2013 NATIONAL CONFERENCE
Fairmont Château Laurier
Ottawa, ON
Sept.10th-12th, 2013









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Detailed Program
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7:00am- 3:30pm
ACPM Annual Golf Tournament & BBQ
Bear Mountain

For an unforgettable experience, the spectacular Bear Mountain Golf & Country Club is the perfect location for great mountain golf. Just minutes from beautiful downtown Victoria, The Mountain Course, co-designed by Jack Nicklaus an his son Steve, strikes the perfect balance between playability and truly challenging golf while offering amazing views of Vancouver Island's breathtaking landscape.
12:00pm-8:00pm
Registration
10:00am- 4:00pm
Wine Country Safari Tour

This is a full day through the back roads of Cowichan Valley. The scenery on this 40-minute trip from Victoria is spectacular. We visit an ancient forest along a route that hugs trees that are over 500 years old. This tour includes world-renowned vineyards and artisan foods. You’ll snack on local artisan breads, have a farm lunch and a visit to an organic handcrafted chocolate farm. What a great day!
6:30pm-8:30pm
Welcome Reception at The Museum

Meet and greet with fellow delegates at the beautiful Royal BC Museum, one of the foremost cultural institutions in the world. The museum was founded in 1886; the archives in 1894. In 2003 these two organizations integrated to become British Columbia's combined provincial museum and archives, collecting artifacts, documents and specimens of BC's natural and human history, safeguarding them for the future, and sharing them with the world.

7:30 am-5:00pm
Registration
7:30 am-8:30 am
Breakfast
8:30am - 8:45am
Opening Ceremonies

Bryan Hocking, CEO, ACPM
Christopher Brown, President, ACPM
Don Ireland, Conference Chair
8:45am - 10:15am
Plenary I: Pension Tension

Speakers:
William Robson, C.D. Howe Institute

Allan Shapira, Aon Hewitt

Moderator:
Peter Shena, Ontario Pension Board

There is much debate over the sustainability of defined benefit (DB) pension plans in both the public and private sectors. Are existing DB plans sustainable? At what pace should unsustainable plans be reformed? On whom should the burden of reform be placed? These are but a few of the contentious issues surrounding the debate. Perspectives on the issues are diverse and tend to be framed relative to one's prioritization of the underlying social and economic policy matters.

Our two speakers will defend two very different perspectives on the issue of DB plan sustainability. They will debate the steps and solutions necessary to resolve the issues of sustainability as well as the fallout if DB plans fail to yield to their advice.
10:00am-3:00 pm
Companion Program: Butchart and Butterfly Gardens tour
Discover the beauty of Victoria on our visit to the world-renowned Butchart Gardens. Famous for its magnificent landscaping and brilliant floral displays, the Butchart Gardens is also designated as National Historical Site. Our next visit is the Victoria Butterfly Gardens; home of hundreds of free-flying butterflies that you won’t be able to see anywhere else. It’s no wonder Victoria is known as the ‘City of Gardens’.
10:15 am-10:45 am
Refreshment Break and Sponsor Showcase
10:45 am- 11:45 am
Concurrent Sessions
Workshop 1: Risk Less

Speakers:
Brent Simmons, Sun Life Financial

Jason Reed, ATCO Group

Moderator:
Richard Humphries, Mercer

Life expectancies are unpredictable, markets are volatile and interest rates have been declining for over 30 years. DB plan sponsors need new ways to manage their plans - it's no longer about just managing assets. It's about managing the whole pension promise - assets, liabilities, and funding - in the context of the organization's entire risk budget. This workshop will look at traditional solutions and also consider strategies that are gaining popularity in other countries.
Workshop 2: Decumulation – the Culmination of Accumulation

Speakers:
Neil Lloyd, Mercer

Ann Mackrill, Public Employees Benefits Agency

Moderator:
Sharon Seifried, Manulife

With the baby boomers reaching retirement, more and more DC plan members will be shifting from accumulation of assets to decumulation of assets as they retire from their DC pension plan. It’s an opportune time for DC sponsors to give conscious consideration to the role they wish to play in the lives of their retiring members. Unlike DB plans where there’s an ongoing relationship due to retirement benefit payments from the fund, it’s less clear for DC sponsors. Join this workshop to hear what you should be thinking about and possible options for your DC plan.
11:45 am-12:15 pm
ACPM Annual General Meeting

