NextGen Forum 2026

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NextGen Forum 2026

March 3
Vantage Venues, Toronto ON

Register

Amid rising complexity and the growing impact of AI in the pension and investment industry, what opportunities lie ahead for young professionals, and how should they develop their career pathways?

Join us at this year’s NextGen Forum, designed for young professionals who aspire to grow their careers and strengthen their networks in an evolving industry. Gain insights from senior experts as they share perspectives on market outlook and career journeys. Engage in interactive roundtable discussions, connect with peers across the pension and investment community, and build lasting relationships that will support your career journey in this evolving environment.

Keynote Speaker

Dawn Jia 1

Dawn Jia

CFA

President & Chief Executive Officer

UBC Investment Management Inc

View Bio

Advisory Board Members

Anthony Chan 1

Anthony Chan


Investment Operation

UBC Investment Management

View Bio
Jeff Chan

Jeff Chan

CFA

Director, ESG Investing

Canada Post Corporation Pension Plan

View Bio
Mussie Hailu 1

Mussie Hailu

CFA, CAIA

Consultant

Prime Quadrant

View Bio
John Lukovich 1

John Lukovich

MASc, CFA

Portfolio Manager, Factor Investing

Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO)

View Bio
Jessica Mitchell 1

Jessica Mitchell

CFA

Investment Associate


Calgary Foundation

View Bio
Khalisa Valani

Khalisa Valani


Principal - External Strategies team

OPTrust

View Bio
Marc Antoine

Marc-Antoine Vézina-Tardif


Director, Funds, Private Equity

La Caisse

View Bio
Jessie Zheng

Jessie Zheng


Associate Manager, Investment & ODD

Halifax Regional Municipality Pension Plan

View Bio

Event Experience

Engaging in live and roundtable discussions with seasoned professionals provided valuable insights on the overall industry and future career paths

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Network with peers in the industry to foster connections

Hear from a vast of experts on the industry future trends and topics

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Interact with speakers and make connections through use of an event app

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Dawn Jia

CFA

President & Chief Executive Officer

UBC Investment Management Inc

As the President and CEO of UBC Investment Management Inc. (UBCIM), Dawn Jia is responsible for the overall investment acvies and monitoring of the porolios under UBCIM’s oversight. She also oversees the operaons of UBCIM and provides strategic and operang objecves to the organizaon. Prior to joining UBCIM, Dawn was a Managing Director at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). At CPPIB, Dawn and her team were responsible for ensuring that the total porolio delivered on its overall mandate, by rebalancing it to the desired systemac exposures.

Before Dawn joined CPPIB in 2013, she was Vice President and Head of Acve Equity for North America at State Street Global Advisors. Previously, she was an equity porolio manager at Barclays Global Investors and a quantave strategist at CIBC World Markets.

Dawn serves on the Board of Insurance Corporaon of Brish Columbia (ICBC). She is also the Vice Chair of the Board of Canadian Coalion for Good Governance (CCGG). Previously, she served on the Vancouver Foundaon Board and the Investment Commitee of Ontario Hospital Associaon (OHA). Dawn is a founding member of the Advisory Board of Western University’s Master of Financial Economics Program.

Dawn received her MBA from the Ivey Business School and an MS in Engineering from Tianjin University in China. She is also a CFA charterholder.

Anthony Chan

Director, Investment Operations

UBC IM

As the Director, Investment Operations, Anthony is responsible for leading UBCIM’s Investment Operations team to help deliver on the firm’s investment mandate and vision.

Prior to joining UBCIM, Anthony managed an Investment Operations team at Focus Asset Management, a Toronto-based Wealth Management firm. At Focus, Anthony strengthened processes and controls surrounding Trade Support, Fund Accounting, and Reporting. Before Focus Asset Management, Anthony spent 11+ years at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) where he gained an understanding of the investment transaction lifecycle across multiple asset classes and ultimately enhancing its supporting processes. CPPIB looked to Anthony to provide operational subject matter expertise and lead complex transaction onboarding for their Active Equities and External Portfolio Management teams. Before CPPIB, Anthony began his career at State Street Canada managing teams in both Custody Servicing and Alternative Asset Fund Administration. 

