Michael Baratta, CA
Partner, Campus Recruiting & Audit
Montréal
mbaratta@kpmg.ca
Michael joined the KPMG team in 1996 as an Audit Intern. Over the years, he has climbed the ranks, becoming Partner in the Audit practice in 2007.
Michael prides himself on the long-standing relationships he has built with his clients and his role as a business adviser, aided by the many tools and vast knowledge at his disposal at KPMG. In addition to becoming a Chartered Accountant, passing the UFE exam in 1996, Michael has also achieved KPMG’s highest level of accreditation in US GAAP/GAAS and IFRS experience and training requirements. He has also gained solid experience in US SEC practices and standards through numerous registration statements filed in the US. Well acquainted with coordinating audits across multiple jurisdictions and locations, Michael is equally comfortable managing integrated audits and audits of US domestic filers. Michael’s focus has been in the Consumer market industry and is the industry leader for Montréal.
For several years, Michael provided training to KPMG employees on auditing techniques. The considerable training experience he has acquired over the years has made him capable of training everyone – from interns, to managers and partners. Michael was also responsible for the KPMG Volunteers program for 2 years where he successfully increased the participation rate of the Montréal office to the highest in the country. Finally, being a strong believer in the Firm’s People programs, Michael took on a newly created role, People Leader, in its initial 2-year roll-out in 2006-2007.
Michael truly believes in giving back to the community. In 2011, he became a director on the Board of the Centaur Theatre, a non-profit organization, and also supports many other charitable organizations in Montréal.
An active participant in campus recruiting since 2000, he was promoted from Prime Recruiter to Partner-in-Charge of the anglophone side of campus recruiting in 2008.
Throughout his career with KPMG, Michael has been busy building a second career as a father. He has two little boys who have brought new meaning to his life and make him appreciate the time he spends with his family.
Gino Cordi
Partner, Audit
Montréal
gcordi@kpmg.ca
Gino, a graduate of McGill University, is a designated Chartered Accountant and Certified Management Accountant. In 1997, he became a Partner at KPMG, where he provides Auditing services to a wide variety of clients, consisting primarily of public corporations and entrepreneurial companies. Over the years, he has demonstrated superior project management skills and in-depth knowledge of Canadian and American auditing and accounting standards. He has been involved in some of the most complex accounting and auditing engagements and has worked with some of the firm’s most important clients.
Since 1998, Gino has been the HR Partner- in-Charge for his Audit group, and in 2007 he became a People Leader, working to strengthen and support performance advisers and other leaders to encourage a sense of belonging within employees at all levels. Actively involved in employee evaluations, performance, and compensation, etc., he uses his finely-tuned listening skills to help employees make good career decisions.
Gino has been involved in campus recruiting since 1990 and is on the Board of Directors for the Santa Cabrini Hospital Foundation. Over the years, he has built up a valuable network of contacts in the area of customer service.
Philippe Grubert
Partner, Audit
Montréal
philgrubert@kpmg.ca
After his second year in Accounting and Finance at McGill University, Philippe made his first impression at KPMG as a summer intern in May 1994. Freshly graduated from McGill, he joined the firm full-time in October 1995.
Philippe’s career began with the Audit practice. His talent and interest in resolving accounting problems allowed him to begin his senior years on a solid foundation.
Over the years, Philippe’s clientele continued to grow. At the end of his second year as a Senior, he was appointed Manager in the Audit practice, then Senior Manager just 2 years later. A Partner since 2005, Philippe is an important member of the University Campus Recruiting team.
Despite a heavy schedule, he devotes a great deal of time to his team. He is a well-appreciated Performance Manager who is recognized for his great willingness to listen and his commitment to his team members. His professional qualities and interpersonal skills have allowed Philippe to advance quickly within the firm and to meet his professional objectives.
