MSCI Canadian Institutional Investor Forum

Montreal

Managing Director, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, La Caisse

Martin Bernier is a Managing Director working at the intersection of technology, data, and institutional investing. At La Caisse, he leads the enterprise AI strategy, with responsibility for building internal AI capabilities, selecting and scaling external AI platforms, enabling workforce adoption, and unlocking value from unstructured data across investment and operating activities.

Over more than 15 years on the buy side, he has held roles spanning technology, quantitative research, portfolio management, risk management, and investment due diligence across public and private asset classes. Throughout, his focus has been the same: use technology and data to make the investment process more rigorous and better informed. AI now offers the strongest leverage on that goal.

Martin is known for pairing strategic perspective with technical depth and for building resilient, high-performing teams.

Executive Vice-President and Head of Liquid Markets, La Caisse

Vincent Delisle has been Executive Vice-President and Head of Liquid Markets since August 2020. In this role, he leads the teams responsible for public equities and fixed income, along with tactical asset allocation activities. He also heads the teams in charge of systematic fundamental management, as well as investment funds and external management (public markets) activities. His mandate includes developing successful investment strategies for La Caisse and ensuring their execution by optimizing the risk-return relationship for the portfolios under his responsibility. He sits on the Executive and Investment Risk Committees.

Mr. Delisle has over 30 years of experience in asset allocation strategy, global equity markets and portfolio management. Before joining La Caisse, he was Co-Chief Investment Officer at Hexavest for two years.

From 2004 to 2018, he worked at Scotia Bank, where he served as Director of Equity Research, Québec and Managing Director, Portfolio and Quantitative Strategy in the Capital Markets division. From 1997 to 2004, he was a Portfolio Strategist at Desjardins Securities.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from Université Laval and is a CFA Charterholder.

Managing Director, Strategy, Execution and Portfolio Solutions, La Caisse

Myriam Deslandes is Managing Director, Strategy, Execution and Portfolio Solutions. As a strategic leader, she oversees the establishment of investment orientations and strategies for liquid portfolios. Her team also ensures that investment strategies are being executed, which includes managing deployment and rebalancing, stock market trading and balance sheet optimization activities.

Ms. Deslandes has more than 20 years of financial market experience. She joined La Caisse in 2018 and has held various management positions, including Senior Director, Internal Audit, Senior Director, Fixed Income and Managing Director, Strategy, Liquid Markets.

Before joining the organization, Ms. Deslandes spent more than 11 years with PSP Investments working on various teams, including asset allocation and portfolio construction, as well as in the office of the Chief Investment Officer. She previously worked on Hydro-Québec’s energy derivatives trading floor.

Ms. Deslandes is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Actuarial Science from UQAM, in addition to a Master’s Degree in Financial Engineering from HEC Montréal.

Managing Director, Capital Markets & Factor Investing, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Shafiq leads the team responsible for research and management of quantitative equity mandates in the Systematic Strategies Group at CPP Investments.

Prior to 2022, Shafiq was at British Columbia Investment Management Corp. (BCI) for seven years where he led the team that built BCI’s quantitative equity program. Previously, he was a partner and head of research at AJO, a quantitative institutional investment manager based in Philadelphia. He also worked as a senior researcher at State Street Associates and Financial Engines. Shafiq began his career in 1999 as a researcher at the Bank of Canada.

Shafiq holds a BA (Hons) in Economics from the University of British Columbia, and MA and PhD degrees in Economics from Queen’s University. He also earned an MS degree in Computer Science from Columbia University, specializing in Natural Language Processing. He is a CFA charterholder and holds the Associate of the Society of Actuaries (ASA), Financial Risk Manager (FRM), and Canadian Investment Manager (CIM) designations.

Managing Director, Head of Private Assets, MSCI

Luke Flemmer is head of Private Assets at MSCI. In this role, he is responsible for building, scaling and overseeing our private assets business, leading commercial strategy and product development.

Previously, Luke served as managing director, head of digital strategy for alternative investments at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and was co-founder and CEO of Lab49, a global solutions provider of investment and risk technology to asset managers and investment banks.

When the ION Group acquired Lab49, Luke became co-head of ION’s Capital Markets division, delivering software and solutions to the group’s global financial services customer base.

Earlier in his career, Flemmer worked in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence. He is a CFA® charterholder.

