Investment Innovation Conference
November 3-5, 2021 | Pillar and Post Inn & Spa, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Keynote speaker
David Frum, staff writer, The Atlantic
One of the most influential political analysts of our time, David Frum brings a rational conscience into the mainstream and the often-polarized world of American politics. He helps crystallize what the current political climate will mean for your business or organization – for the good, the bad and the future. As a staff writer at The Atlantic, David’s commentary on social and political issues generates thought-provoking discussions throughout America and around the world.
Whether it is the latest foreign policy debate or the inner workings of the White House, David Frum offers refreshing and clear insights of complicated issues of the day. He is currently a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of multiple New York Times Bestsellers. His most recent book, TRUMPOCALYPSE: Restoring American Democracy looks at the causes of America’s tragic national fragmentation and lays out a plan to restore democracy —and renew American leadership abroad. David also appears often on MSNBC, BBC, CBC and CNN.
David Frum has been active in Republican politics since the first Reagan campaign of 1980. From 2014 through 2017, Frum served as chairman of the board of trustees of the leading UK center-right think tank, Policy Exchange. In 2001-2002, he served as speechwriter and special assistant to President George W. Bush.
David holds a BA and MA in History from Yale and a Law degree from Harvard, where he served as President of the Federalist Society. He and his wife Danielle Crittenden Frum live in Washington DC and Wellington, Ontario. They have three adult children.
Keynote speaker
Darrell Bricker, chief executive officer, Ipsos Public Affairs, senior fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and senior fellow, Centre for International Governance Innovation
Ipsos’ Public Affairs has offices in 40 countries and a staff of 1000 research professionals. It is the world's leading social and public opinion research firm. Ipsos Public Affairs is part of Paris-based Ipsos which is the third largest market research company in the world.
Prior to joining Ipsos in 1990, Dr. Bricker was director of research in the office of Canada's Prime Minister. He was also a research consultant with firms in Ottawa and Toronto. Dr. Bricker holds a Ph.D. in political science from Carleton University, and a BA and MA from Wilfrid Laurier University. He has been awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree by Wilfrid Laurier University, which named him one of their top 100 graduates in the last 100 years. Dr. Bricker is also a research fellow with the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, and at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ontario.
Dr. Bricker has written seven national bestselling books. His latest, NEXT, Where to Live, What to Buy, and Who Will Lead Canada's Future, is a major release with Harper Collins Canada. His other books include: Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline (with John Ibbitson – Penguin Random House), Searching for Certainty: Inside the New Canadian Mindset (with Ed Greenspon - Doubleday, 2002), What Canadians Think About Almost Everything (with John Wright – Doubleday, 2005), We Know What You’re Thinking (with John Wright - Harper Collins, 2009), Canuckology (with John Wright - Harper Collins, 2011), and The Big Shift (with John Ibbitson - Harper Collins, 2013).
Dr. Bricker is a popular public speaker who regularly engages with audiences around the world. He's written articles for publications as diverse as Canada's Globe and Mail and France's Le Monde. He has also appeared on television and radio with all of Canada’s major national networks, and around the world with news broadcast organizations such as CNN, the BBC and NPR.
He lives in Toronto with his wife Nina and daughter Emily.
Duncan Burrill, managing director, chief executive officer, CBC Pension Plan
Duncan Burrill is the managing director and chief executive officer of the CBC Pension Plan. He is responsible for coordinating a team of 24 dedicated employees who manage the plan’s $8.7 billion investment portfolio and provide member services to the Plan’s 19,500 members. As the chief executive officer, he works in partnership with the CBC Pension Board of Trustees to accomplish the organization’s mission and vision. Burrill joined the CBC Pension Plan in 2005 as the risk manager and played a key role in the implementation and refinement of the plan’s liability driven investment strategy.
Burrill is active in the pension management industry. He currently sits on the Board of the Association of Canadian Pension Management’s. Burrill holds a bachelor of commerce degree from Concordia University and a master of business administration degree from Queen’s University.
