Deborah Bongard

My Background

Deborah Bongard is a Senior Wealth Advisor and Senior Portfolio Manager at BMO Nesbitt Burns. Debbie leads the Bongard Wealth Advisory team in advising over 200 families and managing wealth through multiple generations. She is the fourth generation of her family working in the financial services industry, leading back to her great-grandfather founding Bongard & Bongard in 1912 which eventually became one of the founding firms of BMO Nesbitt Burns. Debbie has been a pioneer for female wealth advisors in the industry and prior to joining Nesbitt Thomson Bongard she worked at Wood Gundy on the institutional fixed income desk. The Bongard Wealth Advisory team works with families and individuals, providing holistic wealth management, including financial planning, discretionary asset management, insurance, and banking services. Debbie is cross-border licenced as a Registered Representative with Nesbitt Burns Securities Limited to assist clients living in the United States. Debbie leads her team with a strong collaborative environment. The team includes Christopher Bowlby, Mark Parent and Rosemary Hart who, together, have multiple Investment Management and Financial Planning designations, including: Certified Financial Transitionist (CeFT), Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Chartered Investment Management (CIM), Certified Professional Consultant on Aging (CPCA) and Professional Financial Planner (PFP). Debbie’s philosophy of treating her clients like family is strongly ingrained in the team’s practice, working with their clients as active thinking partners to help them achieve their goals. Debbie is one of two advisors in Canada with specialized mastery training from the Financial Transitionist Institute to help clients with life transitions and the personal side of financial planning. She believes in tailoring every client’s portfolio to match their unique goals to provide a highly personalized level of service. Debbie’s family history in the financial services industry has given her team a unique perspective on how to manage money, especially during times of turmoil. The financial advisory lessons she’s learned from the generations before have helped form the guiding principles of how she works with her clients. When not in Toronto, Debbie enjoys spending time in Collingwood and Pointe-au-Baril with her family and yellow labs. She is highly involved in her community, sitting on the foundation board of the West Parry Sound Health Centre and chairs their Northern Angel Council to raise funds to support the ongoing medical needs of the region. Debbie and her husband Reid are actively involved with Camp Kirk, a camp for neurodiverse children.