Senior Managing Director, Strategic Asset Allocation & Modelling, Total Fund Management, OTPP

Chris Fong is Senior Managing Director, Strategic Asset Allocation & Modelling within the Total Fund Management group at Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP). He leads the Strategic Asset Allocation & Modelling team, focusing on data-driven investment research, portfolio construction, risk management, and the development of advanced quantitative analytics that support total fund investment decisions.

Fong has been with OTPP for more than 20 years. During his tenure, he spent approximately 12 years helping to build the organization's systematic investing capabilities before assuming leadership responsibilities in strategic asset allocation and modelling.

He holds an MBA (Finance) from Simon Fraser University and is a CFA charterholder.

Daniel Garant

Executive Vice President & Global Head, Capital Markets & Credit Investments, BCI

Daniel Garant joined BCI in September 2017. He is responsible for managing a diverse, global portfolio of investments, which combines index and active management strategies in equities, fixed income, derivatives, currencies, credit, and absolute return strategies that integrates environmental, social, and governance factors into investment analysis and decision-making. With $313.7 billion of managed assets as of March 31, 2026, BCI is one of Canada’s largest institutional investors within the global capital markets.

Daniel has over 30 years of experience in the investment management industry. Before joining BCI, he was the Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSPIB) for two years. Prior to that, he served as their Senior Vice President, Public Markets Investments from 2008–2015. In years previous, Daniel held several business development and portfolio management positions, each with increasing responsibility, at Hydro-Québec. He was their Executive Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer, as well as the Chief Executive Officer of Hydro-Québec International.

Daniel holds a bachelor of arts in finance from Universite Laval Quebec and is a CFA® charterholder. He serves on the QuadReal board of directors and has served as Director on the boards of both public and private companies.

Hannah Griller

Managing Director, AI & Digital Innovation, RBC Capital Markets

Hannah Griller is a Managing Director, AI & Digital Innovation at RBC Capital Markets. She is an innovative leader with more than 20 years of experience spanning capital markets, financial services, and technology. Her work focuses on driving digital transformation, fostering strategic partnerships across business lines, and leading high-performing teams to deliver meaningful business outcomes.

Prior to her current role, she held various leadership positions within RBC Capital Markets and has been actively involved in advancing the firm's digital, analytics, and AI capabilities. She is also recognized as an inventor on AI-related patent applications involving artificial intelligence-driven content recommendation technologies.

Griller holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Information Systems and Finance from McGill University, completed executive studies in Digital Business Strategy at MIT Sloan School of Management, and is a CFA charterholder.

Catherine Hart

Director, Impact Measurement and Management, Canada Growth Fund Investment Management, PSP Investments

Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer, La Caisse

David Latour is Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer. In this role, he is responsible for ensuring sound management of the risks related to our investment strategies and operations. His duties include developing investment policies as well as risk management frameworks and risk measurement, quantitative analyses and modelling, portfolio and transaction analyses, cross-functional risk assessments, including technological, climate and geopolitical risks, and implementing a strong risk management culture. He sits on the Executive Committee and the Investment-Risk Committee, and chairs the Operational Risk Committee. Mr. Latour has 20 years of experience in risk management and investing across various asset classes in both public and private markets. Prior to his current position, he was Managing Director, Strategy and Investment, Capital Solutions, where he helped develop a portfolio of private financing products enabling La Caisse to enter new niche markets around the world.

Since joining La Caisse in 2009, he has held various credit, liquidity and counterparty risk management positions. From 2016 to 2020, he oversaw risk management for the Rates and Credit portfolios, which included portfolio construction and transaction analysis activities, as well as representing Risk Management on investment committees. In this role, he also chaired La Caisse’s Credit Rating Committee. Before joining the organization, he worked at RBC Royal Bank and GE Capital Canada.

Mr. Latour obtained a Master’s in Finance from HEC Montréal, holds the FRM certification and is a CFA charterholder.

Senior Managing Director & Head of Total Portfolio Group, HOOPP

Jacky Lee is Senior Managing Director and Head of the Total Portfolio Group at the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), where he leads the design and development of HOOPP’s Total Portfolio Approach (TPA) a holistic investment framework that integrates strategy, risk, and balance-sheet management to strengthen the Fund’s long-term resilience. TPG leads HOOPP’s total-fund strategy, including asset allocation, portfolio construction, total-fund analytics, and economic research, while also supporting the CEO and CIO on investment framework and governance, benchmarking, performance attribution, investment technology, and AI strategy.

