An Update on OPB's Executive Succession Plan from Mark Fuller and Darwin Bozek

A message from Mark Fuller

Last spring, we shared that a careful succession plan was underway to prepare for the upcoming retirements of Peter Shena in his role as Executive Vice-President and Chief Pension Officer (CPO), and for me in my role as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Late last year, we announced that OPB’s Board had selected Darwin Bozek to join OPB as President and CPO before becoming OPB’s new President & CEO upon my retirement.

This careful and thoughtful leadership transition approach provided appropriate time for executive recruitment and knowledge transfer, effective risk management, and continuity of operational excellence.

Since joining OPB in February, Darwin has worked to gain a deep understanding of the PSPP, our strong workplace culture, how we protect the pension promise, and our industry-leading advisory approach to delivering services and retirement planning support to our members.

In his first few months, one of Darwin’s key priorities has been leading the permanent recruitment for OPB’s new Chief Pension Officer (CPO). We are pleased to share an update on this important final step of our succession plan, which will take effect on August 6, 2024. This is also the day when Darwin will formally take on the role of President & CEO.

I will continue to work very closely with Darwin, the Board and the senior leadership team to ensure continuity during this transition.

It has been my privilege to lead OPB over the last 23 years. I am extremely proud of the work we’ve done to protect the long-term health of the Plan, deliver outstanding service to our clients and to build a diverse, collaborative and inclusive culture. I know Darwin is equally passionate about the work we do and our Advisory Services model. I am confident that under his leadership, OPB will continue to protect the pension promise and improve the experience for our clients and employees.

Mark Fuller

A message from Darwin Bozek

To our valued members:

A big part of what drew me to OPB was our unique Advisory Services model that focuses on providing members not just with information about their pension, but the support and guidance they need to make sound pension decisions. Over the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to gain a strong understanding of the work we do across the organization and what makes us unique amongst our peers.

My time in the President & CPO role has given me a valuable opportunity to reflect on what OPB needs moving into the future. Fundamentally, OPB has two critical objectives: first, to manage the financial health of the Plan, so it remains sustainable over the long term, and second, to provide outstanding pension administration services to our members, employers and stakeholders. This is reflected in our two core strategies in Vision 2025: Sustainability and Service Excellence.

Historically, the CPO has provided leadership and oversight over both these areas. As I gained a deeper understanding of our operations, it became clear the CPO role and the work that the pensions area is responsible for has grown significantly over the years and has become increasingly complex.

For example, our plan consolidation and growth strategy, which is key to helping us meet our plan sustainability objectives, and the significant expansion of the third-party managed plans mandates have both added significant work. Additionally, our pension modernization program is a substantial undertaking that requires dedicated executive attention to ensure we deliver both operational efficiencies and an enhanced experience for our clients and employees.

Ensuring an appropriate span of control for risk management and expediency in decision-making is essential to OPB’s success. This reflection underscored that there are two distinct areas of the pension business, and the need for each of these areas to have dedicated senior executive leadership and oversight, which also necessitates a change in our organizational structure to align to the vision we contemplated as we approach 2025.

Fortunately, OPB has two senior executives with the experience, business acumen, stakeholder management expertise, and deep knowledge necessary to support our continued success: Marc Rondeau and Mila Babic. Being able to draw from our internal leadership talent is incredibly valuable and I am pleased to announce their appointments to the following roles, effective August 6, 2024.

Marc Rondeau will become OPB’s Executive Vice-President and Chief Pension Officer.

Marc is a strong champion and advocate for defined benefit pensions. He has extensive public sector experience in the Ontario Public Service, including serving as Associate Deputy Minister of the Centre for Public Sector Labour Relations and Compensation at Ontario’s Treasury Board Secretariat. He is a people-centric leader with strong relationship-building skills and has a proven ability to help organizations navigate complex initiatives in a way that fosters trust, delivers the right strategic outcomes and advances the client experience.

Since joining OPB last summer, Marc has helped OPB further advance our plan governance practices, funding management and growth strategies, as well as our policy, legal and advocacy agenda. He has also helped strengthen our administration and support of the Provincial Judges Pension Plan (PJPP), and has continued to build on his existing strong relationships with the Plan Sponsor, Regulators, our Bargaining Agents, and other important stakeholders.

In his new role, Marc will maintain his existing Plan Management functions, which include a strong focus on managing the financial health of the Plan through funding management and our plan consolidation and growth strategy. He will also take on leadership and accountability for developing and coordinating the execution of OPB’s strategic plans, as well as employer relations and external communications activities. Marc will also lead OPB’s efforts on data analytics and regulatory affairs, and will work closely with our CIO, Chris Kautzky, on our engagement and oversight of IMCO.

To learn more about Marc Rondeau, please visit his biography.

Mila Babic will become Executive-Vice President & Chief Client Services Officer.

Mila is passionate about delivering exceptional client service and looking for ways to enhance the client and employee experience together. She has over 25 years of pension leadership experience and significant experience leading high-performing teams and transformational technology initiatives.

In this new role, Mila will have accountability for leading the client services and advisory services teams and client services initiatives and projects. She will also co-lead our pension modernization program with our Chief Technology Officer (CTO), as we prepare to replace our pension administration system (PAS). The implementation of the new PAS is a business imperative that will transform the way our staff do their work, improve operational efficiencies, and enable us to modernize the client experience and deliver the tools and services clients need to make sound decisions about their pension. Mila will be accountable for setting the strategic direction of the overall pension modernization program and ensuring it delivers the benefits our clients and employees need.

To learn more about Mila Babic, please visit her biography.

We believe these appointments position OPB well to continue delivering excellent service, protecting the pension promise and advancing both the client and employee experience.

Darwin Bozek