June 19 – June 21, 2019
The 2019 Transatlantic Conference was held on June 19 – 21, 2019 at the beautiful Sagamore Resort in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State.
Each year, the Transatlantic Conference brings together thought leaders and policy makers from around the globe to discuss the trends and best practices in retirement and healthcare benefits, as well as the state of labor/management relations and bargaining throughout the world. This year, the day devoted to retirement topics was presented in conjunction with the World Pension Alliance (WPA) – a collective organization of the main advocacy associations representing pension plans and providers throughout the world, including the United States, Europe, Canada, Latin America, and Australia, of which NCCMP is a founding member.
This event brought together leading experts in pension and health benefits, as well as Trustees and plan professionals from around the world to share their knowledge and expertise. The conference included two days devoted to global topics of interest in the areas of pension and healthcare, including:
– the increased global focus on ESG factors and “Green” investing in selecting and evaluating investments
– pension solvency metrics, plan management tools, and pension backstops throughout the world
– innovations in risk sharing plan designs
– mental health in the workplace, including addiction
– approaches to medical marijuana with a particular focus on the changing legal landscapes in the United States and Canada, and
– a case study from Finland on the effectiveness of their holistic approach to disability
The final morning of the conference was devoted to the state of labor/management relations and bargaining throughout the world including the challenges in dealing with new forms of employment and the mobility of workers.
Transatlantic Conference Agenda
Wednesday, June 19
Breakfast & Registration
Dollar Island Foyer, Main Hotel
Welcome & Opening of the Day
Michael Scott
NCCMP
Robert Blakely
MEBCO
Bruno Gabellieri
AEIP
Matti Leppälä
WPA
Sustainable Finance & Alternative Investments
Throughout the world, there is an increased focus on Environmental, Sustainable, and Governance (ESG) factors and “Green” investing in selecting and evaluating investments. This session explored the expanded role of sustainable finance and other alternative investments including infrastructure, real estate, and private debt in the context of pension fund investing. What is required? What is permitted? What are the emerging best practices?
Edward M. Smith
President and CEO, ULLICO
Kristof Woutters
Head of Pensions & Insurance Relations, Candriam Investors Group
Carl Elia, CFA, MBA
Vice President of Alternative Investments, TD Asset Management
PANEL DISCUSSION:
MODERATOR:
Chris Brockmeyer
Director of Employee Benefit Funds, The Broadway League
REMARKS:
Edward M. Smith
President and CEO, ULLICO
Carl Elia, CFA, MBA
Vice President, Alternative Investments, TD Asset Management
Kristof Woutters
Head of Pensions & Insurance Relations, Candriam Investors Group
10 Years After the Great Recession: How Have We Recovered, and What Have We Learned?
During 2008 and 2009, pension funds suffered the greatest single-year losses since the Great Depression. Have pension funds recovered? How has this changed pension fund investing? What have we learned? What supervisory tactics are now in place as a result?
John DeMairo
President and CEO, Segal Marco Advisors
PANEL DISCUSSION:
MODERATOR:
Monte Tarbox
Executive Director of Investments, National Electrical Benefit Fund
REMARKS:
John DeMairo
President and CEO, Segal Marco Advisors
Susan Bird
President, McAteer Group of Companies
Gerard Riemen
Managing Director, Federation of the Dutch Pension Funds
Romain Despalins
Statistician, Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development
Lunch
Dollar Island Terrace, Main Hotel
Addressing Pension Fund Solvency
In 2018, Congress established the Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans in response to the impending insolvency of several multiemployer pension funds. While the Joint Select Committee was ultimately unable to reach consensus on a solution, the committee process highlighted the increased focus on solvency of pension funds. This session explored the importance of how pension fund solvency is defined, how plan trustees are able to manage plan solvency, and how pension benefits are guaranteed or backstopped around the world.
Ted Goldman
Director of Policy, Research, and Analysis Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
PANEL DISCUSSION:
MODERATOR:
Mariah Becker
Director of Research and Education, NCCMP
REMARKS:
Ted Goldman
Director of Policy, Research and Analysis Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Ross Marcelin
Deputy Chief of Negotiations & Restructuring, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Cameron Hunter
Principal, Pensions and Benefits, Eckler Consultants and Actuaries
Rafael Quevedo
Principal Economist-Statistician, European Central Bank
Richard Ingram
Executive Director, Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois
Colleen Crawford Gardner
Executive Deputy Comptroller, Division of Retirement Services, New York State and Local Retirement System
Innovation in Plan Designs
There is growing realization that sustainable benefit designs must share the risks inherent in retirement benefits more equitably between all the stakeholders in the system, and there are a wide range of approaches being developed that address this equity in different ways. This session focused on innovative plan designs either in use or under consideration throughout the world, including target benefit design plans in Canada, as well as composite and variable annuity designs in the United States.
