Jim Osler, Class of 1993
“MBA in Accounting was a pragmatic career-oriented program with an embedded co-op component. It created substantial real-world experiences and provided education and course material deeply rooted in practical applications.”
After completing the MBA in Accounting program in 1993, I began my career at EY in general audit and corporate finance. For the next 10 years, I held roles at CIBC Markets as Associate in Diversified Corporate Finance and Managing Director in the M&A Group. I then moved to Genuity Capital Markets as Head of M&A for five years, plus an additional year after merging with Canaccord to form Canaccord Genuity. Within one year of leaving Canaccord Genuity, myself along with three other partners had formed Origin Merchant Partners, an independent investment bank that provides value added corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and merchant banking services delivered by senior professionals. Origin Merchant Partners has become the largest independent M&A practice in Canada with 25 professionals, and over 100 transactions completed since founding, including over $11 billion of M&A and over $600 million raised in financing for our clients.
MBA in Accounting was a pragmatic career-oriented program with an embedded co-op component. It created substantial real-world experiences and provided education and course material deeply rooted in practical applications. Accounting is the language of finance, and being fluent in how to read, analyze and assess financial statements is fundamental to providing effective strategic advice. The tax, finance, statistics, and strategy modules were first-class educational programs that I have regularly drawn on in my work.