PLAN SPONSOR WEEK

August 10-13, 2020

Plan Sponsor Week is a four-day virtual event hosted by Benefits Canada and the Canadian Investment Review. Designed for Canadian benefits and pension decision-makers, the event will provide valuable insights from industry thought leaders on developments in the design and delivery of group benefits and retirement programs for a changing workforce.

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For more information, please contact Katerina Galkina.

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PLAN SPONSOR WEEK

August 10-13, 2020

Please note: the agenda is subject to change.

*All times reflect Eastern Standard Time

Aug. 10: Group benefits day

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Rising to globally mobile workforce needs in the new normal
The coronavirus pandemic has transformed both home and work life, while also impacting employee well-being. This is true for globally mobile employees that are situated overseas and face more personal and professional challenges than their domestic peers. Organizations need to take care of these employees, especially during this challenging time. During this session, Nancy Brown will address this new reality and how it impacts these workers by drawing perspectives from MetLife’s 18th annual U.S. employee benefit trends study. She will help attendees gain valuable insights into the current state and work-life balance expectations, how holistic health has become a necessity and what programs and strategies are necessary for the success of expat benefits plans.

Speaker:
Nancy Brown, national sales director, Canada, MetLife Worldwide Benefits

[Download Nancy's presentation.]

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12:00 – 12:30 p.m.
Plan simulation: Data in the driver's seat
Lack of data integration is a serious pain point when it comes to illustrating the full picture in benefits management. In most cases, benefits data sits in silos and is often manually collected and manipulated to derive valuable information about a benefits plan. What if it didn’t need to be this way? Plan sponsors require a sophisticated method of tracking program cost drivers and future employee health risks, not to mention the sustainability of the current benefits plan. During this session, Shawn O’Brien will help attendees learn how to harness the power of data to better understand and leverage the goldmine they possess.

Speaker:
Shawn O'Brien, principal, data enablement and drug, health, dental product roadmap, TELUS Health

[Download Shawn's presentation.]

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12:30 – 1:00 p.m.
Q&A with Scotiabank’s Simone Reitzes
Scotiabank, a double winner at Benefits Canada’s 2019 Workplace Benefits Awards, has nearly 40,000 employees across Canada and 97,000 globally, serving customers in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Central America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. During this Q&A, Simone Reitzes will discuss supporting global employees, mental health and workplace diversity, as well as benefits plans in the age of coronavirus and beyond.

Speaker:
Simone Reitzes, vice-president, global pension and benefits, Scotiabank

[Session not available for download.]

Aug. 11: Defined contribution pension day

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Learnings from the DC plan-demic
During this session, Anne Ananddakopal and Mazen Shakeel will discuss how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted capital accumulation plans, plan sponsors and members, as well as some key learnings related to investments, member behaviours throughout the crisis and sponsor responses.

Speakers:

• Anne Ananddakopal, principal, CAP-focused retirement consulting, Morneau Shepell
• Mazen Shakeel, partner and practice leader, asset and risk management, Morneau Shepell

[Download Anne and Mazen's presentation.]

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12:00 – 12:30 p.m.
Retiring well: How to help employees plan for their future and support their financial well-being
It’s important to save and plan for financial well-being in retirement, but people sometimes fail to consider other aspects of the quality of their lives. During this session, Avnee Patel and Laura Pratt will discuss the questions employees often ask themselves when thinking about relationships, living comfortably, recreation and overall health and well-being. Learn about free tools and resources that can help employees learn to live within their means today, pay themselves first and proactively plan for a quality of life they desire during retirement.

Speakers:

• Avnee Patel, national accounts executive, Toronto consulting, group customer, Canada Life
• Laura Pratt, national practice leader, organizational health, Canada Life

[Download Avnee and Laura's presentation.]

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12:30 – 1:00 p.m.
Q&A with Rogers Communications’ Jason Traetto and Mureth Rhone
Telecommunications and media giant Rogers Communications Inc. has about 25,000 employees and provides wireless communications, cable television, telephone and internet connectivity across Canada. During this Q&A, Jason Traetto and Mureth Rhone will discuss moving from a defined benefit to a defined contribution plan and keeping employees engaged in their retirement savings.

