Each year, Caldwell Partners International chooses 40 Canadians who were under 40 in the past year to honour for their outstanding achievements. Click here to learn more about the program, and find more winners in the list below.
There’s been a lot of change lately for Michael Burns and his former company, Clearsight Inc. Founded in 2002, Clearsight quickly became a leading investment affinity program in the country, partnering with 23 institutions representing more than 2.5 million Canadian investors.
Clearsight was created to serve the emerging mass affluent—typically those with $100,000 to $1-million in investable assets, says Mr. Burns. To reach that market, the company aligned itself with alumni and professional associations, creating unique programs that simultaneously promoted and benefited the organization, the associations and the investors.
In 2006, the company was sold to Wellington West and recently was merged with Accretive Advisor to service the growing demand for investors looking for high-quality financial advice. Accretive Advisor matches investors with top-level advisers using a sophisticated web-based matching system. As executive vice-president, Mr. Burns aims to accelerate the growth of his partnerships to include more institutions, associations and employer groups.
“This is a real game changer for our industry,” says Mr. Burns. “Within a very short period of time, Accretive Advisor will be known to represent and promote our country’s great advisers, as well as helping investors find the right one for them based on who they are and what they need,” he says.
Originally from Toronto, Mr. Burns gained much of his business experience at Magna International and, later, in online pharmacy edrugstore.ca, which was wound down when the dot-com bubble burst in 2001.
Clearsight came next.
Not currently married, Mr. Burns spends his downtime focused on philanthropy, including True Patriot Love, a foundation he co-founded two years ago, after being moved by the death of a friend’s son in Afghanistan.
“Its mandate is to raise money primarily for the military families fund, and other programs where there are gaps today in helping military families deal with stresses and other issues,” he said.
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