Vestcor Client Forums

Vestcor’s senior investment team provides an outlook on financial markets trends and a preview of our mid-year investment results.  This includes an overview of how each particular asset class is performing to date in 2023 and how they are set-up for the future.

Financial Market Update
2022 Year in Review

In advance of our upcoming client meetings, and in combination with the distribution of our year-end quarterly investment reports, the Vestcor senior investment team prepared an overview of how their particular asset classes performed during 2022.

2022 was a difficult year for diversified portfolio investors, with traditional 60/40 portfolios likely earning double digit negative returns. That said, our client Shared Risk and Target Benefit pension plans continued to generate long-term returns that have continued to exceed your investment objectives while remaining low risk.

Presented by:

Jon Spinney, Chief Investment Officer and VP Quantitative & Applied Research
Chris Cockeram, Sr Portfolio Manager – Fixed Income
Dan Goguen, VP Private Markets
Mark Holleran, VP Equity
Elizabeth-Anne McCleave, Manager Communications
John Sinclair, President and Chief Executive Officer

Managing Risks: Strategic Advancements
Thank you for attending our 2023 Client Forum. A copy of the presentations and a post-event survey were provided to you by email.

8:00 am        Breakfast Buffet – Ballroom/Lobby

8:30 am        Opening Remarks and Launch of 2022 Annual Report
John Sinclair, President and CEO

9:15 am        Privacy Program Update
Marilyn McConnell, CPBO
Marc Hachey, Pension Policy and Privacy Administrator

9:45 am       Information Technology Risk Management
incl. Cybersecurity Update and IT Dashboard Overview
Brent Henry, CFO and VP Finance
Thomas Keating, Director Information Technology

10:15 am       Break

10:30 am      Risk Management Reporting Update
incl. Liquidity Risk Management and Asset Class Risk Allocation Forecasting
Brent Henry, CFO and VP Finance
Ying Wu, CCO and Risk Manager
Bradley Crossman, Risk Analyst

11:00 am      Responsible Investment Update
John Sinclair, President and CEO
Jon Spinney, CIO
Ying Wu, CCO and Risk Manager

12:00 pm     Keynote Speakers: CAPSA Guidelines & Industry Best Practices
Buffet lunch provided.

The Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA) is a national association of pension regulators whose mission is to facilitate an efficient and effective pension regulatory system. It develops regulatory policies and guidelines to improve pension plan administration and support pension plan administrators in meeting their fiduciary duty, while enhancing the protection provided to pension plan members across Canada.

Senior management from the Financial and Consumer Services Commission (FCNB) will provide an overview of published CAPSA guidelines and related committee activities that provide industry best practice resources.

Angela Mazerolle
Vice-President, Regulatory Operations and Superintendent of Pensions
Financial and Consumer Services Commission
Chair, Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities

Maryse Gagnon-Ouellette
Director, Pensions
Financial and Consumer Services Commission

Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is a serious challenge for everyone, and Vestcor is no exception. On Wednesday, January 26, 2022, we provided an update on our Cybersecurity controls and how we are managing the risk on behalf of our clients.

Presented by:

Tom Keating, Director – Information Technology
Brent Henry, Chief Financial Officer and VP Finance
Elizabeth-Anne McCleave, Manager Communications
John Sinclair, President and Chief Executive Officer

Vestcor Mid-Year Update

• Provides a Summary of our 2021 Annual Report;
• Introduces Our New Corporate Purpose;
• Presents an Outlook on Financial Markets; and
• Shares a Mid-Year Investment Update.

Responsible Investment Report
Introducing our inaugural Responsible Investment Report, outlining the active investment related activities that we have committed to under the direction of our publicly posted set of Responsible Investment Guidelines.

Presented by:

Jon Spinney, Chief Investment Officer and VP Quantitative & Applied Research
Ying Wu, Risk Manager
Elizabeth-Anne McCleave, Manager Communications
John Sinclair, President and Chief Executive Officer

Portfolio Benchmarking
Monday, December 6, 2021 at 3:00 pm AST

Portfolio benchmarking is an important part of building and managing a successful investment program.