Robert A. Wylie
Executive Director, South Dakota Retirement System
David Dean
Senior Vice President, Benefits Consultant, and Actuary, Segal Consulting
PANEL DISCUSSION:
MODERATOR:
Eric Muller-Borle
Founder, Global Benefits Vision
REMARKS:
David Dean
Senior Vice President, Benefits Consultant and Actuary, Segal Consulting
Alex McKinnon
Head of Research, United Steel Workers
Christian Lemaire
Global Head of Retirement Solutions, Amundi
The Hon. Nicholas Sherry
Chair, Household Capital & FNZ APAC
Sandy Matheson
Executive Director, Maine Public Employees Retirement System
Close of Day
Michael Scott
NCCMP
Matti Leppälä
WPA
Cocktail Cruise Aboard the Morgan
Attendees joined us for cocktails aboard The Morgan, a replica 19th-century touring vessel, for a cocktail cruise around Lake George generously sponsored by ULLICO. The Morgan departed from the dock behind the Fitness Center promptly at 6:00.
Dinner
Attendees joined us for dinner generously sponsored by ULLICO on the Shelving Rock Terrace in the Main Hotel following the cruise.
Thursday, June 20
Breakfast & Registration
Dollar Island Foyer, Main Hotel
Opening of the Day
Michael Scott
NCCMP
The Future of Healthcare: Policy Objectives in the United States, Canada, and Europe
Speakers considered the most pressing healthcare policy questions in their national debates, as well as the broader implications of their outcomes.
Carolyn Smith
Counsel, Alston & Bird LLP
Ron Loucks
CEO, NexgenRx
Dejan Malesic
Head of Business Development – International Pensions, Insurance Department, Previnet Outsourcing Solution
Mental Health in the Workplace
Speakers discussed trends in mental health coverage in their national debate, as well as recent policy trends and the main challenges in each region.
Pamela Greenberg
President and CEO, Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness
Joseph Ricciuti
President and CEO, SEB Benefits & HR Consulting
Paul E. ter Wal, LLM, CSP
CEO Team ANDARE
Lunch
Dollar Island Terrace, Main Hotel
The Legalization of Marijuana
The use and handling of marijuana in health funds varies greatly between the various regions of the world. In some jurisdictions, marijuana may be legal for medical use, recreational use, both, or neither. This session explored the numerous questions this raises, as well as the various social, legal, and policy approaches throughout the world.
Ronald Pink
Q.C., Pink Larkin
PANEL DISCUSSION:
MODERATOR:
Stephen O’Sick
Fund Administrator, Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local #2, New York Joint Benefits Funds
REMARKS:
Ronald Pink
Q.C., Pink Larkin
Robert Blakely
President, MEBCO
Paul E. ter Wal, LLM, CSP
CEO Team ANDARE
Managing Societal Costs of Disability
This session considered the holistic approach to managing the societal costs of disability currently underway in Finland, as well as the various other approaches to disability throughout the world.
Jaakko Kiander
Senior Vice President, Ilmarinen Mutual and the Finnish Alliance of Pension Funds
PANEL DISCUSSION:
MODERATOR:
Bonnie Summers
Executive Director, BCBS Association National Labor Office
REMARKS:
David Brenner
Senior Vice President and National Director of Multiemployer Consulting, Segal Consulting
Eric Egan
Product Director, Absence, Disability and Life, ManuLife
Hugh C. Hart, GBA
Vice President, Sales and Account Management, NexgenRx
Jaakko Kiander
Senior Vice President, Ilmarinen Mutual and the Finnish Alliance of Pension Funds
Close of Day
Michael Scott
NCCMP
Friday, June 21
Breakfast & Registration
Dollar Island Foyer, Main Hotel
Opening of the Day
Michael Scott
NCCMP
New Forms of Work/The Gig Economy
A host of social, economic and technological changes have given rise to new forms of work throughout the world. This session explored the changing nature of work and innovations in collective bargaining to incorporate these “gig” and part-time workers.
Matti Leppälä
Secretary General and CEO, PensionsEurope
Chair, WPA
Dan Doonan
Executive Director, National Institute on Retirement Security
Bernd Merz
BG BAU Germany, International Social Security Association
“Reforming the social model to address challenges of the new labor market trends. Current political debates in Germany.”
PANEL DISCUSSION:
MODERATOR:
Rocky Miller
Partner, Cox, Castle & Nicholson
REMARKS:
Shawn Haggerty
President, UFCW Local 175
Werner Buelen
Construction Policy Secretary, The European Federation of Building and Woodworkers
Domenico Campogrande
Director, Social Affairs, European Construction Industry Federation
Dana Schäfer
SOKA BAU
CLOSING STATEMENT:
Walter Sailer
SOKA BAU
Close of Conference
Michael Scott
NCCMP
Robert Blakely
MEBCO