Christopher Brown, President, ACPM
Eleanor Marshall, Chair, Audit & Finance, ACPM
Bryan Hocking, CEO, ACPM

Note: This meeting is exclusive to ACPM members
12:15 pm-1:45 pm
Luncheon and Speaker
Alisa Smith, co-author of The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating

Bestselling author and television host, Alisa Smith, will outline her adventures in a year of eating 100% local foods. What happens to chocolate or beer? Can she deal with yet another beet? After that year, she has become a leader in the “locavore” movement, discovering many stories of community building through local food culture. Inspiring and funny.
2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
Plenary II : The World is Our Oyster – DC Best Practices

Speaker:
Matthew Smith, BMO Retirement Services

Moderator:
Becky West, Addenda Capital

Attend this plenary to hear about innovative DC Plan features emerging from around the globe targeted at optimizing retirement saving and income outcomes for plan members. These trends challenge conventional DC thinking about member interest, knowledge, choice and engagement, and include auto enrolment, auto escalation, contribution levels, investment choice and default, income projections, termination of employment and retirement, and retirement income payments from DC plans.
3:15 pm - 3:45 pm
Refreshment Break and Sponsor Showcase
3:45 pm - 5:00 pm
Pension Hotstove

Through a social media platform, the ACPM will be soliciting your point of view on a series of flammable statements both before and during the conference. The Pension Hotstove session will review the comments as well as provide opportunity to stoke the stove even hotter with live debate and discussion. So whether you agree, disagree, agree to disagree or stubbornly disagree to agree with the statements, be sure to blog your opinions and join us in what is certain to be a highly energetic session.
6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Wednesday Evening Reception and Dinner
Victoria Conference Centre, Salon AB
8:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Johnny ‘Bagpipes’ Johnston

More than just plaid, Johnny ‘Bagpipes’ Johnston delivers his hilarious comedy performance with a Scottish twist that bowls audiences over. Where Rock & Roll collides with the pipes, you'll find Johnny. From appearances at Caesars Palace and the Freemont Street Experience in Las Vegas, to opening shows for Wide Mouth Mason, Kansas, 54/40 and Rich Little, Johnny serves up good natured laughs for audiences from all walks of life!

7:30 am – 12:00 pm
Final Registration
7:45 am - 8:45 am
Breakfast
8:45 am - 10:15 am
Plenary III: Yield of Dreams: If You Can Build it They Will Come

Speakers:
Christian Robert, Addenda Capital

Michael Keenan, Bimcor

Moderator:
Eleanor Marshall, Bell Aliant

As plan sponsors and investment managers grapple with meeting return requirements in a low interest rate environment, they are increasingly searching out yield from new strategies. This session will explore the challenges sponsors face when assessing and implementing new yield-generating strategies as well as the impact that the search for yield will have on future capital markets and the investment of large capital pools.
9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Companion Program: Victoria City Tour
Explore and learn about the many different sides of Victoria in this City tour. Highlights include Canada’s oldest China town, Inner Harbour, Beacon Hill Park, Dallas Road, Beach Drive, Government House, Oak Bay and much more. Along the way, we will also visit Sidney-By-the-Sea, a unique town on the southern part of the Island, where we will not only find great shopping but have an opportunity to stroll along the boardwalk by the sea.
10:15 am-10:45 am
Refreshment Break and Sponsor Showcase
10:45 am- 12:00 pm
Concurrent Sessions
Workshop 3: When Pensions and Human Rights Collide

Speakers:
Natalie Bussière, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Michael Mazzuca, Koskie Minsky LLP

Will Cascadden, Spectrum HR Law LLP

Moderator:
Jeffrey Sommers, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

In designing and administering a registered pension plan, it is important to be aware of the risks that arise where different groups of plan members are treated differently under the plan. Doing so can expose the plan sponsor and administrator not only to objections from the applicable pension regulator but also to claims of human rights violations by members and retirees who feel they have been the subject of discrimination. This session will involve a review of legislative requirements and judicial decisions in which pensions and human rights issues collide.
Workshop 4: Latest Developments in Pensions – PRPPs, Regulatory Initiatives, Pension Design Innovations and other Trends

