The architecture required for a legacy to endure.
The shape of an engagement.
Each engagement begins with a confidential review of the family’s existing structures, objectives, and advisory relationships. From this foundation, the architecture is designed, the specialist table is convened, and the mandate is established.
Thereafter, the relationship operates on a continuous basis — with formal reviews, proactive counsel, and direct access to senior advisors as circumstances require.
There is no standard engagement. There is only the one designed for your family.
An experience beyond the ordinary.
Behind the doors of Private Advisory — entered by invitation only — the structure of your affairs is composed with deliberate care. Senior advisors, tax and legal counsel, and specialist architects attend, in confidence, to your family, your enterprise, and the horizon you are building toward. From this table, the Private Office coordinates risk, tax, estate, corporate, and investment mandates, and extends to the broader concerns of family governance, succession, philanthropy, and the preparation of the next generation.
Senatus accepts a limited number of new Private Advisory relationships each year, by referral. Each engagement is structured specifically for the family it serves; no two mandates are identical, and none are standardized.
A record defined by the quality of the families we serve and the outcomes they enjoy.
Private counsel for Canadian and cross-border families, and the professional advisors who assist them.
Since 2010, Senatus Wealth has held a single mandate: to serve as the architectural center of gravity for families whose wealth has grown beyond the reach of any one advisor, any one discipline, or any one institution to govern alone.
The work is integration — the deliberate alignment of risk, tax, estate, corporate, investment, and succession within a unified structure, governed by the fiduciary obligations established by the client mandate, with the duties, standard of care, and conflict-handling protocols set out in that mandate. Independence is not a posture; it is the foundation. The firm maintains no institutional affiliation — no bank, no insurer, no asset manager — and receives no compensation from the specialists it convenes. Every recommendation begins and ends with the family it is designed to serve.
Each element is composed in relation to the others — weighed with deliberation, measured not against a benchmark but against the continuity of the enterprise and the preservation of the family across generations.
Wealth, as an enduring system.
Most families arrive to Senatus already attended by accomplished advisors — each practicing with care within their own discipline. The difficulty is rarely competence. It is coordination: the absence of a single point of specialist accountability, charged not with any one engagement but with the structural integrity of the family's affairs.
That is the role Senatus occupies. We design the architecture, convene the table, and hold the mandate — bringing institutional discipline and governance to private wealth, without the institutional conflicts that so often compromise it. Through every evolution the family will encounter, the stewardship remains continuous.
Integrated counsel, composed under a single mandate.
A family of significant means engages dozens of professionals across a lifetime. Each is excellent in isolation. The work of the firm is composed in the architecture between them — composing what each, in isolation, cannot. The practice proceeds across six axes; the deeper framework follows.
Family · The governance layer
Constitution, council, rising generation, philanthropy — the structures by which a family decides who it is, and who it is becoming.
Life · The concierge layer
Household, calendar, personal risk, digital perimeter, health and capacity — the foundation on which every other asset rests.
Capital · The structural layer
Balance sheet, investment policy, alternatives, treasury, structural assurance — engineered to perform within the architecture rather than alongside it.
Control · The architecture beneath
Tax strategy, corporate structure, shareholder agreements, senior counsel — the framework within which capital is held, governed, and transferred.
Legacy · The transition layer
Estate, trusts, freezes, cross-border counsel, business succession — composed years before the event that tests them.
Governance · The mandate held
Integrated retainer, annual audit, quarterly review — the cadence under which the foregoing is convened, directed, and held to a single measure.
The integration is the value.
A family’s lawyer drafts in isolation. Its accountant files in isolation. Its portfolio manager invests in isolation. Each is paid in isolation. The architecture between them — the part that determines what compounds, what is preserved, and what is transferred intact — is the part no single advisor is held to. It is, in any one year, the difference between a family’s position becoming what it could be and quietly becoming what is left of it.
Family · The governance layer
A family that runs itself before the work runs out the family’s patience. Difficult conversations are easier when the framework for them was set in calmer rooms.
Life · The concierge layer
A principal’s attention returned to the decisions that matter. The household runs because someone has been retained to run it.
