MASTER OF CEREMONIES:

PARNELL HOUWELING, PRINCIPAL
Edmonton Office Leader, Mercer Canada
Parnell Houweling is a Principal with Mercer Canada and Edmonton Office Leader   Parnell has over 20 years in the benefits consulting field.

Parnell manages relationships for clients ranging in size from 50 to 2,500 lives which includes advice on benchmarking and facilitating the design and implementation of programs. He also aides clients in the administration and governance of group benefit plans, including the review of contracts and financial agreements, challenging pharmacy management approaches, and reviewing claim trends. He further supports clients with the development of wellness initiatives and also advises them on plan re-design, plan communication, financing approaches and vendor selection.

Parnell’s experience includes clients with unionized and trustee arrangements as well as clients in the private and public sector. His experience has also included working with multi-employer trustee plans and related third parties. In all cases the work is directly related to assistance in managing their benefit programs and related issues including advice on plan funding and design, plan governance, wellness and pharmacy management.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

ROLAND GUERETTE, PRINCIPAL
Health Business Leader Calgary Office, Mercer Canada
Roland Guerette is a Principal and Senior Consultant at Mercer Canada. He is the Health Business Leader in the Calgary, Alberta office. In his role in Calgary, Roland is responsible for leadership and growth of the Benefits consulting practice. Responsibilities include overall client retention and coordination of Mercer resources across all lines of business to deliver comprehensive client solutions. Roland is also the relationship manager and lead consultant on major accounts in Alberta.

Prior to relocating to Alberta, Roland led the Northern New England Health & Benefits consulting practice in the US. He is a member of Mercer’s North American Healthcare Industry Solutions Group (HISG) and Canadian Health & Benefits Leadership team.

Areas of expertise include benefit strategy/objective setting, flexible benefits, project management, financial analysis and management of benefit plans, total health management employee engagement strategies, voluntary benefits and regulatory compliance.

Roland has 28+ years of experience in the employee benefits field. Prior to joining Mercer, he served as Regional Director for a major insurance company in the US.