People

Key Players in the Industry

AllianceBernstein
Bradlee Berk has joined the Canadian team of AllianceBernstein to work with institutional clients including pension funds, foundations, and endowments. She has been with AllianceBernstein since early 2010. Prior to this, she worked in the equity derivatives group of Societe General Corporate and Investment Banking.

Aviva
Jean-Francois Milette is managing director, institutional sales, for Aviva Investors. Based in Toronto, ON, he will be responsible for its business development activities in Canada. Previously, he was an associate partner with Aon Hewitt.

Brookfield
Brian Lawson, senior managing partner and chief financial officer of Brookfield Asset Management, has been selected as ‘Canada's CFO of the Year for 2013.’ He earned the award from an independent committee composed of several prominent members of Canada's business community. The judging criteria looked at factors such as vision and leadership and corporate reporting and performance. He has been with Brookfield Asset Management since 1988, initially focusing on restructuring, merchant banking and investment banking operations until his appointment as CFO in 2002. The award is presented annually by Financial Executives International Canada (FEI Canada), PwC, and Robert Half International.

Buck
Julie Holden is client strategy and growth leader for Canada for Buck Consultants. Most recently, she was health and productivity leader for the Ontario market for another consulting firm.

INTEGRIS
Gavin Graham is chief strategy officer at INTEGRIS Pension Management Corp. He brings more than 30 years of investment experience to the position including a 10-year tenure as chief investment officer of the Guardian Group of Funds and as director of investments at BMO Asset Management.

Ivanhoé
Claude Sirois and Roman Drohomirecki are co-chief operating officer at Ivanhoé Cambridge. Sirois is also executive vice-president, Quebec, and Drohomirecki is executive vice-president, central and western regions. Sirois was executive vice-president, commercial investment and emerging markets, and Drohomirecki was executive vice-president, operations, central and western North America. Jean Laramée, senior vice-president, eastern North American portfolio, is senior vice-president, Quebec real estate capital. Louis Voizard, vice-president, asset management, emerging markets, is senior vice-president, emerging markets. is executive vice-president, legal affairs and general counsel. He will hold overall responsibility for legal affairs and will focus, among other things, on aspects related to acquisitions and asset sales, as well as on partnerships and other investments, financing, investment funds, and real estate development. He was previously a senior partner at Fasken Martineau Dumoulin.

Invesco
Christine Tessier is assistant vice-president, institutional product management and development, at Invesco Canada. In this role, she will drive the identification and development of new institutional investment strategies and vehicles to meet the evolving needs of institutional investors in Canada. Previously, she was a principal at Mercer Investments.

Manulife
Toms Lokmanis (CFA, CAIA) is managing director on the institutional sales team at Manulife Asset Management. Based in Toronto, ON, he will be responsible for covering the Canadian small- to mid-sized institutional plan market. Most recently, he served as an investment specialist with Industrial Alliance, promoting investment solutions to corporate pension plans, consultants, and brokers.

Mackenzie
John Black is senior vice-president, U.S. business development, at Mackenzie Institutional. He draws on more than 22 years of institutional experience with an extensive background in business development and relationship management. Most recently, he served as vice-president, business development, with a major global institutional manager.

Mercer
Alan Kyte is principal and pharmacy specialist for the health and benefits business in central Canada at Mercer. A licensed pharmacist, he has worked in healthcare for more than 25 years. Most recently, he was employed by a Canadian healthcare benefits provider as director, communications and stakeholder initiatives. Jaqui Parchment is investments business leader for Canada. She returns to the firm after a stint as sales executive and executive director – consultant relations at UBS Global Asset Management.

People
Jason Ovsenny is senior benefit consultant at People Corporation. He brings more than 16 years of industry experience to this role. Prior to joining the company's subsidiary HealthSource Plus Inc. in 2004, he worked in an underwriting capacity with two of Canada's large national carriers. Yacine Bara (FSA, FCIA) is national director of underwriting. He comes to the company with eight years' of industry experience, having previously held a variety of roles with a large national carrier.

OMERS Ventures
George Babu is joining OMERS Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of the OMERS pension plan, as director. In this role, he will identify and execute investment opportunities in the technology, media, and telecommunications sectors, with a focus on human-computer interfaces, hardware platforms, mobile, and enterprise software. Prior to joining OMERS Ventures, he acted as general counsel and head of U.S. operations for Stockholm, Sweden-based social gifting startup Wrapp, where he negotiated key partnerships and built out the U.S. teams.

Shepell•fgi
Cynthia Kinsella is vice-president of employee support solutions (ESS), western region, for Shepell•fgi. In this position, she is responsible for overall sales and account management of the ESS organization in western Canada and the Northwest Territories. She was most recently vice-president and general manager of EAP and well-being services at PPC Worldwide Canada, a division of OptumHealth.

SLI
William Secnik is a fund manager with Standard Life Investments (Real Estate) Inc. (SLIRE). Secnik has more than 17 years of progressive experience focused on national real estate investments. Emmanuel Matte is senior vice-president, investment solutions, at Standard Life Investments. He has several years of experience in the financial industry in Canada and the United States as an asset consultant and investment manager. He joined Standard Life Investments in 2009.

Towers Watson
Michel Tougas is managing director for Towers Watson Canada. He has 25 years of experience working with finance and human resource executives from Canada’s largest employers. He will be responsible for providing strategic direction for its Canadian offices.