Leadership

Meet the Sun Life Global Investments leadership team.

President, SLGI Asset Management Inc. and Senior-Vice President, Investment Solutions, Sun Life Canada

Oricia Smith is President of SLGI Asset Management Inc. and Senior Vice President of Investment Solutions for Sun Life Canada. She is responsible for the development, management and growth of the organization.

Oricia joined Sun Life in 2016, as Head of the International Investment Centre (IIC), an investment consulting and manager research team with relationships with more than 100 investment management companies. The IIC is responsible for oversight and governance on over C$150 billion of assets invested on behalf of Sun Life and Sun Life’s Clients globally. Oricia moved into SLC Management in 2017– Sun Life’s global institutional asset management company, and more recently expanded her role to include accountability for SLC Management’s Product Development, CRM and Sales Analytics team.

Prior to joining Sun Life, Oricia spent over 17 years at Invesco and started her career in the investment banking division at TD Securities.

Oricia is actively involved in the industry and is passionate about supporting diversity and inclusion. Oricia is the co-founder of 100 Women Who Care Toronto West, a former Trustee of the Sun Life Benevolent Fund and a former Executive Sponsor of Sun Life’s InvestHER Women’s Network. In 2022, Oricia was awarded Canada’s Most Powerful Women Award among Executive Leaders by the Women Exchange Network (WXN) recognizing her leadership both within the organization and community, as well as her dedication to champion equality and break down barriers for the next generation of leaders to come. She is a current board member for the Investment Funds Institute of Canada and former member of their Strategic Research Committee. Oricia is also a past member of the Ontario Securities Commission Investment Funds Product Advisory and past President of Olympium Synchronized Swimming Club.

Oricia has both an HBA and MBA from the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business and is a Rotman alumni as a The Judy Project graduate. 

Chief Investment Officer and Head of Multi-Asset Solutions, SLGI Asset Management Inc.

As Chief Investment Officer and Head of Multi-Asset Solutions, Chhad Aul is responsible for the development, evolution and execution of the investment philosophy, process and investment team managing SLGI Asset Management Inc.’s funds, separate accounts and strategies. This includes chairing the Asset Allocation Committee and Investment Oversight Committee and leading the activities of the Multi-Asset Solutions team to drive performance and manage risk.

When Chhad joined the company in 2014 he brought with him deep expertise in quantitative strategies, asset allocation and investing with derivatives. He uses these strengths to build and manage sophisticated solutions for Canadian investors seeking broadly diversified portfolios.

To increase investor knowledge, Chhad connects with advisors and consultants across Canada to discuss the market and his team’s investment process.

Prior to joining Sun Life Global Investments, Chhad was Vice-President and Senior Portfolio Manager at State Street Global Advisors where he managed a broad number of equity strategies – from traditional long-only funds to alternative strategies and hedge funds. Earlier, he was Associate Portfolio Manager at Hillsdale Investment Management and a Quantitative Analyst at TD Securities.

Chhad holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Engineering Science and a Master of Mathematical Finance degree, both from the University of Toronto. He is also a CFA Charterholder.

Vice-President, Retail Business
Sun Life Global Investments

John Killeen leads Sun Life Global Investments’ Investment Distribution business and is responsible for SLGI’s institutional, retail and national account channels in Canada.

A seasoned sales executive, with a career in financial services spanning 25 years, John joined SLGI in 2019. Before that, he was Managing Director, Intermediary Distribution for BMO Global Asset Management. There, he was responsible for BMO GAM’s mutual fund, ETF, SMA and segregated fund distribution strategies and leadership of their national sales team.

John has an established record of leading large, high-performing teams with the goal of helping investment advisors to demonstrate the value of their advice, and enhancing the financial security of clients across Canada.

John is a graduate of Dalhousie University with an advanced double major in Political Science and English. He also and holds the CIM (Chartered Investment Manager) designation. He resides in Etobicoke and is the proud father of three very busy teenagers.

Vice-President, Product Management and Investment Risk
Sun Life Global Investments

Jason Agaby is Vice-President, Product Management and Investment Risk at Sun Life Global Investments. He leads the development and management of the firm’s product platform including investment funds, segregated funds and guaranteed products such as payout annuities, accumulation annuities and Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs). He is a recognized industry expert with over 25 years of financial services experience in product development and management, investment management, financial advisory and investment banking with major international financial institutions in Canada and overseas.

Before joining Sun Life Global Investments in April 2018, Jason was Vice-President, Product Development and Managed Solutions at a large asset manager in Toronto. Jason served three terms as a member of the Ontario Securities Commission Investment Funds Product Advisory Committee and is a regular speaker at industry conferences.

Jason graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. He holds the CFA, CFP and CIM designations (awarded gold medal for academic excellence 1997-1998) and is a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute.

