We're built to build.
Most advisors have managed wealth. Our team has built it. That changes the questions we ask, how we operate, and how we think about your money.
What we expect of ourselves.
These are the five things we believe matter most, as a firm and as people. They're not aspirational. They're how we want to be held accountable.
Show Up With a Plan
We do the work before the meeting. Every recommendation is earned. Every review is prepared for. Our clients never have to wonder if we've thought this through.
Bring the Right People
No one person knows everything. We pull in whoever the situation needs — and we're never too proud to make that call.
Say the Hard Thing
We tell clients what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. That's the job, even when it's uncomfortable.
Do the Work No One Sees
The difference-making stuff — tax planning, estate structure, scenario modeling — is rarely glamorous. We do it anyway.
Love the Build
The problems are real. The stakes matter. We genuinely love doing this work — and that's something clients feel.
The Team
Adam sets the direction for how the firm operates: the model, the team, the standard of advice.
Over the past 20 years, he’s seen how often financial success and thoughtful planning don’t always go hand in hand.
Adam Brown, B.A.
Adam Brown, B.A.
As CEO, his focus is on making sure every client benefits from a coordinated approach that covers not just investments, but the full picture: planning, tax, structure, and the decisions that connect all of it. That's the architecture he designed Birchpoint around.
He remains actively involved in client relationships, particularly where complexity is highest. Staying close to that work isn’t a throwback to his early career. It’s how he keeps the firm’s model honest.
Adam spent his formative years watching entrepreneurship up close, and saw firsthand what happens when financial success and intentional planning don't keep pace with each other. That observation shaped everything he's built since.
Outside of work, Adam and his family are constantly in motion: dance, hockey, baseball, soccer, and anything else that sounds like fun that week.
Matt is the reason a good plan doesn't just stay on paper.
As Co-Founder & COO of Birchpoint, he is responsible for how the firm delivers on its advice day-to-day—overseeing the systems, portfolio management, and planning approach that ensure every client experience is consistent, thoughtful, and well executed.
Matt Galbraith, B.Sc., CFP, CIM, FCSI
Matt Galbraith, B.Sc., CFP, CIM, FCSI
As COO, he’s responsible for how Birchpoint delivers on its advice day to day: the systems, the portfolio management process, and the operational infrastructure that makes consistent client experience possible. Strategy is only as good as its execution, and Matt makes sure it executes.
He works directly with families on the planning and investment side, and is known for his ability to bring structure to situations that feel complicated; helping clients see clearly, decide confidently, and stay on track as things evolve.
Matt’s background spans both direct client advisory work and institutional capital management, which gives him an unusual combination: the discipline of an institutional investment framework applied to the real-life decisions families actually face.
Outside of work, Matt spends time with his wife and two kids and is involved in his community through local organizations and investment committees.
Douglas brings institutional investment discipline to decisions most advisory firms treat as an afterthought.
As Chief Investment Officer at Birchpoint, he is responsible for the firm's investment philosophy and capital allocation discipline, establishing principles built for long-term investing through changing market environments.
Douglas Schein, MS.Eng., MBA, CFA, CAIA
Douglas Schein, MS.Eng., MBA, CFA, CAIA
As CIO, he leads Birchpoint’s investment philosophy: how capital is allocated, how risk is evaluated, and how the investment framework holds up across different market environments. Douglas works closely with the wealth partners on complex family situations where investment structure and planning intersect, and where the answers aren't obvious.
His background is unusual for this industry. He trained as an engineer, pursued graduate studies at Stanford and INSEAD, and spent time early in his career at IDEO before moving into company formation and investing. The common thread is systems thinking: an instinct for understanding how parts interact, not just in isolation. That's how he approaches portfolios.
Before Birchpoint, Douglas managed large equity portfolios within a major Canadian public pension plan, an experience that continues to shape his perspective on risk, time horizon, and the patience that real long-term investing requires.
Outside of work, he spends time with his family, travels when he can, and is working to extend a multi-decade annual marathon streak.
Mark's clients describe him the same way: he makes complicated feel manageable.
He works closely with families and business owners to help them navigate those decisions with clarity and confidence.
Mark Oxford, M.H.K., CFP®, CIM®
Mark Oxford, M.H.K., CFP®, CIM®
He works closely with families and business owners across the full scope of what shapes their financial lives: investments, risk, tax, estate, and long-term planning. His job is to bring those pieces together into a coordinated plan and keep everything moving in the same direction as life changes.
Mark started his career at a leading Canadian financial services firm after completing both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees, and spent years working across a wide range of client situations before joining Birchpoint. That foundation informs how he approaches each new family: with structure, curiosity, and a clear framework for what actually matters.
As a Portfolio Manager, he plays an active role in keeping clients aligned with their plan over time, making sure decisions stay connected to what they're actually trying to build.
Outside of work, Mark spends most of his time with his wife and their two young boys: outdoors, around sports, and making the most of an active family life.
Rob specializes in the conversations most advisors avoid: family, legacy, and what wealth is actually for.
Over the course of his career, he has spent much of his time working with multi-generational families—helping them think through not just the financial side of wealth transfer, but the human side as well.
Rob Wojtasik, CFP®, RRC
Rob Wojtasik, CFP®, RRC
He works with multi-generational families on the full arc of wealth transfer: how it's structured, how it's communicated, and how it gets passed on in a way that reflects what the family actually values. The financial side matters. So does the human side. Rob holds both.
He’s known for a steady, relationship-driven approach and a particular ability to guide families through high-stakes conversations: preparing the next generation, navigating retirement transitions, building philanthropic intention into the broader plan.
Outside of client work, Rob is active in his community, having served on and chaired several local boards and committees. At home, he and his wife stay busy with their two kids, mostly at the rink, the ball diamond, or around figure skating.
Melissa is why working with Birchpoint feels different from the moment a family comes on board.
She oversees both business operations and the client experience, bringing structure, consistency, and clarity to how the firm serves clients day-to-day.
Melissa Lafontaine
Melissa Lafontaine
She leads both operations and client experience, which means she’s responsible for the quality and consistency of how families are served at every touchpoint. Onboarding, ongoing communication, coordination between advisors and specialists: Melissa makes sure none of it falls through the cracks, and that clients don't have to manage the process themselves.
Her background spans full-service and discount brokerages, international financial environments across the Caribbean and Europe, and her own retail business. That range gives her something most operations leaders don't have: genuine fluency in both the financial services world and the experience of running something.
Clients know her for her warmth and for a seemingly preternatural ability to anticipate what they need before they ask.
Originally from British Columbia, Melissa stays connected to the outdoors when she can. At home, she and her husband keep pace with their daughter's dance schedule and make the most of an active family life.
Julie is the person who makes sure everything that's supposed to happen, happens.
In her role as Client Experience Manager, she plays a key part in coordinating the day-to-day interactions that support each family—helping to keep every detail on track and ensuring that communication, follow-up, and ongoing service are handled with care and attention.
Julie Dickson
Julie Dickson
As Client Experience Manager, she coordinates the day-to-day interactions that keep client relationships running: communication, follow-up, service requests, and the hundred small details that add up to an experience that feels organized and responsive. When clients say working with Birchpoint is easy, a lot of that is Julie.
She comes from one of Canada's largest financial planning institutions, where she built a detail-oriented, client-first approach that she brings to every interaction at Birchpoint.
Outside of work, Julie spends time with her husband and two kids. Cooking at home, following Formula One together, making the most of time as a family.
