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Wiley Wolf

Paul Owens Pension Guru at large

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About Paul

Paul Owens and Friend

This is a picture of two grey haired creatures. The one without the hat is Wiley, a “canis lupus” or grey wolf. Wiley was about 13 when he passed away a few years ago. I used to go walking with him and his extended family in the Purcell Mountains near Golden, British Columbia. I have done this two hour walk with him and his owners at least 10 times since I moved to Alberta in 2012. Often, friends, family and professional colleagues would accompany me. One of the owners asked me why I would repeat this on such a regular basis? Quite simply, it is a totally relaxing and out of our world experience.

Contact Me

When I am not walking with “my wolves”, my current day job is Senior Vice-President, Pension Policy with the Ellement Consulting Group, a Winnipeg, Manitoba based pension actuarial and consulting firm. I am based in their Edmonton, Alberta office. I joined them in March, 2021 after a 48 hour retirement from the Government of Alberta where I was the Deputy Superintendent of Pensions for 9.25 years and was responsible for the regulation of about 600 pension plans covering 900,000 active and retired members.

I have been in the pension, benefit and investment industry since about 1980 where I have been an advisor, plan administrator, public sector pension plan CEO, trustee, investment advisor, regulator and now a consultant.

Paul Owens

Experience

Paul has over 40 years of experience in the pension and investment area. Some of his key roles over the years include:

1. Trustee, Alberta Carpenters and Allied Workers Pension and Health Trust Funds. 2023 – current

2. Senior Vice President, Pension Policy, Ellement Consulting Group. 2021- current

  • Pension consultant and advisor to boards of trustees

3. Deputy Superintendent of Pensions, Treasury Board and Finance, Government of Alberta. 2012-2021

  • Regulated 600+ pension plans covering 900,000+ members with $128 billion assets
  • Improved viability of funding of building trades pension plans

4. Trustee, Ontario Judges Pension Plan. 2009- 2011

5. Plan Manager and CEO. Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) Pension Plan. 1995- 2009

  • Established and managed CAAT Pension Plan as a stand alone entity following separation from Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System
  • Enhanced board governance structure and operations

6. Director, Human Resources, Pensions. The Bank of Nova Scotia. 1982-1995

  • Designed and managed the Bank’s global pension plans
  • Trustee, Scotiabank Pension Plan
  • Trustee, Scotiabank Pension Plan (United States)

7. Investment and Governance Roles

  •  Current:
    • Investment committee: Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Toronto
    • Investment committee: CongrĂ©gation de Bon Pasteur, Montreal
    • Investment committee: Maria Droste Foundation, Minneapolis, MN
    • Advisory board member: Absolute Climo, Honolulu, Hawaii 
  • Previous:
    • Investment committee: Archdiocese of Toronto, up to 2022
    • Board Chair: Foundation of Administrative Justice, up to 2022
    • Advisory board member, Faculty of Management, University of New Brunswick, up to 2023
    • Consultant: pension board, Acadia University, Wolfville, NS
    • Board Chair, WorldatWork (formerly American Compensation Association)
    • Member: Benefits Canada advisory board