Bruce Guerriero
Partner, Audit
Montréal
bguerriero@kpmg.ca
Bruce Guerriero is a Senior Audit Partner in charge of the Manufacturing, Retail, and Distribution group in the Montréal office. Over his years with KPMG, Bruce has acquired a strong knowledge of auditing and financial consulting services to medium and large scale businesses at the local, national, and international levels. Bruce has assisted clients with their initial public offerings on Canadian and US exchanges, as well as providing them with assistance in meeting their ongoing reporting requirements.
Bruce is a former Director of KPMG’s Partnership Board and served as the Chairman of the Partners’ Admission Sub-Committee of the Board. Bruce holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Honours with distinction, from Concordia University and a Graduate Diploma in Public Accountancy from McGill University.
Toni Dilli
Senior Manager, Audit
Montréal
tdilli@kpmg.ca
Toni, a Senior Manager in the Audit practice, joined KPMG as an intern during the summer of 1998 and returned as a full-time employee in 1999 after graduating from McGill University with a Bachelor in Commerce, Major in Accountancy. After completing his studies in Accounting and obtaining his CA designation in 2001, Toni broadened his knowledge base by obtaining his CFA designation in 2003. For the past 12 years, he has developed strong competencies in auditing Canadian and US public and private companies. He has extensive experience in US GAAP, US GAAS, PCAOB and SEC matters, and has worked on numerous Canadian and US public offerings. He is also well versed in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and will play a role in helping Canadian public companies transition to the new standards.
Since he began his career at the firm, Toni has been involved in campus recruiting in several roles over the years for both McGill and Concordia Universities. Toni is a Prime recruiter for the Anglophone University Campus Recruiting Team. Toni was a professor at McGill University in the CA and undergraduate programs for approximately four years. Toni also taught various topics for the firm's in-house training courses.
Toni is the Chairman of the KPMG Volunteer committee for the Montréal office. The committee selects and organizes volunteer activities for KPMG employees at approximately 30 organizations per year. KPMG has had a participation rate of over 85% every year for the past 3 years. In addition, Toni is a People leader in the Audit practice. The role of a People leader entails helping, mentoring and coaching others within his group in dealing with HR-related matters. Furthermore, in 2011, Toni was nominated as the Learning leader for the Montréal office. The role of a Learning leader entails coordinating all learning sessions and trainings involving members of our Audit Group.
Toni is able to find a good balance between his professional and personal life. Toni is a proud father of a beautiful 3-year old little girl.
Aaron Fima
Senior Manager, Audit
Montréal
afima@kpmg.ca
Aaron joined KPMG as an intern during the summer of 1999 and returned as a full-time employee in 2000 after graduating from Concordia University with a Bachelor of Commerce, Major in Accountancy. He spent his first 3 years at KPMG auditing both public and private companies in the consumer markets, publishing, and manufacturing sectors.
After obtaining his CA designation in 2005, Aaron took advantage of KPMG’s Global Opportunities program to begin a 2-year secondment with KPMG in the UK’s London office. The secondment allowed him to expand his network of contacts outside of and within KPMG, while living in a European city with a different business and social culture.
Since 2005, Aaron has also been part of the recruiting team as a Prime Recruiter for Concordia and McGill.
Frank Maselli
Senior Manager, Audit
Montréal
fmaselli@kpmg.ca
Frank graduated from Concordia University in 1999. He began his career at KPMG in the summer of 2003 as a Senior In-Charge, having heard only great things about the firm from a KPMG employee with whom he studied at Concordia University when preparing for the UFE, which he successfully passed in 2001.
Frank has since gained extensive experience serving private clients with extensive international operations, and auditing financial statements for organizations in the commercial, service, and industrial markets. He was promoted to Manager in 2005, and then to Senior Manager in 2007.
Frank has been involved in recruiting since 2005. In his current role as a Prime Recruiter, Frank takes great pride in shaping the future of the firm and in maintaining its reputation as an Employer of Choice.
