Executive Compensation

Corporate disclosure
Robert Levasseur

Designing a compensation plan to suit your company, board & shareholders
Nick Bishop

Panel discussion: Compensation strategies
Mark Ferguson
Robert Levasseur
Nick Bishop

Tax considerations in designing equity based incentive plans
Chris D'Iorio

Beyond stock options: Alternative long-term compensation strategies
Chris D'Iorio

Mark Ferguson has been with Watson Wyatt as the Director, Client Development Western Canada since 2005. Prior to joining Watson Wyatt, his career included over 20 years corporate experience in the trust industry, the last 12 of which he served as Regional Vice President for Montreal/Trust Computershare Trust Company heading up Western Canada. His experience has included working with governments, private and public companies. He has acted as agent and trustee for equity and debt issues and as custodian and trustee for numerous pension plans. His background has been concentrated in the senior management and sales and marketing.

Robert Levasseur, who has nine years experience as an executive compensation consultant recently joined Watson Wyatt to provide executive reward and Board of Director compensation consulting to both private and public sector organizations. He partners with clients in developing strategic and practical reward solutions. He has assisted various clients in developing both equity and cashbased long-term incentive plans and valuing cash and non-cash compensation. He also assists in the development of employment contracts and provides advice on the terms and conditions of senior- executive and board member employment arrangements. He is on the faculty of The Directors College and Humber College's CEB program. Prior to consulting, he had twenty-two years experience in various HR functions of increasing responsibility.

Chris D'Iorio has worked as a lawyer and consultant in the field of deferred compensation and employee benefits for over 10 years. His primary focus is the design and optimization of equity-based compensation programs and executive retirement programs. He has broad experience in equity and retirement plan design, compliance and implementation for both large global and small private clients. He is an author and frequent speaker on the subject of deferred and equity compensation for both firm and industry conferences and publications.

Nick Bishop has more than 20 years senior experience in Human Resources management and consulting, giving him a unique insight into the commercial effectiveness and contribution of the HR function. His career has spanned a wide variety of industries from manufacturing and distribution, to brewing, consumer goods, retail and hospitality and customer service. He has considerable experience of helping companies adapt to change whether it is from new HR conditions to extreme growth, merger, acquisition and divestment. Before moving to Calgary, he ran his own consulting business near London, England and still consults on UK issues.

Luis Navas is National Practice Leader, Executive Compensation for Hay Group in Canada and a member of the firm's Executive Management Committee. He has served for over a decade as an advisor to Board's and top management of major corporations around the world. He specializes in the innovative design and implementation of corporate governance and compensation programs that support organizational strategy and objectives, as well as shareholders' interests. He has consulted globally to a variety of organizations including many Canadian in-house pension funds and investment managers.

John S. Abbott, B.Comm (Honours), MBA, is Senior Management Consultant at Watson Wyatt Worldwise.

Areas of Specialization:
- Specializes in Compensation, Total Rewards, Executive Compensation, Performance Management and Performance Improvement

Experience Relevant:
- 17 years of corporate experience in Human Resource supervisory and management positions in Alberta.
- 15 years in Management Consulting, servicing Western Canadian based clients in a wide variety of industries including mining, oil & gas, manufacturing, agriculture, high tech and oil field servicing.

Credentials and Professional Experience:
- B.Comm.(Honours) from Queen's University
- MBA University of Calgary (Organizational Behaviour and Design)
- Lecturer at several universities including the University of Calgary, Tel Aviv University and the Sadat Academy of Management Science in Cairo.
- Seminar and workshop leader in Performance Improvement, Leadership and Motivation