Speakers:

• Jason Traetto, director, benefits, wealth and recognition programs, Rogers Communications Inc.
• Mureth Rhone, senior manager, benefits and wealth, Rogers Communications

 [Session not available for download.]

Aug. 12: Defined benefit pension day

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Q&A with HOOPP’s Jeff Wendling
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan manages $94.1 billion in net assets and serves Ontario’s hospital and community-based health-care sector, with more than 590 participating employers and more than 381,000 active, deferred and retired members. During this Q&A, Jeff Wendling will discuss a broad array of topics, including how the fund has navigated past economic crises, what’s different this time and how it’s managing investments through the pandemic with a focus on the long term. The conversation will dig into the HOOPP’s investment strategy and span asset classes, including private markets.

Speaker:
Jeff Wendling, president and chief executive officer, HOOPP

[Session not available for download.]

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12:00 -12:30 p.m.
What keeps economists up at night . . . but shouldn’t?
The world is highly financialized and money is a regular part of daily life. Yet somehow, most economics textbooks and conventional models tend to ignore money, treating it as a meaningless veil over real economic activity. Although the validity of this approach was questioned in the wake of the credit crisis, which conventional economics largely failed to identify, the field continues to direct inadequate attention towards the nature, source and flow of money. This, in turn, leads to the propagation of many myths and misdirected fears. In this session, David Bezic will discuss some of the most popular misunderstandings and fears, while also flagging economic and market risks that are more worthy of asset owners’ attention.

Speaker:
David Bezic, independent economic consultant

[Download David's presentation.]

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12:30 - 1:00 p.m.
Q&A with the Halifax Port ILA/HEA pension plan’s Blair Richards
With decades of experience offering both defined contribution and defined benefit plans, the Halifax Port ILA/HEA has found a way to leverage its DB offering to provide predictable lifetime income to members of its DC plan. During this Q&A, Blair Richards will discuss how the organization has made DB benefits possible for DC members and what other DB pension plan sponsors should be considering when thinking about the plan design and pension sustainability going forward. 

Speaker:
Blair Richards, chief investment officer, Halifax Port ILA/HEA pension plan

[Session not available for download.]

Aug. 13: Group benefits day

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Responding to the mental-health challenge in the workplace
The impact of mental-health issues in the workplace is growing and the COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on the mental health of Canadians. Employers are concerned about how this is affecting their employees, from productivity losses to the decline of employee social well-being and culture. Many are also seeing the rise in disability costs, especially long-term disability. Join Sophie Ouellet as she shares the state of mental health in Canada and the increasing impact of disability claims. She’ll also highlight some strategies and solutions to help plan sponsors overcome barriers to treatment and improve workplace mental health.

Speaker:
Sophie Ouellet, vice-president, business development, Sun Life Canada

[Download Sophie's presentation.]

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12:00 – 12:30 p.m.
Can't sleep, can't work: Understanding and treating insomnia in the workplace
The coronavirus pandemic has transformed the work environment for many Canadians, posing a host of new challenges for employees suffering with insomnia. Insomnia can have debilitating impacts on plan members’ mental and physical well-being. During this session, Dr. Atul Khullar will discuss the interplay between insomnia and overall employee health, address its impact on productivity and help deepen the understanding of insomnia’s current treatment landscape. The audience will be introduced to newer paradigms in treating the multiple dimensions of insomnia and cost-effective pandemic-sensitive strategies to reduce the mental and physical burden it causes within the Canadian workforce.

Speaker:
Dr. Atul Khullar, medical director, Northern Alberta Sleep Clinic
(This session has been made possible by Eisai.)

[Download Dr. Khullar's presentation.]

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12:30 – 1:00 p.m.
Q&A with WSP Canada’s Chantelle Tadman
WSP Canada Inc., which was recognized for its benefits plan communications at the 2019 Workplace Benefits Awards, is a management and consultancy services provider with more than 8,000 employees. During this Q&A, Chantelle Tadman will discuss engaging employees with their benefits plan, focusing on plan design and what’s coming up next.

Speaker:
Chantelle Tadman, benefits and wellness lead, WSP Canada

[Session not available for download.]