Melissa Coussa-Charley
Manager, Audit
Montréal
mcoussacharley@kpmg.ca
Melissa started her career at KPMG in the summer of 2004 and hasn’t looked back. After finishing her undergraduate degree in Honours Accounting at McGill University, she went on to do her post-graduate studies at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, where she continued on to teach in the CA program’s summer school, and is still involved with the KPMG UFE preparatory program.
In Melissa’s third year at KPMG, she was offered the opportunity to work abroad and chose to go to the Sydney, Australia office for three months where she got an initial taste of the world of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) from colleagues who’d been working with the international standards since 2007. Back home in Montréal, her client base is very varied, ranging from hedge funds, to food processing companies, to major pension plans.
Melissa has been involved in the on-campus recruitment process since she started with KPMG as a summer student, and is excited to have the opportunity to increase KPMG’s exposure every year. She is also involved in the education programs offered at KPMG to the different levels of accountants, having led the classroom-style trainings over the last two years.
Amélie Perron
Senior Consultant, Advisory
Montréal
aperron@kpmg.ca
Amélie joined KPMG as a summer student in 2004 after the second year of her undergraduate degree at HEC. During her studies, Amélie was involved in various extracurricular activities and held the positions of Executive Portfolio Manager in the HEC Student Investment Fund, and was Academic Vice-President – Accounting for the 2007 Financial Open organizing committee. She also spent a semester at the Manchester School of Management in the United Kingdom.
Amélie returned to KPMG full-time in 2005 and worked the next four years in the Audit practice, auditing several public and non-public companies in the manufacturing, retail and distribution sectors. Amélie has had the chance to travel, mostly to the United States, to complete audits of her clients’ US subsidiaries, thereby gaining exposure to US accounting standards. In 2010, Amélie transferred to the Advisory Due Diligence practice, where she now works on business acquisition mandates as a Senior Consultant.
Since joining KPMG, Amélie has also successfully completed the three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and has obtained her CFA title in 2009. She also took part in the 2008 UFE correction program and has been part of the KPMG UFE team since 2010. Over the past several years, Amélie has played an important role in KPMG’s Campus recruitment program. For 2 years, Amélie worked full-time in the Human Resources department during campus recruitment and devoted all her time to various recruitment activities. Amélie has now taken on a new role in the Campus recruitment program as a Prime Recruiter for English universities.
Catherine Cardinal-Roy
Senior, Audit
Montréal
ccardinalroy@kpmg.ca
Catherine graduated from HEC Montréal and joined KPMG in 2006. While at HEC, she spent one semester at the Copenhagen Business School, in Denmark, as an exchange student. Catherine passed the UFE in 2009 and received her CA designation in February 2011.
Since starting at KPMG, Catherine has worked on engagements for public and private companies in different industries such as mining, manufacturing and high technology. She recently had a particularly rewarding experience while working on an international development engagement in Haiti. She worked on the audit of accounting records of nine NGOs and advised the United Nations on the distribution of funds to the emergency relief programs following the earthquake in 2010.
Given her interest in campus recruiting, Catherine is very pleased to now be officially part of the recruiting team. She will be able to share her experience with candidates and discuss the many benefits and career opportunities at KPMG.
Mandy Zombor
Senior, Audit
Montréal
mzombor@kpmg.ca
Mandy joined the KPMG team in 2007 as a summer intern to later join on a permanent basis in 2008 after completing her Bachelor of Commerce at McGill University. Mandy then obtained a Graduate diploma in Chartered Accountancy at McGill University and passed the CA designation exam in 2009.
Mandy had the opportunity to work on international mandates and expand her knowledge of US accounting standards while travelling to foreign locations such as Honduras and Dominican Republic. She also experienced a training program in Greece where she gained public speaking and networking skills while meeting KPMG members from all over the world.
Mandy has been part of the social committee since 2009. She organizes events that foster friendly relationships between members of the KPMG team and create an enjoyable atmosphere at work.
