Vestcor 2020 Client Forum/Speaker Series

Jennifer Ross Nicholson CPA, CA

Jen is a dynamic financial professional with over 25 years of experience in public practice, academia, government and industry. Jen is currently serving on the Board of the Nova Scotia Utilities and Review Board. Jen is the co-host of CPA Canada’s podcast series “CPA Success Podcast.” Jen brings to the classroom a broad skill set and experience in all key facets of an organization including operations management, strategic planning, business development, finance, accounting, investor relations, human resources, and project management. Jen has a passion for making finance more attainable, whether it’s working to articulate strategy in a financial context, bringing clarity to financial communication or teaching accounting to university students. Jen’s career epitomizes the diverse experiences and roles that CPAs play in industry – from financial to operational leadership.

Jan Imeson, Chief Financial Officer, Vestcor

Jan has been the Chief Financial Officer for Vestcor since April 2007. She began her professional career in 1978 with Clarkson Gordon (now Ernst & Young LLP) in their Toronto, Ontario office, becoming a Partner in 1990, servicing medium-sized, growing entrepreneurial clients in the high technology and venture capital industries. In 1996, Jan accepted a position as Vice President & Controller with The Maritime Life Assurance Company, a publicly traded Canadian life insurance subsidiary of Boston-based John Hancock Financial Services with over $28 billion of general fund and segregated fund assets under management. Following the takeover of John Hancock by Manulife Financial Services in 2004, Jan served for three years as Chief Financial Officer for a publicly traded investment holding company based in Halifax, NS before assuming her current role at Vestcor.

Jan obtained her Bachelor of Business Administration from Ryerson Polytechnical University and her Chartered Accountant designation in 1981. She has served as a director on several private company boards as well as President of the Nova Scotia Amateur Diving Association and in that capacity as the provincial representative for the Canadian Amateur Diving Association from 2003 – 2007.

Steve Bishop, IT Manager, Vestcor

Steve has been the Information Technology Manager since April 2017 and is responsible for managing a team of IT employees, overseeing the overall IT infrastructure including evolving security threats. He first started with Vestcor (formerly the N.B. Investment Management Corporation – NBIMC) in 1999 as Network Administrator and in April 2007 was named Senior Network Administrator. Prior to joining Vestcor, Steve held several positions with the provincial government and IT companies in New Brunswick.

A native of Miramichi, New Brunswick, Steve is a graduate of the New Brunswick Community College’s Information Technology program, is fully bilingual and holds many accreditations including Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) from the International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC²)  and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) from the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).

Imraan Bashir, Partner, KPMG LLP

Imraan Bashir is a cyber security executive with 20+ years of experience advising on cyber security and information technology matters in the public and private sectors. Prior to joining KPMG as Partner – Cyber and Digital Solutions, Imraan was the Executive Director of Cyber Security (i.e. federal Chief Information Security Officer) at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, where he oversaw the strategy and implementation of dozens of major federal cyber initiatives.

About John Sinclair
John Sinclair is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Vestcor Inc. and is primarily responsible for the investment management and benefit administration services for several public sector-based client groups that total more than $18.5 billion in assets.

He started his career in a logistics planning role with General Motors Corporation and worked in a number of corporate and investment banking positions with Citigroup Inc. John joined the NB Investment Management Corporation in 2000, was the Chief Investment Officer from 2002 until early 2016, the President and Chief Executive Officer from 2003 to 2016, and became President and Chief Executive Officer of Vestcor Inc. at its’ inception in October 2016.

A native of New Brunswick, he holds both a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of New Brunswick, and a Master’s in Business Administration with distinction from the Ivey Business School at Western University. He is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and serves as a Director of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance, the Advisory Board of Atlantic Industries Limited and is a past Director of the Pension Investment Association of Canada. John also participates on the Investment Committees of the University of New Brunswick, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, and the Fredericton Community Foundation.

About Jon Spinney
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. 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.

About Kent Frees
Kent-Erik Frees was recently appointed full time Manager of Member Services after serving as Acting Manager for about 11 months. Kent joined Vestcor as an Analyst in January of 2016 and quickly learned all pension plans that Vestcor administers.

Before joining Vestcor, Kent was an Executive Assistant for the Department of Energy and Mines and also served some time with the Department of Post-Secondary Education and Labor. He also has several years’ experience Managing the Recreaplex Inc. in Dalhousie, New Brunswick.

Kent holds a BA in Management form the Université de Moncton and is also currently in the process of completing his CEBS.