Our Tax & Estate Planning Team

Big picture strategies

We believe in taking a holistic approach when it comes to helping you preserve and enhance your wealth, ensuring an effective transition to the next generation. Our Tax & Estate Planning professionals, including lawyers, accountants and estate planners, will work directly with you and our team.

Living your life on your terms doesn’t just happen – it takes a strategic approach and thoughtful planning.

Whether it’s for your family or for your business, we’ll take your unique situation into account when creating your customized Wealth Plan:

  • Tax & Financial Planning Strategies
  • Insurance Solutions
  • Estate Planning
  • Retirement Planning
  • Business and Farm Succession
  • Philanthropy

For more information, please ask us today.

Brett Burke

Brett Burke, CFP®, CIM, TEP

Senior Financial Planner

Based in the Toronto office, Brett works with Investment Advisors to counsel high net worth families, executives and entrepreneurs on Wealth Planning solutions; helping to articulate their wealth aspirations at any stage. He provides support to his Richardson Wealth colleagues as part of our integrated wealth planning team.

Drawing on extensive financial services expertise and a passion for planning, Brett helps clients express and understand their unique objectives for the wealth they have accumulated. Employing a consistent, conservative value-add approach, Brett takes the time to truly understand what goals our clients want to achieve and creates an innovative and tailored solution for every client and their family.

Brett has 20 years’ experience as Financial Planner and has worked at several major investment management firms. Prior to joining the financial services industry, Brett was in the Canadian military, retiring in 2000, after a rewarding and successful career of 20 years serving in Canada and abroad.

Brett is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) and is a member of the Society of Tax and Estate Practitioners (STEP). He also holds the designation of Chartered Investment Manager (CIM) and has completed the Canadian Securities Course CSC), the Conduct and Practices Handbook (CPH) and the Life License Qualification Program (LLQP).

Sean Hsu

Sean Hsu, CPA (U.S.), MTax, TEP

Vice President, Tax

Sean collaborates with advisory teams and their clients to develop wealth planning strategies and to deliver integrated solutions addressing their unique needs.

Sean is an accountant with experience in Canadian and U.S. tax planning for high-net-worth individuals, with a focus on integrated cross-border wealth, estate, and trust matters. Before joining Richardson Wealth, Sean was at a multi-national accounting firm practicing in the private client group.

Sean participates in the development of thought leadership content delivered by our Tax & Estate Planning team. He has appeared in The Globe and Mail and has authored and contributed to several articles for BorderCrossings, a Thomson Reuters publication with insightful commentary on crossborder issues faced by Canadians and U.S. citizens. He is also a facilitator in the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada’s In-Depth Tax Program.

Sean is a U.S. Certified Public Accountant, a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, and holds a Master of Taxation from the University of Waterloo.

Sylvia Azoulay

Sylvia Azoulay, TEP

Vice President, Tax & Estate Planning

Sylvia works closely with Investment Advisors and their clients to explore and identify issues that address clients’ overall wealth planning needs. She helps clients formulate objectives, understand issues and strategies and facilitates implementation of their goals. Sylvia understands the sensitive issues relating to family dynamics and wealth transfer.

Sylvia is an estate planning lawyer with many years of experience. Prior to joining Richardson Wealth, she was a principal in her own strategic wealth planning firm and also spent many years in the financial industry dealing with wealth planning solutions for high net worth clients.

Sylvia has been an instructor at Humber College School of Business and at the Bar Admission course at the Law Society of Upper Canada. She is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and the Estate Planning Council of Toronto. She is a seasoned presenter on topics of importance to high net worth families.

Jason Middleton

Jason Middleton, CFP®

Estate and Insurance Advisor

Jason has a well-rounded knowledge of the Insurance industry having worked at all levels of the business. He has worked at the manufacturer level, at the distributor level and, most importantly, as an Independent Insurance Broker and business owner.

Jason’s financial and accounting backgrounds allow him to take a comprehensive approach to advanced Estate and Insurance planning for clients. His ‘educate first’ approach resonates well with clients, who feel that his solution-based recommendations are tailored to their individual needs.

Jason earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with Honors in Accounting and Corporate Finance in 1999 from the University of New Brunswick. He began working on his CA (Chartered Accountant) with Deloitte and Touche in 2001 after taking a sabbatical to train and try out for the Canadian Olympic Swim Team. Upon returning to the work force Jason completed the CSC (Canadian Securities Course) and earned his CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designation in 2003.

*Insurance services offered through Richardson Wealth Insurance Services Limited.