Maria Elena Drew, director of research, responsible investing, T.Rowe Price
Maria Elena Drew is a director of research for responsible investing at T. Rowe Price. In her current role, Drew leads the Responsible Investing team, who serve as specialists for incorporating environmental and social considerations into the firm’s research process. She has 24 years of investment experience. Prior to joining the firm in 2017, Drew worked at Goldman Sachs Asset Management holding various roles during her tenure including portfolio manager, equity analyst and ESG specialist. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs Asset Management, she was the head of the natural resources team in the equity division at Putnam Investments and served as portfolio manager for the Global Natural Resources Fund. She holds a bachelor of arts in economics, with a minor in geology, from Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts.
Michelle Dunstan, chief responsibility officer, portfolio manager, global ESG improvers strategy, AllianceBernstein
Michelle Dunstan is AllianceBernstein’s chief responsibility officer and a member of the firm’s operating committee. In this role, she oversees AB’s corporate responsibility practices and responsible investing strategy, including integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations throughout the firm’s research, engagement and investment processes. Dunstan also oversees the firm’s ESG thought leadership and product development. She manages AB’s Global ESG Improvers Strategy, which focuses on engaging with and investing in companies that are advancing along ESG dimensions. Dunstan was AB’s global head of responsible investing from 2020 to 2021. From 2012 to 2020, she was a portfolio manager for the Global Commodity Equity Fund. Dunstan joined AB in 2004 as a research analyst and covered commodities in emerging markets and North America for several years. Prior to joining the firm, Dunstan was an engagement manager at the Monitor Group (now Monitor Deloitte). She holds a bachelor of commerce from Queen’s University in Canada and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she graduated with high distinction as a Baker Scholar. Dunstan is located in New York.
Ilan Kolet, institutional portfolio manager, Fidelity Investments
Ilan Kolet is an institutional portfolio manager for global asset allocation strategies at Fidelity Investments. The institutional portfolio management team is a group within Fidelity’s Asset Management Solutions division, an integrated investment, distribution and client service organization dedicated to meeting the unique needs of the institutional marketplace.
In this role, Kolet serves as a member of the investment management team, maintaining a deep knowledge of portfolio philosophy, process and construction. He assists portfolio managers and their CIOs in ensuring that portfolios are managed in accordance with client expectations and contributes to investment thought leadership in support of the team. He’s also a principal liaison for portfolio management to a broad range of current and prospective clients and internal partners, providing detailed portfolio reviews and is a key conduit of client objectives, requirements and marketplace insight back to the investment team. Kolet’s focus is Canadian asset allocation strategies.
Prior to assuming his current position in January 2021, Kolet was the head of inflation and commodities research in the Global Asset Allocation group at Fidelity Investments. In this role, he was a member of AART, which conducts economic, fundamental and quantitative research to develop asset allocation recommendations for Fidelity's portfolio managers and investment teams.
Prior to joining Fidelity in 2014, Kolet was an editor at Bloomberg News, where he contributed to coverage of theCanadian and U.S. economies. Previously, he Kolet worked at the Bank of Canada as an economist covering the U.S. economy and commodity prices. In this capacity, he was responsible for performing regular forecasts in advance of interest rate decisions, communicating the results to members of Governing Council, authoring research papers and re-designing the Bank of Canada’s commodity price index. He has been in the financial industry since 2002.
Mr. Kolet earned his bachelor of arts degree in economics from Carleton University and his master of arts degree in economics from Simon Fraser University.
Shivin Kwatra, head of U.S. LDI portfolio management, Insight Investment
Shivin Kwatra joined Insight in November 2017 as head of LDI Portfolio Management for North America. Prior to this, Kwatra was a senior portfolio manager at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where he managed fixed income and LDI portfolios. He started his career within the investment bank at JP Morgan on the structured products and derivatives marketing team and was also founding member of the pension advisory group at JP Morgan (which was acquired by Pacific Life) and head of direct investments at Pacific Global Advisors (which was acquired by Goldman Sachs). Kwatra holds a bachelor of science in commerce with a concentration in finance from the McIntire School at the University of Virginia, where he was also the captain of the men’s golf team. He is a CFA charterholder and maintains Series 7 and 63 licenses from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Series 3 license from the National Futures Association.
