Technology serving people. Reshaping customer experience  simultaneous translation

Renée Laflamme, FCPA, FCA, CFA, Executive Vice-President, Individual Insurance, Savings and Retirement, iA Financial Group

Mahdi Amri, National Leader Consultant for Artificial Intelligence, Deloitte.

Session description:
Today, innovation and technology are playing an increasingly large role in how people get informed, make decisions, and interact with their service providers. Moreover, clients now expect their service providers to communicate with them using the platforms that they value most. So, what are the global trends in terms of communication? For one thing, artificial intelligence continues to gain ground in many fields, such as financial and health services. The views of experts in innovation and communication will help to understand how the digital experience and artificial intelligence can deliver the experience that clients envision.

Cybersecurity risk: Addressing the invisible elephant in the room  simultaneous translation

Kim Ozubko, Partner, Pensions and Employee Benefits, Miller Thomson 
Sunil Chand, Director, Cybersecurity, Grant Thornton LLP

Session description:
2017 has seen some of the most high profile cyber-attacks in history. The Wannacry ransomware attack affected more than 150 countries and countless organizations worldwide. Since then, the list of cyber-breaches has continued to grow. With numerous stories peppering the world’s media, seemingly each week, the threat is real. 

For the financial services sector, the cyber spotlight has typically focused in on the industry’s larger banking institutions with sponsors and administrators of pension plans remaining out of the spotlight. Plan sponsors and administrators, members and beneficiaries are, however, just as vulnerable and there is increasing evidence that they too are falling victim to this invisible threat.

So what can plan administrators and sponsors do to protect pension plan data and the privacy of plan members and beneficiaries? In this session, you will learn about:

the importance of effective cybersecurity for pension plan sponsors and administrators;
the legal landscape with respect to protecting member data, points of vulnerability and potential risks from a breach in cyber defences;
what the threat looks like to pension plan sponsors, administrators and members and beneficiaries;
pragmatic steps plan administrators and sponsors can take to prepare, protect critical information and improve cybersecurity.

Environmental Changes, the impact of CO2 emissions   simultaneous translation

Jean Michaud, Managing Director, CoreCommodity Management, LLC

Session description:
The electric car is presented as the solution to the CO2 problem. We will see that CO2 emissions from light transportation (e.g. personal vehicles) represent only a small fraction of CO2 emissions.
Also, in most regions of the world a significant part of the power is produced from coal. Therefore, we have to ask ourselves if coal-derived power contributes to reduce CO2 emissions. The manufacturing of electric cars’ batteries is also a major source of CO2 emissions. A recent study commissioned by the Swedish Department of Transport shed some light on this issue… 

S1- Pension 

The Evolving Pension Landscape  simultaneous translation 

Richard Bourget,FSA, FCIA, Senior Partner, Normandin Beaudry, Actuaires conseil inc
Paul Owens , Deputy Superintendent of Pensions -  Alberta   
Lester Wong, Deputy Superintendent of Pensions - Ontario  

Moderator: René Beaudry, FSA, FCIA, Senior Partner, Normandin Beaudry, Actuaires conseil inc 

Session description:
Pension laws and regulations have significantly changed in Canada in recent years.  While pension plan sponsors were facing challenging times, the pension industry and provincial and federal regulators were actively working at finding solutions to the evolving pension coverage problems.
Two regulators and a pension expert from three different provinces will highlight common points of their different provincial agendas. They will discuss the substantial recent and rather parallel evolution of the provincial funding rules in Quebec and Ontario, that were in part inspired by Alberta rules. They will also share their thoughts on what lies ahead in their respective jurisdictions.

Participants will:

1. Gain a better understanding of the new funding rules for Defined Benefits pension plans.

2. Hear what are the current hot topics for regulators in Alberta, Ontario and Québec.

3. Understand, with concrete examples, how regulators cooperate together to ensure the most uniform pension landscape possible.