Speakers:
Laura Samaroo, Towers Watson

Louis-Georges Mongeau, Standard Life

Moderator:
Ken Burns, Lawson Lundell LLP

This session will provide a tour of the latest developments in pensions, with particular focus on what they mean for the near and longer term future of the pension ‘business’. Pooled registered pension plans – how will this change the landscape? Regulatory initiatives – from immediate vesting to target benefit plans, solvency relief and broader member communications expectations – are these initiatives going to help or hurt DB plans? Are regulators shifting enough to the challenges of regulating DC plans? These are just some of the topics that will be explored in this workshop
12:00 pm-1:30 pm
Luncheon and Speaker
Chief Clarence Louie, Osoyoos Indian Band

Chief Clarence Louie will speak on First Nation Economic Development and the Osoyoos Indian Band journey and how it became one of the most prosperous and progressive First Nation bands in Canada. The Osoyoos Indian Band contributes millions of dollars into the economy of the South Okanagan and creates hundreds of jobs.
1:45 pm - 2:45 pm
Concurrent Sessions

Workshop 5: Building an Alternative Investment Strategy

Speakers:
Jeff Norton, TRAF

Brendan George, George & Bell Consulting

Moderator:
Andrew Harrison, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

We will discuss in more detail the “search for yield” raised in the investment plenary. The focus will be on how a pension fund can implement a yield-enhancing strategy using alternative investments.
Key issues to be addressed are: 1) the education process – why use alternatives, how can they help? 2) implementation – governance changes, speaking to managers, choosing a strategy and dovetailing with traditional assets; and 3) monitoring.
Workshop 6: Social Media & Pension Plans? OMG! LOL or A-OK?

Speakers:
Daniel Michaluk, Hicks Morley

Christopher J. Schneider, UBC

Moderator:
Susan Nickerson, Chair of ACPM Strategic Initiatives Committee; Hicks Morley

With the burgeoning popularity of social media, there has been plenty of talk about how to harness it to engage your plan members. Is it time for another PowerPoint presentation or are you ready to actually join in on the conversation?

This workshop is designed to showcase social media in action - with expert commentary on the power - and pitfalls - of these new channels of communication. Stay tuned for more details - we'll be updating our status on this workshop closer to the conference.
2:45 pm - 3:15 pm
Refreshment Break and Sponsor Showcase
3:15 pm - 4:30 pm
Spotlight on Gwynne Dyer: The Future: As Bad as You Think?

The planet is warming, the population is aging, and power is shifting to Asia. But don't panic - at least not yet.

With this prophecy, we welcome this year's Spotlight speaker, Mr. Gwynne Dyer. Mr. Dyer, a renowned author, historian and journalist, is well known for his insights into the trends that dictate how the future is shaped and the past is resolved – knowledge which the Canadian pension industry can readily apply.
4:30 pm - 4:45 pm
Closing
Bryan Hocking, CEO, ACPM
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Gala Reception
Victoria Conference Centre, Crystal Garden

The Conference is now coming to a close. Before going into the Gala Dinner, join your fellow delegates, enjoy an hors d’oeuvre or two and have a drink while chatting up acquaintances, old and new.
7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Closing Dinner and Concert by Serena Ryder
You can look forward to a wonderful Gala Dinner under the stars in the historic Crystal Garden heritage building followed by an intimate concert with Juno award artist Serena Ryder. Known for her powerful vocal range, she has toured across Canada multiple times, as well as the U.S. (including Bonnarroo, Lollapalooza, Southby Southwest and Denver’s Mile High Music Festival), Australia and Europe. She has already earned two Canadian GOLD records and three JUNO Awards.
Optional Friday Social Activity – Extend your stay !
 
Plan to extend your stay Victoria and enjoy all of the different sights and sceneries that you won’t be able to find anywhere but here. Activities available include a tour of Craigdarroch Castle, Hatley Castle & Fisgard Lighthouse; Whale watching and Famous Tea at the Empress. Tour includes transportation and guide fee so all you have to do is enjoy the ride. Delegates will need to make arrangements with the tour company directly. Click here for more information. The only hard part is deciding what to do first!