Roy Stuart

Roy Stuart is the Principal Consultant with Pension Governance Solutions, a consulting firm that provides governance advice and services to the sponsors and governors of pension, benefits and endowment plans. Prior to retiring on September 1, 2017, Roy led Aon Hewitt’s pension and benefits governance practice in Canada and consulted with clients in the public and private sectors.

Areas of Specialization

Roy has deep expertise in all aspects of plan governance which he has gained through the delivery of hundreds of governance consulting assignments over the past 20 years. Roy has been a frequent speaker on pension, benefits and related public policy issues at CPBI, HRMA and union and business group meetings. In 2006, he participated in the “Great Pension Debate” with Buzz Hargrove and Ann Medina. Roy has taught the Humber College pension administrators certificate course and trustee development courses and has conducted numerous retirement and financial planning seminars.

Roy has provided advice on pensions, benefits and related financial matters for over 46 years. His career has included more than 31 years of consulting experience with William M. Mercer Limited and Aon Hewitt where he led Aon’s pension and benefits consulting practice. Roy has worked for Treasury Board Canada as a senior advisor on pensions and human resources issues. He has also worked in various senior capacities for the Province of British Columbia, including Executive Director with the Public Sector Employers’ Council and Deputy Superannuation Commissioner. Roy has served on a number of pension and other boards, including the four joint boards that govern the BC colleges, municipal, public service and teachers’ pension plans.

Career Highlights

  • Consulted to the governors of a numerous public and private sector pension and benefits plans and endowment funds to improve governance structures and programs, decision-making processes, performance management, documentation, risk management, strategic planning, multi-year business planning, pension board and committee self-assessment processes and competency building, as well as to meet regulators’ requirements with respect to pension plan governance.
  • Consulted with private and public sector clients to help them develop and execute plan design and financing strategies.
  • Assisted through facilitation and mediation the development of a joint agreement on the governance of the ICBC Pension Plan, including funding and the sharing of responsibility for funding deficiencies and surpluses.
  • Assisted the BC Superannuation Commissioner facilitate the process resulting g in the independent joint governance and joint cost sharing arrangements for the BC Colleges Pension Plan, Municipal Pension Plan, Public Service Pension Plan and Teachers Pension Plan.
  • Served as a member of each of the four BC public sector joint pension boards and the Board of the BC Crown Corporation Employers Association.
  • Consulted to the Speaker of the BC Legislature and facilitated a multi-party consensus on the design and introduction of revised pension arrangements for BC MLAs.
  • Served as pension consultant to the BC MLA compensation review commission.
  • Served on the 2013 BC Judges Compensation Commission.
  • Designed and implemented numerous early retirement programs for employees in the public service, education, health and crown corporation sectors.
  • Developed, negotiated and implemented pension portability arrangements for various groups of pension plan members.
  • Independently investigated and reviewed controversial severance arrangements for senior public officials, producing published findings and recommendations to government.
  • Served as Administrator and Secretary to the BC Pulp and Paper Pension Plan Board of Trustees.
  • Assisted in the development through a joint consultative process of early retirement provisions within the federal public service pension plan for Air Traffic Controllers.

Education

Roy is a graduate of Simon Fraser University. He has a Certificate in Employee Benefits from Humber College and a Certificate in Financial Planning from the Canadian Institute of Financial Planning. Roy has also completed a number of courses in the Conflict Resolution Certification Program with the BC Justice Institute.