Jeff Chan

CFA

Director, ESG Investing

Canada Post Corporation Pension Plan

Jeff Chan is Director, ESG Investing at Canada Post Corporate Pension Plan. In this role, Jeff leads all aspects of the plan’s ESG efforts including ESG integration, stewardship efforts and the implementation of the plan’s climate change strategy. Prior to this role, Jeff was Director, ESG at a large Canadian asset management firm where he developed and led the implementation of the firm’s ESG strategy and roadmap, including policy and process creation. Jeff also played an integral role in ESG product development and ESG-related client servicing.

Jeff is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and has completed a Master of Science in Sustainability Management from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Science (Life Sciences) from McMaster University. Jeff also holds the FSA Credential from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR) Certificate from the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP).

Mussie Hailu

CFA, CAIA

Consultant

Prime Quadrant

Mussie is a Consultant at Prime Quadrant, a multi-family office serving over 240 ultra-high net worth families.

In his role, Mussie leads investment strategy, portfolio construction, and risk monitoring for client families. Portfolios are diversified across public and private assets, managers, strategies, and geographies, with the aim of building robust portfolios tailored to achieve clients’ unique needs.

Mussie Hailu earned an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Ottawa and is a CFA and CAIA charterholder.

John Lukovich

MASc, CFA

Portfolio Manager, Factor Investing

Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO)

John Lukovich is an accomplished investment professional with over 15 years of experience in asset management, specializing in quantitative equity and macro strategies. He is a Portfolio Manager at the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario, where he focuses on the management of global multi-factor equity portfolios. Previously, he was Managing Principal at WaveFront Global Asset Management, with responsibilities spanning portfolio management, research, and trading. John holds an M.A.Sc and B.A.Sc from the University of Toronto, and is a CFA Charterholder.

Jessica Mitchell

CFA

Investment Associate

Calgary Foundation

Jessica Mitchell is an Investment Associate for Calgary Foundation. Jessica supports the Vice President, Chief Investment Officer and Director, Investments with effective oversight of the Primary Endowment Portfolio. She conducts investment research, reviews performance, aids in asset allocation and risk management strategies, and partakes in investment manager due diligence and monitoring processes. She has an undergraduate degree in Policy Studies from Mount Royal University and is a CFA® Charterholder.

Khalisa Valani

Principal, Completion Portfolio Strategies

OPTrust

Khalisa Valani is a Principal in the External Strategies team at OPTrust. Khalisa is responsible for macro and multi-strategy hedge fund strategies as well as incubation investments in novel and transformative technologies. In addition, she spearheads value creation efforts, which seek to connect external managers and companies with internal stakeholders to drive insight sharing and strategic benefits. Khalisa holds a degree in Nanotechnology Engineering from the University of Waterloo.

Marc-Antoine Vézina-Tardif

Director, Funds, Private Equity

La Caisse

As a director in the Investment Funds and External Management group at La Caisse, Marc-Antoine V. Tardif focuses on Private Equity investing. He manages relationships with private equity fund managers and supports the development and execution of fund strategies within La Caisse’s Private Equity portfolio. His role includes evaluating new fund opportunities, overseeing existing fund investments, and contributing to strategic partnerships globally. Mr. V. Tardif joined La Caisse in 2015 and has held increasing responsibilities within the Private Equity and Private Funds teams. He began his career at La Caisse as an Analyst in the Private Equity group. A former Vert & Or student-athlete, he holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a specialization in Finance from the Université de Sherbrooke.

Criteria

Green Key certified establishments meet a set of high standard environmental requirements. The Green Key criteria and their explanatory notes are available to all interested parties and can be downloaded below. We have developed criteria and explanatory notes for six Green Key categories (hotels and hostels, campsites and holiday parks, small accommodations, conference centres, restaurants, and attractions) covering the same 13 criteria areas.

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