Capital · The structural layer
What compounds is what is held against the family’s tax position, not against a benchmark. The architecture decides what the markets cannot.
Control · The architecture beneath
Tax, ownership, and decision-rights composed deliberately, before they are tested. The structures that govern who controls what, and on what terms it transfers.
Legacy · The transition layer
What is transferred arrives intact, in the form the family intended. The estate is composed years before the event that tests it.
Governance · The mandate held
The architecture is not built once and filed. It is held. The cadence is the discipline; the discipline is the difference.
“Six principles govern the practice. Independence, because objectivity requires it. Integration, because a family’s affairs do not divide neatly by discipline. Governance, because decisions made once are better than decisions revisited annually. Discretion, because our clients prefer to be advised quietly. Continuity, because the mandate must outlast any individual advisor. Permanence, because the measure is the family’s position a generation from now.”
Founder & President
For families whose affairs have outgrown any single advisor.
Senatus Wealth accepts a limited number of Canadian and cross-border relationships each year. The architecture fits most precisely when described in three ways — by the chapter of life in which the work is required, by the profession or asset class that defines the balance sheet, and by the context that surrounds the circumstances. Most principals sit across more than one.
By Chapter
Four moments at which coordinated counsel ceases to be optional — founders building, principals approaching liquidity, multi-generational stewards, and families in transition.
By Profession
Six specializations defined by the nature of the balance sheet — business owners, real estate principals, medical and dental, legal and financial, executives, and technology founders.
By Context
Three framings that cut across chapter and profession — cross-border families, women principals and female heads of household, and philanthropists and family foundations.
Senior counsel. One table. One mandate.
A curated network of over sixty independent specialists — tax counsel, estate counsel, CPAs, portfolio managers, insurance actuaries, and adjacent disciplines — engaged under firm-to-firm mandate on behalf of the families we serve. The network is maintained in confidence, led by an expert group who remain your primary captains.
Brett P. Nicholson
Brett advises entrepreneurial families and cross-border principals on the integrated design of capital, governance, succession, and legacy.
Raymond G. Adlington
A senior tax lawyer of national standing. Past President of the Canadian Bar Association and Lawyer of the Year in Trusts & Estates — counsel of first resort on matters of consequence.
Cindy Wilson
Decades at the intersection of private capital, M&A, and strategic liquidity. Cindy advises founders and families through the transactions that define a generation.
Those presented here represent a measured portion of our counsel. The balance of our specialists serve in confidence, on behalf of families to whom discretion is the first condition of the relationship.
Considered thinking, published at the intersections of wealth, law, and legacy.
A public library of commentary, technical notes, and private case studies — alongside the firm’s written methodology — released to the families and professional advisors whose work these subjects govern.
Considered thinking, published at the intersections of wealth, law, and legacy.
A curated library — including case studies, technical notes, and strategic commentary — written for the families and professional advisors whose work these subjects govern. Selected pieces are released in confidence to qualified readers on request.
The design within which every recommendation operates.
The written methodology of the firm — nine chapters, a private library of case studies, and the full paper on request. Released to qualified principals and the professional advisors who coordinate their affairs.
Questions considered, before they are asked.
A selection of the questions principals most often pose in our initial conversations — answered plainly, so that fit, mandate, and the terms of the relationship are clear.
Architecture, illustrated.
A selection of engagements that illustrate how integration changes outcome. Studies are held in confidence and released on request to qualified principals and their advisors.
The finest advisory relationships begin with understanding — shaped by clear and thoughtful communication, sustained by trust.
Senatus Wealth accepts a limited number of new family relationships each year, predominantly through private referral. If our approach resonates, we invite you to request a private conversation.
Request a Private ConversationBrett P. Nicholson
Brett Nicholson advises founding families, multi-generational business owners, and cross-border principals on the integrated design of wealth architecture — aligning capital, governance, risk, succession, and legacy within a single mandate.
