Vestcor Client Forum 2024
We hosted our annual in-person Client Forum on June 17 and 18, 2024 in Fredericton, NB.
The two-day event kicked-off with a meet and greet on Monday, June 17. Our Chairperson shared updates and introduced our new President and CEO, management team and Board of Directors.
On June 18th, we launched our most recent Annual Report, as per tradition, and offered a series of educational presentations and operational updates from staff across the organization. A keynote speaker joined us from MSCI, a leading investment research firm, to speak on ESG.
4:00 pm Meet & Greet
Join us between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm for a welcome reception – beverages and appetizers will be served.
Network with peers, Vestcor’s staff and Board, and meet our new President and CEO.
Tours of Vestcor Inc.’s head office will be offered.
Please note the location is Vestcor’s office at 140 Carleton Street.
8:00 am Registration Opens
8:00 am Breakfast Buffet (Grand Ballrooms A & B)
8:30 am Client Forum Presentations
A detailed agenda will be provided to registrants. This year’s Forum features the following.
- Opening Remarks, Sean Hewitt, President and CEO
- 2023 Highlights: An Overview of Vestor’s Annual Report, Brent Henry, CFO
- Client Survey Results, Marilyn McConnell, Chief Pensions and Benefits Administration Officer
- Investment Landscape: Fireside Chat with Vestcor’s Investment Team
- Total Portfolio Strategy – Jon Spinney, CIO and VP Quantitative Investing
- Equity Team – Mark Holleran, VP Equity
- Fixed Income Team – Chris Cockeram, Sr. Portfolio Manager
- Real Assets Team – Dan Goguen, VP Real Assets
- Quantitative Investment Team – Pete Syroid, Sr. Portfolio Manager
- Moderator: Sean Hewitt, President and CEO
10:30 am Break
- Member Communications: Building Trust, Elizabeth-Anne McCleave, Director Communications
- Vestcor’s Service Organization Controls (SOC) Report: A Valuable Tool for You and Your Auditors, Brent Henry, CFO
- Key Note Speaker – ESG: Climate Trends, Themes and Developments – Mark Biondi, Vice President, ESG Client Consultant, MSCI and Francesco Faiola, Managing Director, Canada Country Head, MSCI
12:15 pm Buffet Lunch | Networking (Grand Ballrooms A & B)
Francesco Faiola is a Managing Director of MSCI based in Toronto and the Country Head for Canada. He leads the vision, the business strategy and the team aimed to strengthen and expand the positioning of MSCI solutions (index and benchmarks, portfolio construction and risk management analytics, ESG & Climate solutions, and private asset content and research) with the Canadian investment community. Francesco is also responsible for managing the MSCI business with Canadian Asset Owners using MSCI Analytics at the core of their investment risk governance and portfolio construction framework.
Before relocating to Canada in 2013, Francesco spent 9 years with MSCI in Paris, most recently managing the relationships with the largest Pension Funds across The Netherlands, U.K., Denmark and Southern Europe.
Prior to joining MSCI in 2004, Francesco worked at Moody’s Investors Service in London and Paris where he covered multiple senior roles, including Head of Business Development for Fund Ratings in Europe and VP – Senior Analyst. Francesco started his professional career with client relationship management roles at the global custody unit of JPMorgan in Brussels (today BoNY Mellon).
Francesco graduated in Finance from Bocconi University in Milan. He is part of the Steering Committee for the PRMIA Chapter in Montreal and for the Bocconi Alumni Association in Toronto.
Mark Biondi is an ESG & Climate Consultant and Vice President on MSCI’s Client Coverage team in Canada.
Mark joined MSCI in 2022 and covers Canadian asset owner and asset manager clients. In his role, Mark offers insight into market and regulatory updates, MSCI product knowledge and integration of Sustainability and Climate solutions into clients’ investment portfolios.
Prior to joining MSCI, Mark spent 8 years at a Canadian-based asset manager. He worked within the fixed income team, where he contributed to ESG research and engagement efforts.
Mark is a CFA charterholder and recipient of SASB’s FSA Credential.
Sean Hewitt is the President and Chief Executive Officer for Vestcor Inc. Sean was appointed to this role earlier this year, and joined the organization in April.
A CFA charterholder and ICD.D, Sean has twenty years of progressive experience in the pension and investment industries. Most recently, Sean was the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Pension Plan, where he led the establishment of the full-service independent organization upon the conversion of the TTC Pension Plan to a jointly sponsored plan. Sean was instrumental in assembling the TTC Pension Plan’s senior leadership team, and developing its strategic approach with a specialized focus on member service excellency and investment management.
Originally from Calgary, AB, Sean obtained a BA in Economics from the University of Calgary. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Pension Investment Association of Canada and, until recently, a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Committee for Pensions at the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario.
Brent Henry is the Chief Financial Officer and VP Finance at Vestcor Inc. (formerly N.B. Investment Management Corporation – NBIMC) and is responsible for oversight of the day-to-day operations and financial reporting of Vestcor’s corporate entity, the Vestcor Investment Entities, and our clients, as well as the operations and reporting of Vestcor’s investment performance measurement team. He is also responsible for maintaining Vestcor’s internal controls and oversight of the information technology team.
Prior to joining Vestcor Brent worked as a Senior Accountant with a Big Four accounting firm in Saint John, New Brunswick. He joined Vestcor NBIMC in 2008 as a member of the Fund Accounting Team, was the Director of Finance Operations from 2012 to 2021 and has been the Chief Financial Officer and VP Finance since 2021.
