Attendees say this year's ACPM conference sharpened the focus on pension policy and retirement income solutions
The national conference of the Association of Canadian Pension Management (ACPM) has carved out a reputation among attendees as the Canadian pension industry's annual anticipated gathering.
This year's edition, held last week in Montreal, gave attendees plenty to chew on, from global pension system comparisons to AI governance and the thorny question of retirement income adequacy. But if you were to ask the people in the room what keeps them coming back to ACPM conferences, the answer lands less on any single session and more on who attends or what’s topical for pension plans.
"The networking has been awesome as well as the sessions are just top-notch. They're very timely as well," said Nicole Quintal, manager, brand and digital engagement at Saskatchewan-based CSS Pension Plan, attending her first ACPM conference."They're focused on a lot of the issues that our pension plan is looking at as well."
Quintal, whose background is in marketing rather than pension administration, said the event pushed her outside the communication-conference circuit she typically frequents.
"This year I wanted to try something different and really focus on the issues facing the pension industry," she added.
Cross-industry connections drive conference value
That pull toward cross-disciplinary learning also resonated with Isabelle Tremblay, vice-president at RBC Wealth Management in Montreal, who was at her third ACPM conference.
"I come here for the meeting and networking, not just from a learning perspective but getting to know more people within the industry, sharing knowledge and challenges," she said.
Tremblay acknowledged the conference also left a mark beyond her professional role. As a service provider focused on DB plans, she said the exposure to broader retirement planning themes prompted her to reach out to her son's high school in Quebec about speaking to students.
"Even if you put like $20, $50 a week. At the end of the day, you're not going to work," she said, adding that with Canadians spending roughly a third of their lives in retirement, early awareness matters.
For Ian Edelist, principal at Eckler in Toronto and veteran of the conference circuit who has served on ACPM's National Policy Committee, said the calibre of the attendee base is a key draw for him. He believes the hallway conversations with other attendees rival the formal programming.
"I take away almost as much from that, or more, than I do from the actual sessions themselves," he said. "It's generally the top people in the industry that come.”
He added that the conference serves as an annual checkpoint for relationships he has built over time, giving him a recurring chance to explore collaborative work with peers across the industry.
"It's also nice to travel to beautiful locations across Canada to experience our country in a different way,” he added.
Global pension benchmarking emerges as conference highlight
However, it was the Tuesday morning plenary comparing pension systems in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom that emerged as a consensus highlight among attendees.
"From a policy standpoint, we have a lot of the same challenges. Just seeing where Canada ranks in comparison to other jurisdictions, I think, is a very good starting point for me to take back to the organization," said David Au, executive director of plan management at Ontario Pension Board in Toronto and a newcomer to the pension sector, adding the conference also exposed the sheer variety of plan structures across the country.
"To learn about all the various iterations of plans and the complexity, I think that's the biggest takeaway that I've had," he added.
Meanwhile, this year’s ACPM conference marks the fourth one for Bobby Argiropoulos, senior manager of stakeholder relations at Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), who said the conference's strength lies in assembling diverse organizations.
"We're all stewards of retirement assets for so many Canadians, and it's just great to hear from everybody in terms of what's going on across the country and in different organizations. It's really inspiring and innovative to have everybody here together," he said, while also recalling a conversation with a recent entrant to the pension sector who came from another industry.
"He said, ‘This would never happen in another industry. We're much more collaborative and open to sharing ideas and working together so that we can have better outcomes for everybody here in the country,’" he added.
Industry eyes shift from discussion to policy action
Alex Mazer, CEO of Common Wealth, who also led a session on pension coverage, said what draws him to ACPM is its focus on system-wide improvement, bringing together providers, consultants and plan sponsors around a shared goal. He believes this year's conference suggested the industry is moving past talk.
"It feels like we are kind of on the cusp of shifting from discussion about a lot of these things to real action that people are taking, whether it's policy or action in the marketplace," he said.
For Argiropoulos, the sessions that resonate most with him centre on access, like broadening the number of Canadians who can benefit from the pension expertise concentrated in the room.
He flagged financial literacy as a persistent theme, noting the industry needs to find ways to make retirement planning a kitchen-table conversation rather than something only professionals think about daily.
On the topic generating the most energy, Mazer pointed to retirement income and advice.
"I think there seems to be a new openness to practical solutions as opposed to trying to create the new perfect type of plan,” he added.
Argiropoulos shared that belief too.
"How are we going to bring these great ideas into fruition?" he said. "It’s not going to be an easy feat. These are things that we all need to do together."