John G. Levy, director of impact, Franklin Real Asset Advisors, Franklin Advisers Inc.
John Levy is the director of impact for Franklin Real Asset Advisors. He is responsible for the thoughtful integration of impact management into the Real Asset team's investment processes. Levy manages a framework which covers impact goal-setting, measurement, evaluation and reporting.
Levy began working for Franklin Templeton Investments in 2005 as an intern. He later joined the company's Futures Program and took a position with Franklin Templeton Solutions in 2008, and Franklin Real Asset Advisors in 2018. Prior to his current role, Levy was director of manager research for Franklin Templeton Multi-Asset Solution.
He holds a B.A. in economics and political science from Bucknell University (2005). He graduated Magna Cum Laude with honours in economics. He is a chartered financial analyst charterholder and a chartered alternative investment analyst charterholder.
Alison Loat, managing director, sustainable investing and innovation, OPTrust
Alison Loat is the managing director, sustainable investing and innovation at OPTrust, a Canadian public pension plan. She leads OPTrust’s responsible investment program, its total fund climate change strategy and a new portfolio investing at the intersection of sustainability and innovation with a focus on climate change.
Previously, Loat was the senior managing director of FCLT Global, where she worked with asset owners, managers and companies to advance long-term investing. She’s also worked at McKinsey & Company, a healthcare technology company, and was on the founding team of the MaRS Discovery District.
She has a deep commitment to public service. She co-founded the Samara Centre for Democracy and was a senior fellow and instructor at the University of Toronto and the president of the Canadian Club of Toronto.
Loat is a World Economic Forum young global leader, an advisory board member at the Max Bell School at McGill University and a governor of Ridley College. She’s also a board director of Ai Media, an ASX-listed technology company that makes educational, workplace, conference and media content accessible, as well as a privately held media company.
She received the Queen’s Gold and Diamond Jubilee medals and was named one of Canada’s 100 most powerful women. Loat has degrees from Queen’s University and the Harvard Kennedy School.
Mark Sevestre, senior advisor and founding member, National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association (NATOA)
Mark Sevestre is Haudenosaunee Mohawk and resides in the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation Territory in Ontario. Mark is currently leading the Reconciliation and Responsible Investment Initiative in partnership with SHARE Canada which is linking Indigenous values to Indigenous investing as well as helping Non-Indigenous investors utilize their portfolios to achieve the goals of Reconciliation in Canada. Sevestre is an advisory board member of First Peoples Worldwide at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Since 1999, Sevestre also currently serves as the general manager of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Community Trust. Sevestre has previously served as the branch/financial services manager for the Bank of Montreal and opened a full-service bank branch within the Onyota’aka (Oneida) First Nation near London, Ontario in 1995. He holds a bachelor of commerce degree from Mount Allison University, NB (1991) and began his working career within the federal government and coaching Mount Allison Mounties Football team.
In 2006, Sevestre was one of three founding members of the National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association. Serving in several roles, including board member, committee chairman and president. NATOA is a charitable organization, dedicated to providing knowledge and capacity building on trust funds and investment for Indigenous communities.
Kevin Thomas, chief executive officer, Shareholder Association for Research & Education (SHARE)
Kevin Thomas is the chief executive officer of the Shareholder Association for Research & Education (SHARE). SHARE is a leader in responsible investment services, providing shareholder engagement, research, consulting and training and policy advocacy to a growing network of Canadian pension plans, universities, foundations, Indigenous trusts, religious institutions and asset managers with more than $90 billion in assets under management. SHARE is the secretariat for the global committee on Workers Capital, the Canadian Capital Stewardship Network, the University Network for Investor Engagement, and the new Climate Engagement Canada initiative. SHARE and the National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association co-lead the Reconciliation and Responsible Investment Initiative. Prior to joining SHARE, Thomas served as a political advisor and chief negotiator for Treaty negotiations, land use, environmental protection and economic benefit agreements for a First Nation in Alberta. He holds an LLM in international business law.