4. Be able to ask direct questions, and get candid answers, on how the risk management of DB plans is rapidly evolving, and what this entails for their realistic future.

Who should attend this session:

Plan sponsors, pension consultants, and anyone who believes DB plans are gone (so they
do not wonder 10 years from now what it is they did not anticipate or were not told).

S2- Benefits

The workforce of the future: A roadmap for benefits professionals

Ofelia Isabel, Director, Client Management Willis Towers Watson

Session description:
Today’s workplace is undergoing a rapid and historic transformation. Technology, artificial intelligence and robotics are changing how work gets done, eliminating some jobs while creating new ones, and providing organizations with a variety of new opportunities. Although it’s an exciting new world, it also means that the workforces organizations will be managing in the future will be even more complex than they are today, and that workforce is going to have greater expectations from their employer.

In light of this pace of change we’re seeing organizations start to rethink their benefits programs to appeal to a wider audience and treat your employees like consumers. Using examples and case studies we’ll share what leading organizations are doing to live up to employee expectations and make use of the tools and resources now available.

In this session, we’ll share an overview of how technology is shaping the workplace of the future, what this means for organizations and for how we design and deliver benefits programs.

S3- Investment  

Private Debt – Investor and Lender Perspectives

Sean Rogister, CEO, Cortland Credit

Session description:
A recent trend in the investment industry is the clear increase in demand for private debt strategies. This reflects the potential for improved premiums, historical data showing strong risk adjusted returns and diversification benefits due to incorporation of floating rate based pricing along with exposures otherwise unavailable to managers who’ve traditionally focused on public market strategies. Challenges include identifying origination risks, opaque exposure data, poor price discovery processes, improper exposure classification, comparatively high fees and working within investment guidelines that have yet to contemplate the risk category.

Participants will learn:
What are the major categories of private debt available in Canadian capital markets;
What are the critical components of the fund manager’s lending process;
What are the key risk issues; and
How have investment guidelines been adapted to allow exposures to the asset class.

Target audience:
Portfolio managers looking to drill into the investment process as well as operations and risk management staff looking to better understand the asset class.

SF2- Collectif   

Présent ou absent! Quel choix vos employés feront-ils demain? 

Johanne Potvin,  CRHA, Consultante principale, JPotvin Santé/Productivité au travail

De nos jours, la gestion des absences et des invalidités occupe une partie importante du temps consacré à la gestion du personnel. Avec un taux d’incidence au-delà de 10 %, les absences et les invalidités ne sont pas seulement une dépense considérable, elles sont aussi un casse-tête quotidien pour les opérations. 

Plusieurs facteurs sont en cause et même si le sujet est complexe, notamment en raison des nombreux enjeux liés au stress et à la santé mentale, il est possible d’infléchir la tendance et mieux en contrôler la fréquence et la gravité.
Au cours de la conférence, vous apprendrez comment organiser une défensive efficace et qu’elles sont les meilleures pratiques à mettre en œuvre pour des résultats optimaux.

Les participants vont apprendre à:

1. Identifier les facteurs individuels et organisationnels qui influencent l’absentéisme et la prolongation des invalidités
2. Connaître les actions qui permettent d’améliorer la productivité et la performance des équipes de travail
3. Être en mesure de soutenir les gestionnaires opérationnels pour qu’ils adoptent des pratiques de gestion Concevoir un plan d’action visant le développement d’une « Culture de présence au travail optimale »

S4- Pension

Be it Resolved: Members Should Not Have Investment Choices in DC Pension Plans

Murray T.A. Campbell, Partner, Lawson Lundell LLP
Mitch Frazer, Partner, Torys LLP

Moderator: Deron Waldock, Partner, McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Session description:
Most sponsors of DC pension plans in Canada provide members with investment choice.  Is this a good idea or a bad idea?  Our two debaters will hash this out from a number of different perspectives, including [legal, financial and human resource management perspectives].  

