheer has earned a BA (Honours) and JD, both from Queen’s University. He has been called to the Bar in both Alberta and Ontario.
Thomas Akdeniz has over 5 years of experience with East Coast having first joined the team on a co-op placement in 2016 before joining full time in 2019. He has experience with research and trading of cash and derivative fixed income instruments. In his current role as a Portfolio Manager, Thomas is responsible for portfolio funding, portfolio analytics, and his portion of credit trading.
Thomas is a CFA Charterholder and graduated from the University of Waterloo where he obtained an honours BSc in Nanotechnology Engineering and Management Sciences Option. He continues to pursue professional development and has completed the CSI DFOL and Futures Licencing courses.
Thomas Akdeniz
Portfolio manager
Jordanna Liu
PORTFOLIO MANAGER
Jordanna joined East Coast in 2018 as a Research Analyst. Before joining ECFMI, Jordanna had several co-op experiences in capital markets, quantitative research and technology roles. In her current position, Jordanna is responsible for portfolio analysis, systems automation, strategy research and as well as trading support.
Jordanna earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfred Laurier University and a Bachelor of Computer Science from University of waterloo. She is also a CFA charterholder since 2021.
Isabelle Akdeniz
MANAGER, FINANCE & OPERATIONS
ISABELLE JOINED ECAM IN 2022 WORKING IN FINANCE AND OPERATIONS. PRIOR TO JOINING EAST COAST, ISABELLE WORKED AS A SENIOR ACCOUNTANT AT DELOITTE LLP WHERE SHE COMPLETED HER CHARTERED PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANT (CPA) DESIGNATION. IN HER CURRENT ROLE, ISABELLE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR TRADE OPERATIONS, FINANCIAL ANALYSIS AND WORKS DIRECTLY WITH THE COO TO ADDRESS TAX AND COMPLIANCE MATTERS.
ISABELLE IS A REGISTERED CPA, AND EARNED A BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION WITH A CONCENTRATION IN ACCOUNTING AS WELL AS A GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN ACCOUNTING FROM WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY.
Liam Metke
Software Engineer
Liam joined ECAM in 2024 as a Software Engineer, focusing on enhancing operational and trading efficiency through automation and maintaining robust systems architecture. Previously, Liam founded a cybersecurity company specializing in vulnerability monitoring and device enumeration for real estate and small business markets, serving over 100 clients.
Liam earned a Bachelor of Mechatronics Engineering (Honours) degree from the University of Waterloo, graduating at the top of his class.
Marissa Da Costa Pfeil
Senior Associate, Operations and Finance
Marcia McIntyre
Director of Content