From Student Investor to Industry Leader: Jamie Heard’s Journey to Professional Excellence
Recently, the Sprott School of Business announced Jamie Heard (BCom/10) as the recipient of the 2026 Sprott Alumni Award in Professional Excellence, which is awarded to a Carleton University business graduate who has demonstrated outstanding achievement within their career or entrepreneurial endeavours.
This month, Heard became Chief Financial Officer for Tourmaline Oil, Canada’s largest producer of natural gas. He joined the company in 2019 as Manager, Capital Markets, and was promoted to Vice President of Capital Markets in 2023, focusing on M&A, capital allocation, investors relations and strategy. In September, Heard was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.
Heard graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Commerce and a concentration in Finance. While at Sprott, he was a founding member of the Sprott Student Investment Fund. After graduating from Carleton, he went on to complete his Master of Finance at the University of Rochester. He is a CFA Charter holder and prior to joining Tourmaline, Heard spent a decade investing and covering energy companies in banking, research and investing roles at Barclays, BMO, Citadel and Castleton.
Heard sat down with Sprott recently and shared his journey and insights from his successful career.
When did your interest in finance begin?
My interest in finance started in middle school through movies like “Wall Street” that dramatized the industry. That carried through to a fascination in the stock market in high school and my own brokerage account as a teenager. Once I saw the daily P&L changes from investments I was hooked.
As a founding member of the Sprott Student Investment Fund, how did that experience shape your education and career?
The investment fund was an incredible way to exercise the concepts I was learning in class in real world applications I was very passionate about – energy investing and portfolio management.
It was great to see how a lot of homework in a business could really frame a view on the value of the business vs the stock; and then the fund was also a great teacher in how part of returns is luck and randomness; and how to learn how to be sometimes right in the stock for the wrong reasons or wrong in the stock but have the right initial call.
Why do you give back through mentorship of students currently serving on the Sprott Student Investment Fund?
The students on the fund have the same hunger I had and still have for the markets. It’s a pleasure to provide some tricks of the trade, and talking markets or investment thesis is never something that’s felt like work.
You’ve achieved a lot in your impressive career. What are you most proud of?
I’m most proud to have learned enough about my niche passion, energy markets and specifically the business of natural gas, to now be able to meaningfully contribute in my role at Tourmaline but also in advocacy in my sector. The resource development has gone from a Canadian economic pariah to a nation’s purpose in three years. I’m proud to play my small role in being a champion of one of our nation’s most valuable gifts, which is now having its moment at center stage to pull Canada prosperity forward in this changed world.
What continues to excite you about your work?
Energy includes the most volatile commodities in the world, and financing the development of these resource projects is always rich with changing economics and funding dynamics. Never a dull moment!
What advice do you have for students interested in careers in finance?
The tool kit you learn at Sprott equips you to work at the best investment banks, hedge funds, or corporations in the world. Match that tool kit with a passion in your life that fills you with endless curiosity and interest to learn more and your career will take care of itself.
Final Thoughts
Hat tip to Howard Nemiroff for his passion in extracurriculars for students in Finance; his effort opened a door for me that led to the rest of my working life. Biggest difference maker for any student eager to put the work in, that I’ve ever met.