Our experts will review the uses of policy and fund benchmarks and the differences between them, how to select appropriate benchmarks, and some of the challenges and considerations in selecting benchmarks for alternative investments.

Presented by:

• Daniel Dine, Portfolio Manager – Investment Strategy, Vestcor Inc.
• Jon Spinney, Chief Investment Officer and VP QIAR, Vestcor Inc.
• Elizabeth-Anne McCleave, Manager Communications, Vestcor Inc.

An overview of the Vestcor Investment Performance Measurement Process and the Global Investment Performance Standards
Thursday, November 18, 2021

Meet the leadership of the independent Vestcor Investment Performance Team and learn about their role as they provide an in-depth view of the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®), how the standards impact our daily deliverables and processes, and an overview of our independent compliance measures.  In addition, our presenters will provide an overview of how we calculate both investment and benchmark returns.

Presented by:

• Krista Bowen, CIPM – Manager Investment Performance, Vestcor Inc.
• Brent Henry, CPA, CA – Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, Finance, Vestcor Inc.
• Elizabeth-Anne McCleave – Manager Communications, Vestcor Inc.

Vestcor’s Responsible Investment Approach / Overview of the Vestcor Inc. 2020 Annual Report
June 21, 2021
2:00-3:30 pm ADT

Our first webinar of the year featured an update on Vestcor’ Responsible Investment Activities, including an overview our proxy voting record for 2020 and the work of one of our long-term collaborative partners the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (CCGG).

Ms. Catherine McCall, the Executive Director of the CCGG, will provide insight into the coalitions recent Stewardship Principles initiative, which Vestcor endorsed in October 2020, and the work they have been doing with respect to improving the environmental and social governance and disclosure of Canadian public issuers.

We also plan to take this opportunity to provide a high-level overview of our soon to be released Vestcor Inc. 2020 Annual Report and address any related questions.

Presenters

Catherine McCall
Catherine McCall is the Executive Director of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance. The Coalition is comprised of representatives of Canada’s leading institutional investors which collectively manage assets of approximately CAD $5 trillion. Its mandate is to improve corporate governance at Canadian public companies. As Executive Director, Catherine is responsible, together with the Board of Directors, for setting the strategy of the organization, leading policy development and participating in CCGG’s board engagement program. Catherine is a lawyer by training and is a member of the Ontario Securities Commission’s Continuous Disclosure Advisory Committee, the Global Network of Investor Associations and is designated as the Canadian country correspondent for the International Corporate Governance Network. Catherine holds the Institute of Corporate Directors’ ICD.D designation.

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 $19.4 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 and the Fredericton Community Foundation.

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.

Board Governance and Ethics
November 17, 2020
1:30-2:30 pm ADT

We all like to think of ourselves as ethical people, and that we always bring our ethics to the boardroom. Little do we know, knowing right from wrong is the easy part, actively putting our ethics into practice in our governance duties is the real challenge. Move beyond ethical thinking and into ethical action by developing your ethical intelligence. Join us for our upcoming Speaker Series on Board Governance and Ethics and learn how you can nurture your own ethical intelligence, and the ethical intelligence of your organization.

Presenter

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.

Cybersecurity in 2020: Risk and Mitigation
October 22, 2020 at 2:00 pm ADT

Topics discussed by our speakers include:

• Current cyber risks facing business environments and best practices for risk mitigation;
• How Vestcor mitigates risk;
• Current environment of cyber risks facing individuals and home environments; and
• Live Q&A Session.

Presenters

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.

Inaugural Speakers Series Webcast

Overview of the Vestcor 2019 Annual Report and Mid-Year Update
June 17, 2020 at 2:00 pm ADT

Vestcor Speakers:

• John Sinclair, President and CEO
• Jon Spinney, Chief Investment Officer
• Kent Frees, Manager – Member Services

Presenters

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.