John T. Por, PhD
Dr. Por has worked in the field of pensions for over 30 years. He is known for establishing the importance of sound pension governance, developing methodologies in mapping and improving governance practices, the concept of investment beliefs and the importance of distinct fiduciary training to establish the basis for fiduciary decision and policy making.
He founded Cortex Applied Research Inc. and acted as its President for almost 20 years. Recently, his professional interest has been devoted to best practices in DC plans, with a special emphasis on efficiently converting DC assets into retirement income. He has conducted a two years long research project into the current DC decumulation practices and their consequences for retirement incomes; his findings led to the founding of the Decumulation Institute.
Articles he authored appeared, among other publications, in the Wall Street Journal (Europe), Benefits Canada, Benefits and Pension Monitor, Canadian Investment Review, Plan Sponsor (US) and Benefits and Compensation International (UK).
His clients include major Canadian and US corporations and large public sector pension funds, endowments and retirement systems.
He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Physics and degrees in Economics, Management and Governance from both Europe and North America.
Diane Marie J. Mangalindan, PhD
Dr. Mangalindan is an associate of Decumulation Institute specializing in identifying, evaluating and documenting best adult education practices.
She is leading the Institute’s efforts of designing and implementing effective DC member education and communications programs. Such programs are designed to assist DC members to materially increase their retirement incomes by taking advantage of the best decumulation practices identified and promoted by the Institute.
Dr. Mangalindan received her Honours BSc, MA, and PhD, specializing in Research Psychology from University of Toronto. She has over seven years in research practice including experimental design, theory building and testing, and searching and documenting best practice as applied in various working environments. She has solid background in statistical programs including SPSS and Statistica, and conducting meta data analyses.
Working at different research labs has brought extensive experience maneuvering through different databases and large, longitudinal data sets with multiple, multi-level variables, as well as interacting with diverse populations. She has also worked with other teaching professionals, with three years teaching experience at the University of Toronto.
Alexis Charest - Descomme
Alexis is currently completing his studies in Political Science and Economics at McGill University with special emphasis on entrepreneurship, marketing and finance. He has previously worked in law firms and tech startups, in the realms of product development, logistics and marketing.
Alexis strong mediation and teamwork skills has been developed by serving as translator for government officials in Haiti, as well as his leadership in the Sigma Chi fraternity.
His interest in marketing innovation and application of social media, led him to the position of Research Analyst and Social Media Director at Decumulation Institute.
John T. Por, PhD