He established Senatus Wealth in 2010 to address what he observed as the central failure in private wealth: accomplished advisors working in parallel rather than in concert, with no single point of accountability charged with the structural integrity of the family's affairs. His practice spans corporate and estate architecture, tax-efficient wealth transfer, insurance design, holdco and trust structuring, and the coordination of specialist advisory teams across disciplines.
Credentials & Affiliations
- Guest Lecturer, Ivey Business School
- Featured Presenter, Baker Tilly Canada Knowledge Forum
- Guest Contributor, BNN Bloomberg
- Member, CALU
- Author, Perspectives — Senatus Wealth's library for affluent families and advisory teams
- Chair, For Peace of Mind, supporting London Health Sciences Centre
Connect
Raymond G. Adlington
Ray Adlington is a senior tax lawyer advising business owners, affluent families, and multinational enterprises across Ontario and Canada on corporate tax, commodity tax, tax disputes, and strategic legal structuring. Over two decades, he has counseled Canada's most successful entrepreneurs and family-controlled businesses on taxation aspects of succession, corporate reorganization, and intergenerational wealth transfer.
He provides institutional depth to the firm's tax architecture, ensuring corporate structures, estate plans, and cross-border strategies rest on sound legal foundations and long-term tax efficiency. His practice encompasses private company reorganizations, estate freezes, shareholder agreements, and multi-jurisdictional tax planning for families with complex holding structures.
Credentials & Affiliations
- Former President, Canadian Bar Association
- Member, International Bar Association
- Former Chair, Atlantic Provinces Economic Council
- Named Lawyer of the Year, Trusts and Estates, by The Best Lawyers in Canada
- Trusted advisor to multi-generational family enterprises across Canada
Cindy Wilson
Cindy Wilson coordinates private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic financial advisory matters for Senatus Wealth clients. She brings more than 25 years of experience advising high-net-worth individuals, investors, professionals, and business owners on complex transactions, strategic exits, capital structuring, and financially consequential decisions.
Her work emphasizes rigor, discretion, and precision, particularly where timing and structure materially influence outcomes. She is especially valuable to founders, families, and private business owners navigating liquidity events and strategic transition points. Based in Toronto, she has advised Senatus Wealth clients since 2014.
Credentials
- CPA, CA
- CFA
- Bachelor of Science, University of Western Ontario
- Bachelor of Commerce, University of Windsor
Our Relationship with Clients
Senatus Wealth Management Corporation and Senatus Wealth Private Advisory Inc. (collectively, “Senatus Wealth”) provide wealth advisory, financial planning, insurance, and coordination services to private clients in Ontario, across Canada, and on a cross-border basis. The nature of our role, obligations, and compensation varies by engagement and is governed by the terms of each client agreement.
Where we act in an advisory capacity, our mandate is to provide strategic guidance, architect and coordinate wealth structures, and oversee the engagement of specialists on your behalf. Where we facilitate insurance solutions, we act as licensed insurance advisors under applicable provincial legislation. Investment advisory or portfolio management services, where provided, are delivered in accordance with applicable securities legislation and registration requirements. Senatus Wealth is compensated by the families it serves, in three forms, each disclosed in advance under the client mandate: (i) advisory retainer for architectural, coordination, and governance work; (ii) asset-based fees where the firm oversees delegated portfolio management on the family’s behalf; (iii) insurance commissions earned by Senatus Wealth Management Corporation where insurance is arranged as part of the mandate, in accordance with applicable provincial legislation. Senatus Wealth does not accept referral fees, revenue-sharing, or placement compensation from the specialists it convenes. Independence is structural, not aspirational.
Scope of Services
Senatus Wealth provides integrated wealth architecture, coordination, and advisory services. These may include tax-efficient wealth design, estate and succession planning, corporate and trust structuring, insurance architecture, investment oversight, governance frameworks, philanthropy, and family continuity planning. Services are tailored to each client’s objectives and circumstances. Not all clients will receive all services, and the absence of a particular topic from an engagement does not indicate that it is inapplicable to your financial situation. Where Senatus Wealth coordinates with external professionals — including accountants, lawyers, investment managers, or other specialists — we do not assume liability for the advice, services, or outcomes provided by those independent professionals. It is your responsibility to evaluate and act upon any external recommendations in consultation with your own advisors.
Entities Providing Services
Advisory and coordination services are provided by Senatus Wealth Private Advisory Inc. Financial planning, insurance planning, and investment oversight services are provided through Senatus Wealth Management Corporation, licensed under applicable provincial insurance legislation. Investment advisory or portfolio management services, where applicable, are delivered in accordance with National Instrument 31-103 — Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations — or through appropriately registered third-party firms coordinated by Senatus Wealth. The availability of specific services may vary by jurisdiction and applicable regulatory framework.
Cross-Border Coordination
Where clients maintain financial interests in both Canada and the United States, Senatus Wealth coordinates with qualified cross-border legal, tax, and investment professionals. Senatus Wealth is not registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, or any U.S. state securities regulator. Cross-border coordination is consultative in nature and does not constitute advice under U.S. federal or state law.
Important Limitations
Senatus Wealth does not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice unless explicitly agreed in writing. Any discussion of tax planning, estate structuring, corporate reorganization, the Income Tax Act, provincial tax legislation, or pending legislative changes is educational and consultative in nature. It should not be construed as a legal or tax opinion, relied upon for reporting purposes, or treated as a substitute for independent professional advice tailored to your specific circumstances.
Information provided by Senatus Wealth — whether through meetings, written materials, presentations, or digital platforms — is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing contained herein constitutes a specific investment recommendation or an offer to buy or sell any security, insurance product, or financial instrument.
Senatus Wealth assumes no liability for positions taken or not taken based on discussions or materials provided during an advisory engagement.
Legal & Regulatory
Safekeeping of Client Capital
Your assets are never held by Senatus Wealth, nor by any advisor within our network. Capital is held and protected by independent, qualified custodians — institutions such as NBCN Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Bank of Canada, and comparable custodians of equivalent standing and class, including Fidelity Clearing Canada and Apex Clearing, depending upon your portfolio manager. No advisor, whether internal or external, has direct access to your cash or securities at any time.
Portfolio management is conducted by third-party, independently licensed portfolio managers operating under the supervision of the Ontario Securities Commission and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), in accordance with National Instrument 31-103 — Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations. Client assets are entitled to protection in the event of insolvency, subject to the terms and limitations of the applicable custodian and investor protection fund.
For further detail regarding the entities responsible for the custody and management of your capital, please contact us at hello@senatuswealth.com.
Independence
Since its founding in 2010, Senatus Wealth has operated independently. The firm is not owned by, controlled by, or affiliated with any bank, insurer, broker-dealer, or asset manager.
Firm Continuity
Senatus Wealth is structured for continuity beyond the tenure of any individual advisor. Mandate documentation, family governance materials, and specialist relationships are held at the firm level. A written continuity protocol governs the transition of primary counsel in the event of incapacity, retirement, or departure, coordinated through the firm’s principal partners and the family’s named successor contacts. The protocol applicable to each family is provided at engagement.
Compensation
Senatus Wealth is compensated by the families it serves, in three forms, each disclosed in advance under the client mandate: (i) advisory retainer for architectural, coordination, and governance work; (ii) asset-based fees where the firm oversees delegated portfolio management on the family’s behalf; (iii) insurance commissions earned by Senatus Wealth Management Corporation where insurance is arranged as part of the mandate, in accordance with applicable provincial legislation. Senatus Wealth does not accept referral fees, revenue-sharing, or placement compensation from the specialists it convenes. Independence is structural, not aspirational.
Scope of Services
Senatus Wealth provides integrated wealth advisory, coordination, and architectural services. Specific legal, tax, accounting, and regulated investment services are delivered by independently licensed professionals engaged under separate mandate, and clients should look to those mandates for the terms governing those services.
Jurisdictions
The firm serves Canadian and cross-border families with interests in the United States. Availability of specific services depends on jurisdiction, licensing, and the nature of the mandate.
Terms of Use
By accessing or using this website, you agree to the following terms. If you do not agree, please discontinue use.