A native of New Maryland, New Brunswick, Brent obtained his Chartered Professional Accountant (Chartered Accountant) designation from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2008. Brent has a Bachelor of Business Administration with a minor in Economics and a concentration in Accounting from the University of New Brunswick. He is a member of the St. Thomas University Board of Governors.
Marilyn McConnell is the Chief Pensions and Benefits Operations Officer at Vestcor Inc. and is responsible for the oversight of the day-to-day operations of the Pension and Benefits Administration Entity.
Marilyn started with GNB’s former Pensions Division (with Department of Finance) working in Financial Services in 2000. During the years 2000 to 2019, she held a variety of positions throughout the Administration Division until becoming the Chief Pensions and Benefits Operations Officer in 2019.
Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Marilyn moved to Fredericton in 1994 and received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of New Brunswick. Marilyn also completed the Humber College Pension Plan Administration Certificate in 2002 and obtained her Chartered Professional Accountant designation through CGA NB in 2005.
Jon is the Chief Investment Officer and directs the asset mix and risk research agenda for the firm. Additionally, as VP Quantitative Investing, he is also responsible for the implementation and management of all quantitative strategies.
Jon started his career as a fixed income and derivatives analyst at the N.S. Department of Finance before joining the Research Team of NBIMC as an Analyst in 2004. Subsequently, he held additional positions including Portfolio Manager and Senior Portfolio Manager within the firm’s Equity Team before assuming the position of VP Quantitative Investing & Applied Research.
A native of Nova Scotia, Jon has an MS in Applied Mathematics/Computational Finance from the University of Washington and additionally holds and M.B.A. as well as qualifications in Economics and Finance. Jon is a CFA charter-holder and from 2013-2016 was a Board Member of the Atlantic CFA Society. He is a current Board member of Hillsdale Investment Management. In addition, he works with the University of New Brunswick as both a member of the Sponsor Advisory Board for the Center for Financial Studies and as an Adjunct Professor in the Masters in Quantitative Investment Management program.
Mark Holleran is the Vice President of Equities at Vestcor Inc. (formerly New Brunswick Investment Management Corp.). He is responsible for passive equity exposure, private equity, and internal alternative investment active strategies.
A native of New Brunswick, Mark has over 30 years of institutional investment experience on the buy and sellside, starting his career in Toronto with Richardson Greenshields and Scotia Capital, with the past 20 years at Vestcor.
Mark is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and holds a Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designation. He is the Past-President of the Buy-Side Investment Management Association (BIMA) and serves on the Board of Directors for the YMCA of Fredericton Endowment Fund and the Miramichi Salmon Association (MSA). Mark was a co-instructor for the University of New Brunswick’s Student Investment Fund.
Chris is the Senior Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income, for Vestcor Inc. He oversees all investment activities in the areas of fixed income, including bonds and short-term investments.
Chris joined Vestcor in 2020 and brings over 10 years of trading experience relating to fundamental analysis, valuation, and hedge funds. He is currently the lead manager of the Corporate Bond Fund. Additionally, he is assisting the CIO in leading the Fixed Income team and in creating a transition plan after the departure of the prior Fixed Income Vice-President.
A native of New Brunswick, Chris has a B.Sc. from the University of New Brunswick, and an MBA from Dalhousie with a focus on finance. He is also a CFA Charterholder as of 2018.
Dan Goguen is the Vice-President, Real Assets, for Vestcor, Inc. As head of the group, he is responsible for all investment activities in the areas of real estate and infrastructure.
During 2015, Dan served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Pension Investment Association of Canada and is a member of the Investment Practices Committee as well as its Alternatives Working Group. In addition, he is a member of the board of the Université de Moncton and a member of its Investment Committee.
Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Université de Moncton, obtained his Chartered Accountant’s designation in 1992, is a member of the Global Association of Risk Professionals and holds the FRM designation.
Peter Syroid is the Senior Portfolio Manager, Quantitative Investing, for Vestcor Inc. Peter heads the team responsible for the implementation and management of the organization’s quantitative strategies.
A CFA charterholder, Peter has been with the organization for 20 years, spending many years within the Equity team before transitioning to the Quantitative Investing team in 2024. Prior to working with Vestcor, Peter worked as a sales engineer in Calgary, AB.
Originally from Fredericton, NB, Peter obtained a BSc Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from the University of New Brunswick. He was appointed to the Board of Governors of the University of New Brunswick in 2021, where he is also an instructor through the Faculty of Management. Peter is a past president of the UNB Associated Alumni, serving on the Council for several years. He is also a former director of the CFA Society Atlantic Canada chapter.
Elizabeth-Anne (Liz) McCleave is the Director Communications at Vestcor Inc. In this role since December 2016, Liz has led the development and implementation of effective communication strategies for Vestcor and its’ clients, while focusing on optimization of the corporate Communications Team through strategy and innovation.
Liz completed a BBA with Honours in Finance from the University of New Brunswick. Shifting her focus to Marketing, she then completed an MBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. In 2009, she earned the title of Canada’s Next Top Ad Executive, a national marketing communications competition held by McMaster’s DeGroote School of Business and Volkswagen Canada. Since then, Liz has held communication roles in the public and private sector, including New Brunswick’s Department of Tourism, Corey Nutrition Company, UNB Alumni Office, and her own consulting practice. In addition, Liz was a part-time instructor in the Centre for Arts and Technology’s Event Planning and Management Program and has recently completed the Humber College Pension Plan Administration Certificate (PPAC).