Jacky has nearly 20 years of experience in institutional investing and portfolio innovation, including serving as Managing Director, Total Fund Management at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP). He pioneered the first factor-based asset allocation frameworks at both HOOPP and OTPP, integrating public and private assets within a unified macroeconomic and risk-factor framework.

Beyond his leadership responsibilities, Jacky serves on the Editorial Advisory Boards of The Journal of Portfolio Management and The Journal of Financial Data Science and is a CIO Advisory Council member at the Kroner Center for Financial Research. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on asset allocation, portfolio construction, and total-fund management in leading journals such as The Journal of Portfolio Management, The Financial Analysts Journal, and The Journal of Asset Management, including two chapters in the book Derivatives: Applications in Asset Management, edited by Frank J. Fabozzi and Marielle de Jong. His work bridges investment theory and practice, with his published research directly informing the design of decision-ready frameworks that enhance portfolio decision-making, governance, and resilience.

Jacky holds Master’s degrees in Mathematical Finance and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto, where he received multiple academic and research awards.

Chief Research & Development Officer, MSCI

Ashley Lester leads the development of MSCI’s research across the company’s wide range of product lines and clients. He was previously the founding head of systematic investments at Schroders, where he led a team managing over USD 30 billion in equity-factor and ESG strategies. Before Schroders, Ashley served as MSCI’s head of fixed-income and multi-asset-class research. He holds a doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Economics (with first-class honors and the university medal) from the University of Sydney.

Managing Director, Risk, Sustainability, La Caisse

Sunita Mahant is Managing Director, Risk, Sustainability, and Managing Director, Toronto at La Caisse. As part of the Thematic and Emerging Portfolio Risk Foresight team, she manages, assesses, and monitors sustainability risks and serves as an independent counterbalance on sustainability matters related to investment transactions. In her Toronto leadership role, she works across all asset classes to strengthen relationships with financial institutions, governments, regulators, industry associations, partners, and peers throughout the Toronto business community.

Prior to her current role, Mahant served as Managing Director, Sustainability at La Caisse until August 2025. Before the integration of Ivanhoé Cambridge into La Caisse in 2024, she was Vice-President and Head of Social Impact and Inclusion, Sustainable Investment. She also held various leadership positions in talent management, performance, and legal affairs, with a particular focus on real estate investment.

Mahant holds a Bachelor of Political Science from Glendon College, York University, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Windsor, and a Mini-MBA from Boston University's Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC). She is a member of the Ontario Bar.

She serves on the board of the NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association, is a member of Toronto CREW, was recognized as one of Canada's top lawyers under 40 in the Lexpert Rising Stars Awards (2015), and was selected for the Women's Leadership Initiative of the Urban Land Institute Toronto in 2024. She is fluent in English, French, Hindi, and Punjabi.

Managing Director, Research & Development, MSCI

Dimitris Melas heads multi-asset-class investing research and development at MSCI. Prior to joining MSCI, Dimitris headed asset-allocation research and quantitative strategies at HSBC Asset Management. He is a CFA® charterholder and holds an MSc in electrical engineering, MBA in finance and PhD in financial mathematics from the London School of Economics. Dimitris has published several research papers in peer-reviewed journals and serves as an editorial board member of the Journal of Portfolio Management.

Managing Director, Head of Emerging Risk Research & Development, MSCI

Laura Nishikawa leads a global research team responsible for producing ESG-related research content and developing models to help institutional investors identify, measure and manage investment risks and opportunities arising from significant ESG issues. Laura joined MSCI in 2010 through the acquisition of RiskMetrics. Laura received her Masters degree in International Economic Policy from Columbia University (SIPA), and her Bachelors degree from McGill University, and is a CFA® charterholder.

Chair, Canadian Taxonomy and Transition Planning Council

Marlene Puffer is a seasoned investment executive and board director committed to long-term value creation and purpose-driven governance. Marlene currently serves as Chair of Canada’s Taxonomy and Transition Planning Council mobilizing capital toward clean growth, Chair of the Railpen Investment Oversight Committee in London, UK, and as a member of the Advisory Board for the Canadian Leadership Congress.

She has held CEO, CIO, and board roles at leading Canadian pension plans overseeing multi-billion-dollar portfolios, including Chief Investment Officer at AIMCo, CEO of CN Investment Division, and Vice-Chair of the Board and Chair of the Asset-Liability Committee at HOOPP. She has championed long-term sustainable investing and inclusivity throughout her career.

