Sam Collins is a senior capital markets and wealth executive with more than 30 years leading regulated broker-dealer and investment dealer platforms across Canada and the United States, combined with over a decade advising and operating alongside ultra-high-net-worth family offices and alternative investment sponsors. He has built, scaled and governed multi-asset wealth platforms, integrated acquisitions, and navigated complex regulatory environments including CIRO, IIROC, MFDA and the SEC, earning the trust of ultra-high-net-worth families, family offices, sovereign-adjacent capital and institutional allocators.
He has operated as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, Executive Vice President, board director and founder across public and private organisations, including NASDAQ-listed entities and regulated investment dealers, with a remit spanning platform strategy, M&A integration, governance, private markets distribution and global expansion.
Since 2024 he has been Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CGR Ventures Limited, a global advisory platform supporting private companies, investment sponsors and family offices. There he advises boards and founders on capital formation, platform growth and acquisition strategy across public and private markets; structures complex financings spanning equity, private credit, convertibles and hybrids aligned with institutional and family office mandates; leads diligence, governance structuring and execution for cross-border transactions; and acts as senior interface with ultra-high-net-worth families, private equity firms and strategic capital partners on both the buy and sell sides. Since 2026 he has also been a Managing Director of Nassau Street Partners in New York, where he advises on and supports the execution of complex capital raising mandates. Since 2018 he has been Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Creation Investments Group, the holding company providing governance and strategic oversight across regulated wealth and investment entities, with board-level responsibility for capital allocation, risk management and growth strategy.
Since 2018 he has been Chief Executive Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, Chairman and Ultimate Designated Person of Creation Wealth Capital, a founder-led CIRO investment dealer platform. He built and governed the end-to-end regulated broker-dealer platform from acquisition through scale, led the acquisition and integration of ETC Canada from United States private equity ownership, directed the CIRO and IIROC regulatory approvals, governance frameworks and supervisory architecture, designed the operating model, compliance infrastructure and senior leadership team, and oversaw advisor recruitment, product architecture and platform growth across Canada.
As Executive Vice President and Director of Echelon Wealth Partners between 2015 and 2018 he scaled assets under administration from $350 million to $4.5 billion through platform expansion and advisor recruitment, was integral to the $3.5 billion Dundee Private Wealth acquisition and its post-merger integration, recruited senior advisors contributing approximately $1 billion in assets under administration, and opened five national branches. As President and Director of Chippingham Financial Group from 2012 to 2015 he built the firm from inception to $1 billion in assets under administration, led the acquisition of Kernaghan Securities with approximately $500 million in assets under administration, and established its national operating footprint and governance model. From 2018 to 2023 he served as Managing Director for Canada and the United States at 60 Degrees Group, a Cayman-based ultra-high-net-worth family office, managing a portfolio of seven operating companies across North America and advising on acquisitions, governance, capital deployment and strategic growth initiatives.
Between 2000 and 2012 he held senior executive and advisory roles across a series of CIRO and IIROC member firms including Merrill Lynch Canada, MGI Securities, Union Securities, Jennings Capital and PI Financial, with executive leadership across sales, operations, compliance and M&A, and led and advised on multiple dealer mergers and integrations alongside board and committee service covering risk, new products and governance.
From 2020 to 2023 he was Senior Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Aries I and Aries II Acquisition Corporations, NASDAQ-listed public market acquisition platforms, where he led IPO execution, SEC Form S-1 filings and public company readiness, managed banking relationships and investor engagement, and oversaw operational, compliance and integration planning.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Acadia University and a full suite of Canadian regulatory credentials including the Canadian Securities Course, the Conduct and Practices Handbook, the Branch Managers Course, the Partners, Directors and Senior Officers qualification, the Chief Compliance Officers Qualifying Examination and Professional Financial Planning. He serves as a director of Grays Peak Capital, PACE Building Technologies, Portfolio Strategies Corporation and The Canadian Family Office Network, and was a director of FusionIQ Canada between 2020 and 2025. He is a former member of the CIRO and IIROC Ontario District Council and a volunteer director of Special Olympics Ontario.
