Focus 2024: a bright path forward
The Focus 2024 event recordings are now available. The webinar, held on March 26, 2024, offered three sessions:
Industry Watch – covered key insights from the 2023 Canadian group annuity market and what plan sponsors need to know in 2024.
SLC Management – focused on the value of private debt in liability-driven investment portfolios and how it helps to meet pension plan objectives.
Ottawa International Airport Authority and Normandin Beaudry – shared details on a successful de-risking journey involving inflation-linked annuity purchases.
A recording of each session is available below in the event agenda. The full webinar recording is also available.
What plan sponsors need to know
Brent Simmons, SVP & Head, DB Solutions, shares his top five takeaways for DB plan sponsors in this article.
Webinar agenda
Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Time: 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET
Event host - Brent Simmons, FSA, FCIA
Brent Simmons welcomes you to the session. He will set the stage for our guest speakers, introducing them and the important topics for discussion. He’ll also share how you can get involved in the webinar session.
Brent Simmons, FSA, FCIA
Brent leads Sun Life’s Defined Benefit Solutions team, which helps some of Canada’s largest employers manage the risks in their defined benefit pension plans with innovative, customized solutions that address the specific challenges of each plan sponsor.
With over 25 years of experience in the pension and insurance industry, Brent uses his unique blend of pension and life insurance actuarial knowledge to translate defined benefit pension problems into life insurance and investment solutions for plan sponsors. His experience includes liability driven investing (LDI), buy-out annuities, buy-in annuities, longevity insurance and de-risking defined benefit pension plans.
2023 DB Solutions’ Industry Watch
Canadian group annuity market hightlights
2023 was a busy year for the Canadian group annuity market! Group annuity volume remained strong in 2023, with $7.8 billion in transactions – similar to 2022. So, what made it different from previous years? Dive deep into the numbers with Umesh Haran to hear about the various industry trends and what they mean for industry stakeholders in 2024. Learn why now is still a great time to de-risk.
Umesh Haran
Umesh works closely with consultants and plan sponsors to understand their unique pension needs and challenges. He is committed to finding the right customized de-risking solution that meets their objectives. Prior to joining Sun Life in 2023, Umesh worked for a healthcare startup and before that, one of Canada’s leading pension consulting firms. Umesh is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.
SLC Management
The value of private debt in LDI portfolios
With recent improvements in funded status, many plan sponsors are looking to increase allocations to their fixed income portfolios to protect these gains. However, as the size of the fixed income allocation grows, it's important to ensure that the portfolio can keep up with the growth in liabilities. One of the solutions that plans can consider is increasing their allocation to private debt, which can offer liability-matching characteristics that can provide diversification while aiming to deliver excess spread relative to public bonds of comparable quality. Using case studies, this session will discuss how private debt can fit into an LDI framework to help meet pension plan objectives.
Neil Tai-Pow
Neil supports the development of customized investment solutions and oversees the production of analytics and management reporting for clients.
Prior to joining SLC Management in 2021, Neil worked at a leading Canadian consulting firm where he conducted asset liability studies and provided investment advisory services for a variety of institutional clients.
Neil holds an Honors Specialization in Actuarial Science from the University of Western Ontario, is a CFA Charterholder, and is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries.
Ottawa International Airport Authority
Reducing pension risk with inflation-linked annuities
With a future-forward view on pension benefits, Ottawa International Airport Authority was one of the first organizations to purchase an inflation-linked annuity solution in 2018. A driving factor to reduce pension risk was their desire to focus on their core business. This panel discussion will touch on how Ottawa International Airport Authority, along with their consultant firm Normandin Beaudry, successfully planned and executed three inflation-linked group annuity purchases to de-risk their DB plan.
Marie Desrochers
Marie works with consultants and plan sponsors to help reduce pension risk with customized solutions that uses a mix of traditional risk management products, innovative insurance offerings and liability driven investment solutions. Marie’s team is also responsible for providing pension risk transfer clients with exceptional service.
Marie joined Sun Life Financial’s Defined Benefit Solutions team in 2015, where she has worked on several innovative deals. Prior to joining Sun Life Financial, Marie worked for one of Canada’s leading pension consulting firm where she worked on all aspects related to the funding, accounting and administration of large pension plans across all jurisdictions in Canada. She was also involved in de-risking projects for her clients, such as plan design changes, deferred vested members buyouts, plan windups and annuity purchases. Marie graduated from Laval University in 2011 and is fully bilingual.
Rob Turpin, Ottawa International Airport Authority
Rob Turpin is the Vice-President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer for the Ottawa International Airport Authority. He is responsible for the development of the Authority’s financial and accounting information systems strategy, as well as managing financial relationships and strategies with airlines, investment banking community and rating agencies while developing, implementing and maintaining financial policies.
Rob received an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Ottawa and completed his CA designation and CPA (Illinois). He also completed the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and sits on the Board of Directors of CUSO International.
Rob has a strong global perspective through working on nearly every continent. He calls Ottawa home and enjoys outdoor sports or attending music events with his family
Lydia Audet,
A graduate of Concordia University, Lydia Audet joined Normandin Beaudry in 2011 and has been working in consulting since.
She now serves as a Principal in Normandin Beaudry’s Investment Consulting and Retirement teams. Over the years, she has gathered in-depth expertise in defined benefit pension plans, which brings extensive insight to her investment advices. Lydia also uses her organizational skills, agility, attention to detail and accountability to propose customized solutions to the most complex issues for her many clients, consisting of several major organizations in the federal, municipal and private sectors in Quebec. She supports organizations in deploying innovative strategies in risk reduction, investment and funding, actuarial valuations and accounting, including the Ottawa Airport, which she has been supporting for nearly 5 years.
Louis-Bernard Désilets
Louis-Bernard Désilets is a partner at Normandin Beaudry with 23 years of experience in pension consulting. He is in charge of Normandin Beaudry’s group of experts on annuity purchases. He works closely with insurers and Normandin Beaudry’s consultants and clients to structure optimized annuity transactions, allowing pension plan sponsors to seize market opportunities and achieve their risk transfer objectives. His expertise includes the development and monitoring of funding and risk management strategies, plan design, preparation of actuarial valuations and pension committee management. He has experience working with a wide variety of pension plans from the private and public sectors.