S5- Benefits

The Cannabis Craze and other drugs of abuse: As an Employer – What Do I Do?!

simultaneous translation

Nadine Wentzell,  Workplace Drug and alcohol Consultant

Session Description:
Regardless of whether your employees are using marijuana for medical purposes or recreationally,
the health and safety implications for workplaces are many. And where there’s smoke, there’s firepardon the pun. There are other substances of abuse that are in your workplace that add to the problem. Managing this complex topic requires specialized knowledge in several key areas: how marijuana differs from alcohol in its impairing effects; the role of a drug and alcohol policy; and, strategies for effective management in the workplace. This session is designed to provide you with tools to educate your workforce, protect your organization and mitigate overall risk. Current best practices will be presented and discussed.

Learning Objectives:
a. Understand how marijuana differs from alcohol it its intoxicating and impairing effects
b. Appreciate the essential role of a drug and alcohol policy
c. Identify practical strategies to apply in the workplace.

Target Audience:
Employers – CEOs/GMs and senior leadership teams; Health and Safety Professionals; Human Resource Professionals; Occupational Health professionals, managers and specialists; Health and Wellness specialists; Disability Case Managers; and, anyone else with an interest and motivation to take action based on the best evidence and best practices.

S6- Investment  

How currency overlay can help  in the changing the role of fixed income 

Micheal Sager, PH.D., Vice-President, Client Portfolio Manager - Asset Allocation & Currency Management

Session description:
Faced with low yields,  rising  inflation,  changing pension rules and equity friendly tax reforms, fixed income investors have to rethink the role of fixed  income in their portfolio.  Is this the time to finally bet against bonds?  Or is there still  a way to achieve a reasonable level of yield while making your portfolio more resilient to the risks of various potential outcomes?

SF3- Retraite  

Politique de financement   

Jerome Bellavance, Conseiller Principal, Mercer   
Karine Bellavance, Conseillère, Mercer

Description de la séance:

La Loi sur les régimes complémentaires de retraite du Québec exige dorénavant l’adoption d’une politique de financement pour les régimes de retraite à prestations déterminées. Cette présentation explore différents enjeux actuariels et légaux en lien avec cette politique de financement. 

Objectif d'aprentissage:

1. Meilleure compréhension générale de la politique de financement
2. Meilleure compréhension du rôle de la politique de financement à titre d’élément de la stratégie globale de gestion financière du régime
3. Enjeux liés à l’élaboration et l’adoption de la politique de financement
4. Application de la politique de financement

Auditoire cible:

Conseillers en régimes de retraite et parrains/administrateurs de régimes de retraite

S7- Pension

Replacing the Replacement Rate: How Much is "ENOUGH" Retirement Income?    simultaneous translation

Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald, PhD FSA., Senior Research Fellow of the National Institute on Ageing (NIA), Ryerson University and resident scholar at Eckler Ltd

Session Description:

For years, the standard for measuring retirement income adequacy has been the final earnings replacement rate (usually targeted at 70%). Financial planners, actuaries, pension plan advisors, academics and public policy analysts all use this benchmark. It’s the measure that underlies our pension systems, drives the research that determines whether populations are prepared (or not) for retirement and serves as the backbone of retirement planning software.

But the question is, does it work? Will 70% of a worker’s final annual employment earnings actually sustain his or her living standards after retirement?

This presentation examines whether workers who hit this target actually can expect to maintain their living standards in retirement. Bonnie-Jeanne will also discuss an alternative, more accurate, basis for assessing how well a worker’s living standards are maintained after retirement - the Living Standards Replacement Rate. Based on ten years of research and analysis in industry, academia, and government, this presentation answers the often posed but never answered question "how much is ENOUGH retirement income?"

This award-winning work been receiving media attention and is now being used in the “real world” financial retirement service industry. It continues to gain traction in industry, government, academia, professional associations and popular media – in both Canada and around the world.

Participants will:

1. Understand retirement income adequacy
2. Discover the validity of the conventional final earnings replacement rate
3. Learn an alternative, and more accurate, way to measure retirement income adequacy
4. Find out how to help Canadians to get clarity on how to prepare for retirement

S8- Benefits

Impact of financial wellness on workplace mental health: strategies for tomorrow’s workplace 

Georgia Pomaki,  Leader, Mental Health Specialists, Manulife
Lisa Callaghan, Vice President, Strategy, Marketing and Communications, Manulife Institutional Markets

Session description:
It’s well understood how human emotions play a role, both positive and negative, in physical and mental health. The surprising new finding is that these same emotions can sometimes act as barriers for people struggling with financial problems.

Lisa Callaghan will share Manulife’s latest research revealing that the impacts of emotional barriers to financial wellness are far-reaching. While important, education and financial literacy programs aren’t enough to help the large percentage of Canadians who are financially unwell.

Georgia Pomaki will discuss what organizations can do to help their employees now and in the future. She will focus on the positive change we can bring when we apply practical and evidence-based strategies for workplace mental health.

Who should attend:

Benefit and pension providers, HR professionals, disability management professionals, advisors, managers, employer representatives, union representatives, employee advocates, healthcare professional.

S9- Investment

Back to Basics – GOALS AND PROMISES

Michel Jalbert, Senior Vice-President, Business Development & Client Partnerships,  Addenda Capital
Peter Muldowney,  Senior Vice President, Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group Ltd.

Session description
The whole reason of being for a pension plan, no matter which type, is to meet the pension promise. However, delivering such promise is so far into the future and includes other forms of wealth accumulation that we can lose sight of the ultimate goal. Moreover, there’s a wave of individual capital accumulation plan participants reaching retirement and entering the decumulation phase of their savings. The environment is changing, but what about the approach to investing?

This session will look at ways to improve the chances of meeting the pension promise, including:

• Going back to basics and challenging the traditional way of building investment portfolios;
• Demonstrating that there is no-one size fits all approach to asset mix;
• Looking at a goal-based investing approach to meet these challenges particularly in the decumulation phase;
• Understanding the impact of a maturing plan has on investment risk tolerance and time horizon,; and
• Looking at less discussed risks and why they are important to meet the pension promise.
  

Participants will learn:

• Challenging the traditional way of thinking about asset strategy
• Appreciating how goals-based investing works and how it could apply to different situations;
• Understanding the impact of a maturing membership when determining asset strategy; and
• Appreciating the timing considerations when making changes to asset strategy, especially when potentially facing lower future investment returns.

Who should attend

DB and DC committee members, investment managers, consultants, insurance company managers

SF6- Collectif 

Gestions intelligente des medicaments 

Johanne Brosseau, B.Sc., M.B.A., Experte en assurance médicaments, ConusltMED inc.

Description de la séance:

1) Adoption des meilleures pratiques
2) Modification des règles de mise en commun

Les objectifs d’apprentissage sont de permettre aux participants de :

1) Identifier les meilleures pratiques et motiver les participants à les adopter
2) Expliquer les règles actuelles de mises en commun et les raisons qui justifient qu’elles soient modifiées
3) Faire le lien entre meilleures pratiques, mise en commun, biosimilaires et National Pharmacare
4) Remettre en question leur propre gestion de l’assurance médicaments

Auditoire cible : promoteurs (syndicats et employeurs), assureurs, conseillers en assurance collective

S10- Pension

Quick Hits: 5 ideas about pensions in 50 minutes    simultaneous translation

Jason Vary,  President, Actuarial Solutions Inc.

Session Description
What does enhanced CPP/QPP mean for employers? What does the DC industry need to do next? What is good, bad and ugly with the new DB pension funding rules across Canada?

Speaker, Jason Vary is an actuary with 20+ years of experience with defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans in Canada. Always entertaining and not afraid to tell you what’s really on his mind, come hear Jason share his thoughts on these questions and more.

Participants will:

Understand what they need to do next in preparation for 2019 when enhanced C/QPP begins to phase in.
Get ideas on how to better serve DC pension plan members.
Gain insights on the new funding rules for DB pension plans.
Have the opportunity to ask questions and debate topics with an actuary who is passionate about retirement issues.

Who should attend:

Everyone who sponsors, consults or provides services to DB or DC pension plans, plus anyone else who wants to hear what an actuary really thinks

S11- Benefits

Evolving Disability practices

Melanie Jeannotte, Area President, Gallagher Benefit Services (Canada) Group, Inc.

Session description: 

Incidence and duration of disability is on the rise, mental health claims are more prevalent, and despite the growing risks in these areas there is little market data to inform and evolve plan sponsor’s disability strategies.
In recognizing this gap, we have taken steps to form disability working groups to help peers within an industry compare disability policy and processes with an aim of determining future gaps in risk and setting the stage for best practices.
We will share some of the insights gained from the working group participants including disability misconceptions, disability management, impact of disability to compensation and retirement programs, along with legal and HR concerns.
Disability risks will continue to rise unless proactive steps are taken to fully understand this complex realm that impacts a multitude of employer concerns.

Participants will leave with:

• more thorough understanding of the disability landscape;
• insights into effectively targeting specific aspects of disability for strategic development with guidelines to building out a framework for policy and process (i.e. Policy and process checklists);
• next steps to help reduce incidence and duration of disability for plan stability

Target Audience:

HR Professionals with Benefits Responsibilities, Benefits Advisors & Consultants, Disability Management Specialists, and Anyone who wants to learn more about in-depth disability policy best practices.

S12- Investment 

Emerging Markets Equities: Challenges and Opportunities

James Upton, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley

Session's Description

 With many assets across the globe at record valuations and two years of robust returns for Emerging Markets equities behind us, new perceived risks—from talk of trade wars to rising rates in the developed world—are contributing to the return of volatility. In contrast to the narrow leadership from the Technology sector in 2017, equity returns in Emerging Markets will increasingly depend on the ability to distinguish where economic growth is still accelerating, minimize exposure to decelerating economies and capitalize on large disparities in currency valuations, which has accounted for a third of returns in Emerging Markets over time. The EM asset class offers compelling returns over the next three to four years. Countries and sectors that have been overlooked are poised for strongest performance.

Participants will leave with

1. A comprehensive understanding of why Emerging Markets equities are compelling
2. Guidance on how much allocation to EM global asset allocators should have
3. Perspective on Technology after its robust return in 2017 and insight into overlooked financials and consumer sectors
4. A framework on how to analyze why some countries have improving economic growth and others face slowing growth
5. Insight into cheap and expensive currencies in EM

SF8- Collectif 

Incidence du bien-être financier sur la santé mentale au travail : stratégies sur le milieu de travail de demain

David Blais, Leader, Disability Management Consultants, Manuvie   

Description de la séance: 

Il est bien connu que les émotions humaines jouent un rôle, positif et négatif, sur la santé physique et mentale. Une nouvelle découverte étonnante nous apprend que ces mêmes émotions peuvent parfois être obstacles pour les personnes aux prises avec des difficultés financières.

Cette séance nous fera part de la dernière recherche de Manuvie qui fait ressortir que les incidences des barrières émotives sur le bien-être financier sont considérables. Bien qu’ils soient des éléments importants, l’éducation et les programmes de littéracie financière ne suffisent pas à aider le fort pourcentage de Canadiens qui sont en mauvaise santé financière.

De plus on discutera de ce que les organisations peuvent faire pour aider leurs employés, maintenant et dans l’avenir. Elle mettra l’accent sur les changements positifs que nous pouvons apporter à la santé mentale en milieu de travail lorsque nous appliquons des stratégies pratiques et fondées des données probantes.

S13 - Pension

Bold Ideas for Mending the Savings Gap

Jillian Kennedy, Leader of Canadian DC and Financial Wellness, Mercer 

Session Description
Retirement systems play a critical role in the economy and the overall financial security of individual employees. Increasingly there has been a shift of responsibility associated with retirement savings to the individual, where in the past this responsibility was shared among many stakeholders. The impact of this shift has caused an increasing gap in what an employee should save vs. what is actually being saved and the gap will continue to increase at a surprising rate without intervention. Mercer will review the challenges of current retirement systems, how big the savings gap really is and key findings and principles to mend the gap. The perspective will focus on the Canadian market with information on the global market and overall learnings and challenges in review of how Canadian employees compare across the globe and what we can learn about improving our retirement system.

Learning Description

1. Findings from the World Economic Forum global survey and session in May 2017
2. Why a savings gap exists and how an employer can support employees
3. Global trends and how Canadians compare
4. Actions that can be taken to close the savings gap

Who should attend
This session will appeal to all members of an organization that are responsible for DC Plan governance, from Human Resources to members of a Pension/Retirement Committee 

S14 - Benefits

National Pharmacare: Why Should You Care  I  
simultaneous translation

Barbara Martinez, Practice Leader, Benefits Solutions, The Great-West Life Assurance Company 
Johanne Brosseau, Expert in group insurance,  ConsultMed 
Marc Desgagné, President, Group Insurance Committee, SPUL - Université Laval Teachers' Union     
Joe Farago: Executive Director, Healthcare Innovation, Innovative Medicines Canada 
Speaker 4, TBC 

Moderator: Renée Couture, Senior Account Manager, OTIP

S15 - Investment  

When is the next market crash?

Benoit Poliquin, Exponent
Stéphane Amara, CFA, CAIA, Director, Senior Relationship Manager, Allianz Global Investors
Dan Elsberry, Senior Managing Director, K2 Advisors, Franklin Templeton

Moderator: Tyler Smith, Senior Consultant, Coughlin & Associates Ltd

SF9- Retraite / placement 

L’investissement en fonction des objectifs: Penser différemment

Michel Jalbert, Senior Vice-President, Business Development & Client Partnerships,   Addenda Capital 

S17- Pension 

Global Pension Risks  

Tom Ault, Partner, Aon Hewitt

Session description:
What strategies are global sponsors taking to manage pension risk around the world? How does this compare and contrast with Canadian pension plans? 

Drawing from the Aon Global Pension Risk Survey this session will highlight the key pension risk trends in Canada. This session also look further afield to the UK and US looking at the trends in these jurisdictions to see what innovative solutions might be next for Canada.
The session will provide a practical understanding of both what Canadian sponsors have been doing, but also what we expect to see over the comings years – with global points of reference where applicable.
For sponsors wanting to understand what other plans are doing to manage risk, both in Canada and the world, this session is key.

S18- Benefits

National Pharmacare: Why Should You Care  II  
simultaneous translation

Barbara Martinez, Practice Leader, Benefits Solutions, The Great-West Life Assurance Company 
Johanne Brosseau, Expert in group insurance,  ConsultMed 
Marc Desgagné, President, Group Insurance Committee, SPUL - Université Laval Teachers' Union   
Joe Farago: Executive Director, Healthcare Innovation, Innovative Medicines Canada 
Speaker 4, TBC 

Moderator: Renée Couture, Senior Account Manager, OTIP

S19 - Investment

Panel on ESG 

ESG Panel 

Alka Banerjee,  Managing Director, Head of Product Management, S&P Dow Jones Indices
Nicole Martin,  Senior Director, Canadian Corporate Ratings, S&P Global Ratings
Marcus Turner, Director and Senior Investment Consultant, Towers Watson 

SF11-  Retraite / placement 

Solutions audacieuses au déficit d’épargne à long terme 

Dominique Lavoie, FSA, FCIA,  Pension Consultant, Mercer