MASTER OF CEREMONIES:

LORI PARK, PARTNER
Atlantic Canada Market Leader, Mercer Canada
Lori Park is a Partner and Atlantic Canada's market leader. She is a senior consultant and relationship manager, with clients throughout Atlantic Canada. She works with employers, committees, boards of trustees and others on a broad range of issues relating to pension and benefit plans in the public and private sectors. Lori is a lawyer, and her practice over her 15+ years at Mercer has included a special emphasis on governance, compliance and risk management.

She frequently writes and presents on topics related to pension and benefit plans, as well as the employment relationship more generally. She is a graduate of Acadia University and Dalhousie Law School, and a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, the Canadian Bar Association and the Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute.

SPEAKERS:

TODD SAULNIER, FSA, FCIA, CFA, PRINCIPAL
Wealth Business, Mercer Canada
Todd is a Principal, specializing in investment consulting and risk management within Mercer's Wealth Business based out of our Halifax office. Todd consults with clients regarding investment policies, risk budgeting, asset-liability studies and asset allocation decisions, annuity purchase policies and funding policies, investment structure design, and manager selection and monitoring for pension plans, capital accumulation programs, and for endowments and foundations.

Todd joined Mercer in September 1992, after completing his Master's degree in Mathematics at Dalhousie University (1992). He completed his actuarial designations in 2001 and his CFA charterholder designation in 2012.

Todd has presented at several industry events, and has participated in a number of internal specialty research groups over the years including DC conversions, plan design, and endowment / foundations. Todd is currently a member of Mercer’s Financial Strategy Group which helps clients measure, monitor and manage pension risk.

He currently serves as the vice-chair to the National Policy Committee and an Executive Committee Member of the Association of Canadian Pension Management (ACPM). He is also a member of Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

DOUG BRAKE, FSA, FCIA
Wealth Business, Mercer Canada
Doug Brake is a Principal and senior actuary in Mercer’s Halifax office and has been with Mercer for 25 years. As a consulting actuary, Doug has 30 years of experience with defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans including actuarial valuations, plan design, benefit adequacy and regulatory compliance.

Doug began his actuarial career with W.F. Morneau & Associates (predecessor to Morneau Shepell) in 1987. Doug joined the Nova Scotia Superintendent of Pensions’ office in 1990, monitoring compliance of registered pension plans with minimum pension standards legislation. Doug came to Mercer in 1992 and has held progressively senior positions within the Halifax office, which serves Atlantic Canadian clients in the public and private sectors.

Doug is the consulting actuary to a variety of pension plans in the public and private sectors in Atlantic Canada, including the Nova Scotia Public Service Superannuation Plan and the Nova Scotia Health Employees’ Pension Plan.

In addition to his consulting role, Doug was for several years, the Retirement Business Leader for Mercer in Halifax and had overall responsibility for Mercer’s Halifax office.

Doug is a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland (B.Sc majoring in mathematics). He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (FCIA) and a member of the Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute.

JONATHAN CROFT, CFA
Wealth Business, Mercer Canada
Jonathan is a Senior Associate and investment consultant in Mercer’s Wealth business, based in the Halifax office. Working with some of the largest institutional investment programs in Atlantic Canada, Jonathan’s consulting practice covers the establishment and implementation of portfolio strategic asset mix, designing investment programs that effectively manage risk relative to liabilities and ongoing funding costs, search and selection of investment managers, and monitoring of investment programs.

Jonathan earned a Bachelor of Business Administration, majoring in finance, from St. Francis Xavier University and is a CFA Charterholder.