She has previously served as Vice-Chair of the Pacific Pension and Investment Institute (PPI), as President of Women in Capital Markets (now VersaFi) and on the board of Rife Resources.

Marlene holds a Ph.D. in Finance, degrees in economics, the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, and the ICD.D from the Institute of Corporate Directors and is proficient in French.

Executive Director, Private and Real Assets Index Research, MSCI

Bryan Reid is an Executive Director in MSCI’s research team. He focuses on performance measurement, portfolio management and risk related research for asset owners and investment managers.

Prior to joining MSCI in September 2013, he worked in the structured finance team at Moody’s Investors Service, having started his career with the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Bryan holds a Bachelor of Economics (1st Class Hons) from the University of New South Wales, where his thesis was on residential real estate indexes.

Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer, Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Alexandre Roy is the Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer at the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments).

Since joining PSP in 2007, Alexandre has held several risk management positions, including Senior Managing Director of Total Fund Management, which led to his role as interim Chief Investment Officer before being appointed SVP and CRO in January 2025.

Alexandre began his career at Hydro-Québec, where he held financial risk management positions within the Treasury and Hydro-Québec’s pension fund.

He holds a Master’s degree in Financial Engineering from HEC Montréal and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the Université de Montréal. A dedicated professional in quantitative financial markets, Alexandre has also taught Interest Rate Derivatives and Risk Management at the graduate level.

Managing Director, Alpha Science, Global Alpha, PSP Investments

Ari Shaanan is Managing Director, Global Alpha, Alpha Science at PSP Investments, where he leads the Alpha Science team within the Global Alpha group. His team develops AI and data science models that can be applied across asset classes to validate investment theses, enhance investment decision-making, and support scalable quantitative research capabilities. He also contributes to digital value creation initiatives across PSP's portfolio companies, advising management teams on technology adoption and digital transformation strategies.

Prior to his current role, Shaanan served as Managing Director, Digital Innovation and Private Market Solutions and previously as Vice President, Digital Strategy and Innovation at PSP Investments. In those positions, he led the development of PSP's multi-year digital strategy, established its Digital Innovation Lab, and drove the adoption of advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and cloud-based technologies across the organization to support both public and private market investment activities.

Before joining PSP Investments, Shaanan built experience at the intersection of technology, data, and investment management. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Global Head of Strategic and Key Accounts, MSCI

As Global Head of Strategic and Key Accounts, Michelle Shanley leads a team of senior account managers focused on MSCI’s largest and most strategic clients. Her team partners with C-suite leaders and key decision makers at more than 350 institutions to deliver innovative solutions and address critical investment challenges. Michelle joined MSCI in 2003 after more than a decade in institutional sales and trading at Bank of America (Merrill Lynch), Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. She holds an MBA from UNC Chapel Hill and a BA from the University of New Hampshire.

Managing Director, Head of Analytics Research & Development, MSCI

Peter Shepard is a Managing Director, Head of Analytics Research & Development at MSCI. He leads a team of researchers responsible for MSCI’s multi-asset-class RiskManager and Barra platforms used by institutions in managing USD trillions in assets. The team researches factors, systematic strategies, portfolio construction, liquidity, artificial intelligence and macro finance across all asset classes. Peter holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of California at Berkeley, where he researched string theory and the quantum theory of gravity. He has publications in theoretical physics and finance. Peter also holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from Brown University.

Managing Director and Co-Head of Strats and AI Transformation, Research and Development , MSCI

Gareth Shepherd is Managing Director and Co-Head of Strats and AI Transformation, Research and Development at MSCI.

Gareth was a co-founder of G Squared Capital, one of the foremost hedge funds applying AI/ML to investing. Following its acquisition by Voya Investment Management, he co-led the Voya Machine Intelligence group and was a portfolio manager. He began his career in risk and asset management roles across Australia, Switzerland, the US and the UK.

Gareth holds a PhD in Expert Systems from the University of New South Wales and was named a Global Leadership Fellow of the World Economic Forum for his pioneering work in Artificial Intelligence. He is a CFA® Charterholder.

