Our Team

Rich Widdifield is a sought-after speaker, presenter and educator in the areas of financial planning and philanthropy. He has presented to and consults with audiences made up of entrepreneurs, professionals, professional athletes, families, philanthropists, and charities. Rich is a Senior Financial Planner, CFP® licensed with 25 years experience, all with Assante Wealth Management. He and his team specialize in providing Financial Planning advice and strategies to High Net Worth Families, Business Owners, and Professionals. Rich is also recognized as a top consultant for families and individuals looking to make gifts to charity.

Rich and his wife, Andrea believe strongly in giving back, and have also set up their own family charitable foundation.

Rich volunteers with a number of charities:

• Member of the executive of the Vancouver Chapter of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners.
• Serves on the Golf Tournament Committee for the Delta Hospital and Community Health Foundation.
• Sponsors a Men’s Night Event that raises over $10,000 annually for the Delta Hospital and Community Health Foundation.
• Member of the House Committee at Beach Grove Golf Club.
• Serves on the Management Board at the Assante West Pender Branch.

Rich takes pride in helping our clients develop a clear path for their families – and where applicable, their business – to successfully navigate through all of life’s events, while still enjoying their life today.

Our clients often have complex needs, wishing to make smart decisions around money, mitigate taxes, plan for their families and heirs, and support the organizations in their community they care about.

Rich resides in Tsawwassen, BC with his wife Andrea and their two rescue dogs, Palmer and Cali.  He and Andrea love to travel, especially to visit his stepdaughter, Kaela, who lives in London, England with her fiancée Sam. Rich is an avid runner who has run 4 marathons, including Boston, New York and Chicago. He is a member at the Beach Grove Golf Club and Tunnel Town Curling Club in Tsawwassen. He and Andrea love to cook and learn about (and taste!!) wine and are Canucks season ticket holders (although he cheers for the Oilers when they come to town!!).

Vincianne joined Assante in 2016 working alongside Rich Widdifield and our in-house investment management team and wealth planning group.

As a driven associate financial advisor, Vincianne is always eager to help our clients and provide them with any details that they need. As a University of Ottawa graduate with a concentration in Economics, Vincianne continued her interest in the financial industry by becoming securities licensed. As a lifelong learner, Vincianne is continuing to build her expertise by completing more courses through the Canadian Securities Institute.

Vincianne calls Vancouver home and enjoys cycling, kayaking and yoga. After spending 8 years in South Korea, Vincianne also enjoys hosting dinner parties and sharing the recipes she learned overseas. Vincianne also volunteers for her local Canadian Association of Gift Planners chapter and supports the fundraising efforts of multiple local charities.

Ava is a lively and determined individual who earned her Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Saskatchewan in 2022. Despite frequent teasing from co-workers around her “uneventful” prairie upbringing, growing up in a smaller city fostered her deep appreciation for community and value in life's simple joys.

With a genuine passion for people, embracing new experiences, pouring rain, and fresh oysters, Ava made the exciting move from Saskatoon to Vancouver to explore the opportunities of the big city.

Looking ahead, Ava has set her sights on becoming a junior advisor and progressing in her career with the West Coast Assante team.

As Regional Vice-President, Wealth Planning, Cheryl Norton works closely with our high net worth clients to identify issues and provide complex, tactical wealth planning support that complements their wealth plans. Cheryl has a particular focus on tax and estate planning strategies for business owners, farmers, professionals and other affluent individuals and families.

Cheryl joined CI Assante Private Client in 2018 after delivering tax planning services primarily in two multi-national public accounting firms, as well as holding senior tax and estate planning positions in the financial services and insurance industry. Cheryl’s expertise includes tax, estate and trust planning, business succession planning, intergenerational wealth transfer strategies, risk management, philanthropy and charitable giving. Her overall professional experience in tax and wealth planning exceeds 20 years.

Cheryl is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Windsor. She has also obtained her Certified Financial Planner® designation. In addition, Cheryl is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) and has completed the CICA In-Depth Tax Course and has acted as a group leader for this course.

As an Investment Counsellor, Rachit provides portfolio management services to high-net-worth clients in the CI Assante Private Client program. In consultation with our team, he determines the appropriate asset allocation to best meet the objectives of every client. He also provides ongoing reviews of client portfolios and works closely with our Wealth Planning team to ensure that our clients’ investment plans continue to meet their needs.

Rachit brings 13 years of diverse financial services experience, particularly in portfolio management and capital markets research across the US and Canada. Prior to joining our team in 2023, Rachit was a Portfolio Manager at a boutique investment firm in Vancouver where he worked closely with financial advisors to service high-net-worth clients, which included asset allocation, portfolio construction, estate planning and cash flow management. He also performed equity research on Canadian and US large-cap companies, covering the technology, healthcare and consumer discretionary sectors. Prior to this, Rachit worked in Chicago as a Research Analyst covering US and international equities for a buy-side wealth management firm. 

Rachit has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business where he majored in Finance and Entrepreneurship. In addition, he is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) charterholder and holds his Certified Financial Planner®designation.

As a Regional Wealth Planner, Dennis Kondratev facilitates the delivery of wealth planning reports. Using a needs based approach, Dennis works with our clients to not only gather pertinent financial information, but more importantly, to identify issues and to help our clients articulate and document their goals in order to build a plan that meets their complex needs. Working with the support of the wealth planning team, Dennis delivers a plan that addresses retirement planning, cash flow management, risk management, business planning and estate planning.

Dennis became part of CI Assante Private Client in 2019. Prior to this he held the role of Specialist, Estate and Financial Planning Services at Sun Life Financial, providing comprehensive financial planning to affluent families, professionals, and business owners.

Dennis has an MBA from Smith School of Business, Queens University. In addition, he holds his Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) designations.

Tasia is a creative and innovative person who enjoys art in all forms, from visiting museums, design, drawing, or painting, to going to the theatre or even the opera. There is no wonder why she chose to focus her career in area of Marketing. Tasia has been in the Financial Services industry since she began her career, working at a bank while going to university. Tasia has been part of the Rich Widdifield Team at Assante Capital Management since 2011. She grew up in Toronto but always longed for the West Coast and moved to the North Shore shortly after university.

Tasia also enjoys traveling, the outdoors and is an avid dog lover, especially large breed dogs. Her dog, Kuma, is an Alaskan Malamute. Dogs have not been her only pet. She has also owned birds. In particular parrots, having owned, among others, a Hyacinth Macaw. The largest parrot species in the world. Tasia gives back to her community by volunteering at her community police department, heading their Business Watch program and local animal shelter, as well as a member of a women’s and local business group.

As a Regional Vice-President, Estate Planning, Bradley Charlton is well-positioned to deal with the technical aspects of our clients’ more complex situations. He works to mitigate risk, protect assets, and provide tax deferral strategies and solutions that allow a smooth transition of estate or business assets to the beneficiaries or surviving partners. He provides in-depth information on various insurance products and services that compliment the overall wealth management for our clients.

Brad joined Assante Estate and Insurance Services Inc. in 2007. His career in the financial services industry spans 23 years with roles of increasing responsibility with major insurance companies throughout Western Canada, initially in Winnipeg and more recently in Calgary. He has spoken at many educational events, is a member of the Conference for Advanced Life Underwriters (CALU), and a member of the Estate Planning Council of Calgary.

Brad is based in Calgary and services Western Canada and Yukon.