Sara Alvarado, MBA, CFA

Sara Alvarado, MBA, CFA

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
500+ connections

Join to follow
Sustainable Infrastructure and Board Member

About

Seasoned, highly motivated, investment professional with 30 years of increasing leadership experience including in sustainable finance, sustainable infrastructure, capital markets, investment banking, equity research at Scotia Capital; 15 years as an institutional, private debt infrastructure investor on the buy side at Manulife and Sun Life at the time we were decarbonizing Ontario. Built the initial PPP Infrastructure portfolio at Manulife via fixed income private placements participation. Managed portfolio of corporate debt and problem loans. European Investment Bank (EIB) 3-yr contract in Luxembourg, developing policy-driven Infrastructure quasi equity and debt new financial blended products and special transactions to catalyze private sector investments in the EU with focus on climate change, sustainability and green projects. As recent Head of Risk & CAMLO, I built the inaugural Enterprise Risk Management Function at the Canada Infrastructure Bank and was Executive Director at the Institute for Sustainable Finance, positioning it as the Sustainable Finance Hub in Canada. Born and raised in Nicaragua, settled in Canada ~33 years ago, lived in the EU (Luxembourg) for 3 years.

Speaker and moderator at industry conferences on sustainability, climate change, sustainable finance and infrastructure topics.
Fully proficient in English and Spanish. Intermediate French.

Past Board member at CFA Society Toronto as Chair, Programming and Chair, Fixed Income Committees. Past Board Member & Treasurer, Cambridge Symphony Orchestra. Volunteer at United Way Toronto and at Red Cross Luxembourg, refugees program. Currently Board Member and Resources Committee member at Cambridge Memorial Hospital. Current Chair, HIS Committee at Cambridge Memorial Hospital. Current Co-Chair, World Economic Forum's Infrastructure 4.0 initiative.

Articles by Sara

See all articles

Activity

Join now to see all activity

Experience

  • Sustainable Infrastructure and Board Member

    Canada

  • -

  • -

  • -

    Cambridge, Ontario

  • -

  • -

    Toronto, Ontario, Canada

  • -

    Toronto, Canada Area

  • -

    Luxembourg

  • -

    Toronto, Canada

  • -

    Toronto, Canada

  • -

    Toronto, Canada

  • -

    Waterloo, Ontario,Canada

  • -

    Toronto, Canada

  • -

    Toronto

Education

  • Activities and Societies: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cfainstitute/

  • Activities and Societies: Executive Program on Sustainable Finance

    Covering sustainable finance developments, ESG, global targets and portfolio cases as the market looks at decarbonizing across all sectors and ivestments

  • - Present

    NFP Governance best practices

  • - Present

    Activities and Societies: Importance of strategic negotiations in a global environment, led by Jim Sebenius.

  • - Present

    Global analysis and case studies of investment developments organized by Harvard Business School and the CFA Institute. Led by Andre F. Perold of Harvard.

  • - Present

    Global analysis and case studies of investment developments organized by Harvard Business School and the CFA Institute. Led by Andre F. Perold of Harvard.

Licenses & Certifications

Volunteer Experience

  • Cambridge Memorial Hospital Graphic

    Board of Directors Member, Resources, Capital Redevelopment Committee Member & Chair HIS

    Cambridge Memorial Hospital

    - Present 6 years

    Health

    Chair HIS, a project to revamp CMH's Health Information Systems. The Resources Committee is responsible for informing and advising the Hospital's Board on financial matters, including the adequacy of financial resources and the soundness of the financial implications of all capital and operating expenditures. The Capital Redevelopment Committee focuses on the expansion project at CMH, Phase 2 completed, Phase 3 the next step.

  • Global Infrastructure Hub Graphic

    Infrastructure Challenge Competition Team Mentor

    Global Infrastructure Hub

    - 9 months

    Environment

    Global Infrastructure Hub logo
    InfraChallenge Competition MentorInfraChallenge Competition Mentor
    Global Infrastructure HubGlobal Infrastructure Hub
    Feb 2021 - Oct 2021 · 9 mosFeb 2021 - Oct 2021 · 9 mos
    AustraliaAustralia
    The Global Infrastructure Hub, a G20 Initiative based in Australia runs the InfraChallenge competition to encourage Infratech developments in the infrastructure space. Delighted to be assigned as mentor to the Canadian Team, who made it to the top 20 and…

    Global Infrastructure Hub logo
    InfraChallenge Competition MentorInfraChallenge Competition Mentor
    Global Infrastructure HubGlobal Infrastructure Hub
    Feb 2021 - Oct 2021 · 9 mosFeb 2021 - Oct 2021 · 9 mos
    AustraliaAustralia
    The Global Infrastructure Hub, a G20 Initiative based in Australia runs the InfraChallenge competition to encourage Infratech developments in the infrastructure space. Delighted to be assigned as mentor to the Canadian Team, who made it to the top 20 and recently to the top 10 and final winner!!

  • Croix-Rouge luxembourgeoise Graphic

    Volunteer - Refugees

    Croix-Rouge luxembourgeoise

    - 1 year 5 months

    Disaster and Humanitarian Relief

    Working on the refugee, meal programme in Luxembourg city.

  • CFA Society Luxembourg Graphic

    Volunteer

    CFA Society Luxembourg

    - 2 years 8 months

    Education

    Continuing Education & Social Events Committee

  • CFA Society Toronto Graphic

    Board of Directors Member

    CFA Society Toronto

    - 2 years 11 months

    Education

    Board Member and Chair, Programming Committee (committee leading and supporting 11 different programming committees - Equity, FI, Derivatives & Alternatives, PM, etc.)
    https://www.cfatoronto.ca/about-us/leadership-revised/2012-2013-board-of-directors
    https://www.cfatoronto.ca/about-us/leadership-revised/2013-2014-board-of-directors
    https://www.cfatoronto.ca/about-us/leadership-revised/christopher-polson-cfa-2014-2015

  • Cambridge Symphony Orchestra Graphic

    Board Director and Treasurer

    Cambridge Symphony Orchestra

    - 3 years

    Arts and Culture

    Served as Board Director and Treasurer for approximately 3 years. Volunteered for another 2 years prior to board appointment in various roles.

    http://www.cambridgeorchestra.ca/

  • CFA Society Toronto Graphic

    Chair Fixed Income Committee, previously Vice-Chair, Fixed Income Committee

    CFA Society Toronto

    - 6 years 10 months

    Education

    Various volunteer roles, Chair and Vice Chair Fixed Income Committee, Vice Chair Programming following Board appointment as Director.

  • United Way Toronto & York Region Graphic

    Volunteered on annual fund raising campaigns through work for approximately 7 years.

    United Way Toronto & York Region

    - 7 years 4 months

    Social Services

  • Introduction to Wines Course in support for Charities, free of charge. Virtual or in person

    Demystifying the World of Wines

    - Present 9 years 1 month

    Have offered this 2 hour introductory course for charities as a thank you token to donors as I pursue my sommelier studies.

Courses

  • EU Budget and Funding for Regions and Cities

    EC of the Regions

Languages

  • English

    Native or bilingual proficiency

  • Spanish

    Native or bilingual proficiency

  • French

    Limited working proficiency

Recommendations received

  • LinkedIn User

    LinkedIn User

    “Sara has been a great contribution to our team and to EIB during this past 3 years. Her knowledgeable market view and her financial analysis coupled with a great understanding of different stakeholders' interests at negotiation stage have greatly helped us achieve our objectives. Her enthusiasm, hard work and great ideas will be really missed! ”

1 person has recommended Sara

Join now to view

More activity by Sara

View Sara’s full profile

  • See who you know in common
  • Get introduced
  • Contact Sara directly
Join to view full profile

Other similar profiles

Explore collaborative articles

We’re unlocking community knowledge in a new way. Experts add insights directly into each article, started with the help of AI.

Explore More

Add new skills with these courses

See all courses