Managing Director & Head of Index Solutions Research, MSCI

Raman Aylur Subramanian leads MSCI’s solutions research, which focuses on strategic and client-directed research and designs, develops and delivers services and products for clients. He has been at MSCI since 1999 and specialized over the years in index construction and asset allocation. Raman is a member of MSCI’s committees for equity and fixed-income indexes. Before joining MSCI, he worked in the Indian petroleum industry, where he worked on sales and product management. Raman holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in petroleum engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, a Master of Business Administration from Anna University and a master’s degree in international management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Additionally, he is a CFA charterholder®.

Co-Founder, Thinking Ahead Institute

Roger Urwin is Global Head of Investment Content for Willis Towers Watson, a role he assumed after acting as the Global Head of the investment practice from 1995 to 2008.

Roger joined Willis Towers Watson to start the firm’s investment consulting practice and under his leadership the practice grew to a global team of over 500.

Roger’s current role includes work for some of the firm’s major investment clients around the world and thought leadership within Thinking Ahead Institute which he co-founded in 2016.

He is the author of a number of papers on asset allocation policy, manager selection, sustainability and governance.

Roger can claim a number of innovations where he was the first to develop new investment content – notably the first lifecycle DC design in 1988 and the originator of governance budget and risk budget methods in the 2000s as well as building out the universal ownership model in 2011.

Roger has worked on strategic issues for some of the largest and most complex asset owners globally. He has led significant engagements at among others RPMI-Railpen, CalPERS, ADIA, Future Fund, TCorp, Aware Super, New Zealand Super and USS in each case contributing to these organisations’ governance and investment models.

He is a strategic adviser to the Future of Finance initiative of the CFA Institute and an Advisory Director to MSCI Inc.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Society of Investment Professionals and a graduate of Oxford University.

In 2022 Roger received the CFA Institute Inspirational Leader Award for Professional Excellence for innovation and excellence of practice in the investment profession.

Vice President, Fundamental & Quantitative Risk Analysis, La Caisse

Dominique Vézina is Vice-President, Investment Risk - Fundamental and Quantitative Analysis at La Caisse (CDPQ). She is responsible for overseeing investment risk analysis across asset classes, with a focus on fundamental and quantitative risk assessment.

Since joining CDPQ in 2011, she has held several senior risk leadership roles, including Vice-President of Fixed Income Risk Management and Vice-President of Risk Management for Equity Markets and Transaction Analysis. Prior to CDPQ, she spent more than 16 years at Industrial Alliance in investment and portfolio management roles.

She holds a bachelor's degree in Actuarial Science from Université Laval, an Executive MBA from Vlerick Business School, and is a CFA Charterholder.

Managing Investment Director, Total Fund Portfolio Management, CalPERS

Derek Walker is the Managing Investment Director, Total Fund Portfolio Management at CalPERS, having joined the organization in July 2026. In this role, he supports the Chief Investment Officer in advancing the Total Portfolio Approach (TPA) across the investment office and oversees teams responsible for asset allocation, active risk allocation, multi-asset strategy development, financing and liquidity management, economics, and total fund risk analytics.

Prior to joining CalPERS, Walker spent nearly 20 years at CPP Investments (formerly the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board), where he held leadership roles in Total Fund Management, including Portfolio Design and Construction, Active Investment Management, Portfolio Engineering, and Total Fund Management Research. He also previously worked at Barclays Global Investors and MSCI.

Walker earned a bachelor's degree and a Master of Science from Queen’s University (Canada), an MBA from INSEAD, and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

Managing Director, AI, CPP Investments

Daniel Wroblewski is Managing Director, Artificial Intelligence at CPP Investments, where he leads the application of artificial intelligence and advanced data science to enhance investment decision-making, drive innovation, and create value across the organization. He works closely with investment teams to identify and scale AI-driven approaches that support the fund's long-term investment strategy.

Prior to joining CPP Investments in 2021, Wroblewski served as Chief Architect and Chief of Staff at EQT, where he helped lead the development of Motherbrain, EQT's pioneering data and machine learning platform used to source and evaluate private-market investment opportunities. Earlier in his career, he was a Technical Director at King, the creator of Candy Crush, and held a variety of software engineering and technology leadership roles.

At CPP Investments, Wroblewski initially led the Alpha Generation Lab, partnering with investment departments across the fund to identify transformational ways to generate alpha through technology, machine learning, and data-driven research. More recently, he has played a key role in advancing the organization's enterprise AI strategy and the responsible adoption of generative AI technologies across the global investment platform.

Wroblewski studied Engineering Physics at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden.