Cross-Border Experts Answer Your Questions!
As Canadians living in Southern California, most of us have had or will have questions about cross-border immigration, tax, and/or wealth management. These issues often go hand-in-hand, as each one can have an effect on the other. So, we decided to bring together a team of experts to share with us their perspectives on each of these areas, and then we will weave them together in some tangible stories of how they have helped their clients through challenges, through a panel discussion.
Of course, you will have the opportunity to network with our experts before and after the presentations and panel discussion, so we hope you get some of your questions answered along the way. If your questions are more complex, at least this will give you an opportunity to meet someone face-to-face that deals with cross-border issues all day long, and should be able to help you.
On Saturday, February 16th, 2019, please join us at one of the following locations in Irvine or Santa Monica, and hear and meet our panel of experts. We will start with networking over appetizers and beverages, hear from each organization, conduct a panel discussion, and then go back to networking. We promise to keep the presented material and panel short enough to allow for more networking afterward as well.
Irvine Location
Saturday, February 16th
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Eureka Building
1621 Alton Parkway
Irvine, CA 92606
Santa Monica Location
Saturday, February 16th
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Expert DOJO
395 Santa Monica Place, Unit 308
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Our Panel of Experts
Canadians in Orange County is proud to have developed relationships with three wonderful companies with cross-border teams. They have supported our expat activities and we look forward to having them share their expertise with us.
Cardinal Point provides holistic cross-border financial planning advice to affluent Canadian and U.S. clientele.
Professional Canada-U.S. cross-border investment management
Custom tailored cross-border financial planning strategies
Canadian and U.S. asset consolidation
CAD and USD cash management
Fiduciary standard of care
Canada-U.S. tax planning and reporting
Education, retirement and estate planning
Canada and U.S. transition planning
Risk management
John McCord, CFP®, CRPC®, TEP — Director of Private Wealth Services
john@cardinalpointwealth.com
John employs a holistic wealth management approach with an emphasis on client service as he oversees the financial affairs of affluent families. He has earned the designation of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ or CFP® from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. He also received his CHARTERED RETIREMENT PLANNING COUNSELOR™ or CRPC® designation from the College for Financial Planning™. Additionally, John is a Registered Trust and Estate Practitioner or TEP with the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.
Prior to his role with Cardinal Point, John advised high-net worth individuals and institutional clientele within E*Trade Financial and the Merrill Lynch Private Client Group. Additionally, he has extensive experience in securities trading and brokerage operations. John graduated with his Bachelors of Business Administration with a Concentration in Finance from Roanoke College.
Matt Carvalho, CFA, CFP® — Chief Investment Officer
matt@cardinalpointwealth.com
Matt oversees the firm’s investment management process, philosophy, people and strategies for our U.S. and Canadian based clients.
Matt has worked in the financial services industry for over 15 years serving both individual and institutional investors. Prior to joining Cardinal Point, Matt was Vice President, Portfolio Strategy for a California-based turnkey asset management provider (TAMP) firm with over $17 billion under management. While there, he was a member of a six person investment committee that included Nobel Prize (Economics) winner Dr. Harry Markowitz and Dr. Meir Statman, expert on behavioral finance.
Previous roles included management of institutional size fixed income trades and monitoring for a bank as well as active trader and retirement planning support for a brokerage firm. Socially Responsible and Sustainability investing mandates are additional areas of experience. Matt has actively participated in conference speaking engagements and writing with an educational focus for investors. He received his Bachelor of Science from University of the Pacific in 2003, obtained his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2007, and his Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) designation in 2012.
D’Alessio Law Group is a full-service immigration law firm dedicated to serving the needs of companies, investors and skilled professionals in the international entertainment, tech, and corporate communities. Attendees will learn about:
The immigration landscape and how immigration trends have changed in the past few years under the current U.S. administration
What to know before pursuing your visa, the visa process through real case studies, as well as what evidence you will need for your application
A breakdown of relevant visa options, as well as what activities are permitted for each visa
What to expect from consular/embassy interviews
Common visa mistakes and how to avoid headaches during the process and while crossing the border
Lorraine D’Alessio — Founding Partner
lorraine@dlgimmigration.com
Lorraine was named the 2017 Leader in Law by the Los Angeles Business Journal and is the recipient of the 2018 Enterprising Woman Award. A former Ford model turned legal powerhouse, Lorraine is a multi-award-winning, immigration expert that regularly contributes to the Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, LA Business Journal, Playback and other leading outlets in the U.S. Lorraine serves on the board for Artists for Change. Lorraine has provided counsel to hundreds of prominent and award-winning entertainment agencies, unions, private companies, academic institutions, tech startups, entrepreneurs and enterprises including: Next Models, Food Network, SubPac, Pepperdine University, ACTRA, New York Film Academy, Plug and Play, Expert Dojo, and 500 Startups. In addition to these clients, Lorraine has worked on highly successful refugee and deportation cases earning awards for her work with immigrant communities across Los Angeles.
Lorraine D’Alessio earned her law degree from Southwestern Law School. She earned her Masters degree in Public Administration from The Senate of Queen’s University at Kingston and also attended the University of Toronto, Canada to earn her undergraduate degree with a Bachelor of Arts.
Westmark Tax is a boutique tax firm specializing in cross-border tax services, including US and Canadian tax preparation and tax strategy development for individuals and corporations.
U.S. and Canadian personal tax returns
Cross border consulting for both Individuals and businesses
Pre and post departure planning
U.S. and Canadian business tax returns
Non resident real property tax filings
Tax conflict review and resolution with tax authorities
Business Services such as payroll and bookkeeping
Global Mobility Tax
Mohammad Ahmad, BA, LL.B. — Partner
mo.ahmad@westmarktax.com
Mohammad has over 17 years of experience providing expatriate tax services to corporate and individual clients. Prior to joining Westmark, Mohammad spent over 12 years with Big Four accounting firms in Toronto, London, UK and Vancouver. He has extensive advisory experience on tax issues relating to global mobility including employee incentive plans such as stock options, restricted shares and other executive incentive plans.
Mohammad is also a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada and received his law degree from the University of Toronto. He has an undergraduate diploma in managerial accounting from Wilfred Laurier University and an economics degree from the University of Western Ontario. He is the chair of the Pacific Regional Committee for the Canadian Employee Relocation Council (CERC) and is on the Vancouver Board of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneur), an organization dedicated to promoting global entrepreneurship and the Tigra Foundation, a public foundation dedicated to the protection of cats and dogs.
Debra Lewis-Mahon, EA PA CPP — Managing Director
debra.lewis-mahon@westmarktax.com
Debra has over 10 years of dedicated experience providing US tax consulting, compliance, and representation services to both domestic and international individuals, businesses, and accounting firms such as Westmark Tax, Grant Thornton, LLP and CACG, PC.
Debra is an IRS Enrolled Agent (EA) licensed by the US Department of the Treasury as a tax expert authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS. Considering three countries home, she is uniquely qualified to understand the intricacies of US tax for international taxpayers.