Louise Koza, CFA
Designations: CFA charterholder and Associate of the Society of Actuaries.
First investment job: Mercer Consulting
Joined HR at University of Western Ontario: 1993
What keeps her busy: Three children
Loves to: Travel
Last vacation was to: Eastern Europe
Best part of her job: Getting involved on committees to solve business problems

Louise joined Western in 1993 to administer and establish the governance of Western’s defined contribution pension plan, which covers over 7,000 current and former employees. She is now responsible for overseeing its overall governance and investment strategies and plays a leadership role in the university’s HR department. Prior to joining Western, Louise worked for John Labatt Limited where she performed actuarial work for the company’s 22 pension plans, including its many subsidiaries at the time. Louise began her career with Mercer Consulting, where she worked for four years. Louse is a CFA charterholder and she’s also an associate of the Society of Actuaries.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to The Analyst. You’ve had an interesting career. What do you enjoy about your current role in HR at Western?

Louis Koza: One thing I really enjoy is that there’s always something new going on in a learning organization like Western. It’s an academic environment and I’m always working with new people to solve business problems; I work with people across all disciplines. For example, right now it’s business continuity planning in case we have an H1N1 pandemic. And I’m also working with other service providers at the University to understand how we can make Western the best place for graduate students. So there’s a constant flow of new challenges and opportunities to learn, outside of the financial accountabilities, where the reward for success is an additional invitation to get involved!

How were you affected by the recent market mayhem?

LK: I think that we were surprised and possibly least prepared for what happened in the credit markets. We weren’t expecting such a large drop in the equity markets although we had diversified our strategies in the equity portfolios better than our fixed income portfolios. But we had loaded up on corporate bonds over governments and weren’t prepared for the spreads widening so fast–that had a significant impact. So now we’ve re-evaluated our mandates.

You work for an institution that’s preparing, among others, the next generation of investment managers. Do you have any career advice for those just starting out?

LK: Well I think you have to start by asking yourself, “Am I doing this because everyone else is?” Make sure your decision is strategic and not tactical–that you’re not market timing. So take the time to investigate. Read diverse points of view. And sit back and ask yourself, “What’s the risk?” You have to evaluate your risk, not just in terms of volatility, but also in terms of liquidity, of opportunity loss, and also general business risk. Then make sure you document your analysis so you can review it later.

That’s interesting. Any other tips?

LK: Yes, I think it’s important to try as much as possible to get hands-on experience and learn how to apply your knowledge in a practical setting. For example, we work closely with the Ivey School here at Western. A few years back the pension committee wanted to explore alternative investment strategies–hedge funds–to decide if they would be right for our program. While our internal staff had reviewed the strategies available a number of times, we also asked a four-student team to do the analysis for us, interviewing managers, staff, and consultants to see if either a fund-of-fund strategy or a direct investment would be appropriate. Ultimately the decision was no, it wasn’t the right fit for us. But the students had the opportunity to draw on different perspectives and understand the practical implementation of a business case.

In the classroom you learn about risk-neutral strategies on a global level. Here these students were seeing why it didn’t work in the real world where there are regulations, considering the plan sponsor’s goals, the reality of beneficiaries’ behaviour –it was a terrific experience for them.

Working in HR at Western puts you in a unique position: You’re bridging academia with Bay Street. How do you see the relationship between the two?

LK: Yes, it is an interesting situation when you’re managing the retirement plan for finance professors (amongst others)! (laughs). I do see our academics actively working to deliver research and to connect with institutional investors. The amount of money available for research is limited, though, so what we see more of is institutions like C.D. Howe Institute and The Fraser Institute sponsoring studies that then pique Bay Street’s interest.

For example, Joel Fried and David Burgess–these were two of our economists who presented a paper to C.D. Howe detailing how the foreign content restrictions in RRSPs were serving no purpose. Fidelity then sponsored a trip across Canada for them to speak with people who could influence the Minister of Finance. Eventually their work led to the removal of the foreign property rule.

And how do you enjoy living away from the buzz of Bay Street?

LK: Oh I love it! London’s a wonderful place to live. It’s a 15-minute walk to work across the campus. Plus I have three kids and they have access to some of the best libraries, they’re in the sports programs here, and there’s on-campus day care and a brand-new state-of-the-art fitness centre. So it’s wonderful for achieving work-life balance.

Charterholder Profile is a regular feature of The Analyst. Do you have suggestions for members that we should profile? Email us with the member’s name and a few sentences about who he/she is and why this person would make an interesting choice for a profile. TheAnalyst@torontocfa.ca