Mandy is also involved in the UFE mentoring program that KPMG offers by providing guidance and support to fellow colleagues to help them succeed in this important step of their career.
Pierre Nguyen
Staff Accountant, Audit
Montréal
pierrenguyen@kpmg.ca
Pierre started with KPMG as a summer student in 2008. In 2009, he graduated with great distinction from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University and started with the firm full-time in October. He has chosen the path of working full-time during the day and undertaking the CA program part-time at night in order to write the UFE in 2012.
Pierre fell in love with KPMG from day one and has been actively helping out with the recruitment team since the last day of his summer internship in August 2008. He is aware that the process of applying to the accounting firms can be a little intimidating; he would therefore like to share his advice in order to ease the process and at the same time, share his positive experiences at KPMG with the students.
Pierre is part of the group that audits large public companies in the sector of luxury goods retailers, manufacturing and transportation services. Not only does this opportunity allow him to develop the knowledge of different businesses, it also permits him to travel extensively, which is one of his passions. He has been to Alberta, Alabama, Florida and Barbados.
Annik Amireault
Talent Attraction Manager
Montréal
aamireault@kpmg.ca
After studying mechanical engineering at Montréal’s School of Advanced Technology (ETS) and obtaining her Engineering Degree, Annik worked for an industrial engineering consulting firm as Project Manager for 4 years, optimizing work methods and production processes for various manufacturing companies.
In 2004, Annik decided to take on new challenges and signed a 2-month contract with the Campus Recruiting team at KPMG’s Montréal office. In that position, she got to know KPMG employees and discovered a work environment and corporate culture that fit her values and aspirations.
In early 2005, Annik accepted a permanent position as Montréal Scheduling Coordinator within KPMG’s Audit practice —a major career change! Her solid grounding in engineering allowed her to quickly propose and make changes to the process in place. Barely 7 months after taking up her duties, Annik was offered a Human Resources administration position, which she eagerly accepted; she took part in a variety of HR projects, particularly in the area of campus recruiting. In 2007, she began a new position entirely focused on that area. Currently in charge of campus recruiting for KPMG’s Montréal office, Annik also promotes national projects as a member of the Canadian firm’s Campus Recruiting team.
Matt Stevens
Senior Associate, Transactions and Restructuring
Vancouver
mcstevens@kpmg.ca
Matt joined the Corporate Finance and Valuations group in the KPMG Advisory practice in October 2010 after three years in Audit with the FIRES group. Matt also completed a summer internship in 2005. He has worked with clients from a variety of industries including hospitality, real estate development, transportation and logistics and financial institutions.
Matt obtained his BCOM from UBC in 2007, and his MPAcc from the University of Saskatchewan in 2009. He wrote the UFE in September 2009 and earned a place on the national honour roll. Matt has had the opportunity to travel to Orlando, Whistler, Anaheim, Salt Lake City and Boston for work for his various clients. He is also heavily involved with recruiting and loves to meet the next generation of KPMG staff!
Outside of work Matt enjoys playing golf and football, running and hanging out in Vancouver and is currently involved in the launch of the Vancouver chapter of the Sauder Business Alumni Club. Matt also enjoys traveling, and lived in Italy and Belgium for a year while on exchange from UBC.
GTA
Ali Akbar
Analyst, Corporate Finance
Toronto
aakbar@kpmg.ca
Ali first joined KPMG in the summer of 2008 in our Montreal office after completing his 3rd year at McGill University. After completing his Bachelor of Commerce, Ali began full-time in 2009 joining the Toronto Audit practice with a focus in Energy, Mining, & Industrial Markets.
After successfully passing his UFE in 2011, Ali joined the Corporate Finance practice primarily working in Mergers & Acquisitions, divestitures, debt & equity financing, and fairness opinions.
While working with KPMG, Ali has been heavily involved in recruiting and has recently participated in a KPMG-Free the Children trip to Kenya.