Use of this website does not create an advisory, fiduciary, or professional relationship between you and Senatus Wealth. Such relationships are established only by written mandate executed between the firm and the client.
All content is provided for general informational purposes only and is subject to change without notice. It does not constitute investment, financial, legal, tax, or accounting advice, nor an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell securities or any financial instrument. Senatus Wealth makes no warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of any information for any particular purpose.
All material on this website, including text, imagery, and design, is the intellectual property of Senatus Wealth or its licensors, protected under applicable Canadian copyright, trademark, and international law. No content may be reproduced, distributed, or republished without prior written consent. Linking, framing, scraping, or data-mining of this website is prohibited without express permission.
This website may contain links to third-party sources. Senatus Wealth does not endorse and is not responsible for the content, accuracy, or practices of any third-party website.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Senatus Wealth shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or special damages arising from or related to the use of, or inability to use, this website or its content — including damages to computer equipment or exposure to viruses.
This website and its terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the applicable laws of Canada. Any dispute arising from your use of this website shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Ontario.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements on this website constitute forward-looking statements reflecting the current expectations and assumptions of Senatus Wealth Management Corporation (the “Corporation”). These statements may include words such as “may,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These statements are made as of the date of their inclusion on this website. The Corporation assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events.
Industry Data
Market data and industry forecasts appearing on this website are derived from publicly available sources believed to be reliable. Their accuracy and completeness have not been independently verified by the Corporation.
Privacy Policy
Senatus Wealth Management Corporation (the “Corporation”) is committed to the highest standards of privacy and discretion. This policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard non-public personal information in the course of our advisory relationships and through this website, in compliance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and applicable provincial privacy legislation.
Information We Collect
We collect personal information necessary to serve your advisory relationship and to comply with applicable regulatory requirements. This may include information provided directly by you — such as your name, contact details, social insurance number, financial circumstances, and investment objectives — as well as information obtained through applications, agreements, correspondence, telephone conversations, and your use of this website. We may also receive information from consumer reporting agencies and from third-party service providers engaged on your behalf.
How We Use Your Information
Personal information is collected and maintained in order to establish your identity, assess your eligibility and suitability for our services, fulfill applicable know-your-client (KYC) obligations under NI 31-103 and the Client Focused Reforms, deliver integrated advisory services, and comply with legal and regulatory requirements. We do not use your personal information for marketing purposes unrelated to the advisory relationship without your express consent.
When We Disclose Your Information
We may share personal information, to the extent necessary, with third-party professionals and service providers engaged on your behalf — including portfolio managers, custodians, insurance providers, accountants, and legal counsel — and only for the purposes identified above. Contractual and other safeguards are in place to ensure a comparable level of protection when information is handled by a third party.
We may also disclose personal information where required by law, regulation, or valid legal process — including to securities regulators, the Ontario Securities Commission, CIRO, and other self-regulatory organizations (SROs) that collect, use, and disclose such information for regulatory purposes, including audits, investigations, and enforcement proceedings.
We do not sell, lease, or otherwise make your personal information available to unaffiliated third parties for their independent use.
Consent
By entering into an advisory agreement or continuing to engage our services, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information as described in this policy. You may withdraw consent, in whole or in part, upon reasonable written notice — subject to legal, regulatory, and contractual obligations. The Corporation will inform you of the implications of any withdrawal of consent for the continued provision of services.
Safeguards & Retention
We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, loss, or disclosure. Access to personal information is restricted to those employees and authorized third parties who require it to provide services to you. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure; clients are encouraged to share sensitive information through the protected channels we designate. Personal information is retained for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, and in accordance with applicable regulatory retention requirements.
Your Rights
Subject to applicable law and regulatory requirements, you may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information by writing to hello@senatuswealth.com. The Corporation will respond promptly and will provide an explanation in any case where access cannot be granted.
Updates
This policy may be updated from time to time. The current version is always accessible from this website. If you have questions or concerns, please contact us at hello@senatuswealth.com.
Thank you.
Your inquiry has been prepared for the Private Office. A member of the team will respond, in confidence, within twenty-four hours.