Head of Institutional Business
Sun Life Global Investments

As Head of Institutional Business for Sun Life Global Investments, Anne Meloche is responsible for developing the strategy for our institutional business. Anne leads the national institutional sales team, who work with plan sponsors, consultants and advisors to educate and promote the firm’s innovative solutions for group retirement platforms. Anne is also an active member of the Sun Life Quebec Leadership Team.

After joining Sun Life Global Investments in 2012, Anne advanced through a number of senior positions. She has been responsible for building and growing our institutional business in Quebec and Atlantic Canada, and more recently leading our business development and client servicing nationally.

Anne joined Sun Life Global Investments from a large consulting firm in Montreal where she worked for almost 15 years. As Partner, her main responsibilities were managing the DC business for Eastern Canada operations and providing advice to large private and public sector organizations sponsoring DC plans on all aspects related to implementation, management and oversight.

Anne holds a Bachelor of Mathematics degree from Concordia University and is a Fellow of both the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.

Head of Marketing
Sun Life Global Investments

Amanda Correa is Head of Marketing, Sun Life Global Investments. She is responsible for developing and executing the marketing strategy and brand awareness for the firm on a national scale, focusing on both the retail and institutional channels and enhancing our client experiences.

Prior to joining Sun Life Global Investments in 2021, Amanda was Director, Multi-Channel and Segmentation Strategy at a large Canadian investment fund company. There, she directed targeted marketing efforts to key stakeholders across the distribution landscape to support acquisition and retention strategies.

Amanda has spent her entire career in the investment industry covering all aspects of marketing across channel strategy, advertising and promotional campaigns, product marketing, digital marketing and events throughout North America.

Amanda holds an MBA from the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics at Wilfred Laurier University and a Bachelor of Commerce from York University. She is a graduate of the Canadian Securities Course.

Assistant Vice President, Risk Governance
Sun Life Global Investments

Faruk Patel is Assistant Vice President, Risk Governance, Sun Life Global Investments. He is responsible for the overall leadership and direction of the Risk Governance team in its mission to identify and mitigate risks within the business by continually enhancing the governance framework including risk policies and effectiveness of controls. The team also acts as a key advisor to the business to enable compliance with different regulations and policies.

Faruk’s experience in the financial industry began in 1998, primarily within the pension and asset management sector, with a primary focus on risk management and oversight of investment strategies. He previously held the position of Managing Director and Head of Risk, Wealth and Asset Management Canada at a large Canadian investment company.

Faruk’s prior roles include leading an Investment risk team on quantitative risk measurement and risk analytics, total fund risk analysis and investment risk governance. His career has also involved risk management and oversight roles at a number of large Canadian financial institutions.

Faruk is completing a M.Sc Finance (Major of Quantitative Finance) with the University of London and completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a Major in Finance from Concordia University. Faruk is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and has both Financial Risk Manager (FRM) and Professional Risk Manager (PRM) designations.  

Head of Investment Operations
SLGI Asset Management Inc.

Ali Jaffer is Head of Investment Operations for SLGI Asset Management Inc. Ali is responsible for developing and executing the investment operations growth strategy within the firm across the retail, institutional and segregated fund business.

Ali joined SLGI Asset Management in 2019 and has over 18 years of experience in the investment industry. Prior to joining SLGI Asset Management, Ali spent 11 years at AGF Investments Inc., most recently as Vice President, Investment Operations where he implemented numerous investment-related systems to increase operational efficiencies and reduce risk. He was also responsible for building out the operational framework and support model for AGF’s Exchange Traded Funds.

Ali is the father of two children.  And in his spare time, he is an assistant coach on his son’s hockey team and has volunteered with other hockey organizations for nearly 20 years.

Ali, who holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Toronto, is also a member of the Canadian Capital Markets Association and previously was a member of the Canadian ETF Association.

Assistant Vice President, Strategy and Analytics
SLGI Asset Management Inc.

Shaun Allan, Assistant Vice-President, Strategy and Analytics, has been with SLGI Asset Management Inc. since 2013. Over that time, he has held a number of senior positions, and is currently a member of the leadership team. 

With over 20 years of industry experience, Shaun has a proven track record of building successful teams and implementing innovative business solutions across sales, sales support and corporate functions.

Shaun’s current responsibilities include, corporate strategy, enablement, business intelligence, data analytics, sales transformation and training. Prior to this he was responsible for building out the national retail sales desk.

Before joining SLGI Asset Management Inc, Shaun held senior roles in sales, sales management and enablement at Fidelity Investments. Prior to Fidelity, Shaun held a number of positions at Guardian Group of Funds, where he started his career.

Shaun holds a Honors BA in Economics from the University of Ottawa and has continued his learning through various executive education programs at leading institutions such as Yale University and Schulich School of Business.