CanChamHK is pleased to announce the following speakers for the Luncheon with the Asia Business Leaders Advisory Council happening on Wednesday, February 27, 2019:
- CEO of NCSOFT West Dr. Songyee Yoon
- CEO of Canada’s Digital Cluster Ms.Sue Paish
- President & Chief Executive Officer of Sun Life Financial, Mr. Dean A. Connor
- Group President, Noah Holdings, Mr. Kenny Lam
- Moderator: Dominic Barton, Global Managing Partner Emeritus
McKinsey & Company
The panelists will take to the stage to discuss Canada’s role and opportunities in Asia given the region’s shifting economic and geopolitical landscape.
About the Speakers
Dr. Songyee Yoon
CEO of NCSOFT West
Dr. Yoon is the CEO of NCSOFT West, responsible for managing the organization and planning the company’s globalization strategy. She has been instrumental in the launch of many of NCSOFT’s titles in the US and Europe, and in moving the company toward new initiatives, including the development of the mobile studio in San Mateo and research into new technologies such as AI. Dr. Yoon is also President and Global Chief Strategy Officer of NCSOFT in Korea. A graduate of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and PhD recipient from MIT, Dr. Yoon started her career at McKinsey & Company. From there, she held various roles including Vice President of Communication Intelligence at SK Telecom before joining NCSOFT in 2008. She has been recognized by various organizations for her leadership throughout the years including being named to the Wall Street Journal’s 50 Women to Watch in 2004.
Ms. Sue PaishSue was recently appointed CEO of Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster where she will be leading the efforts to establish BC and Canada as a global leader in digital technology.
Prior to her new position, she was CEO of Lifelabs. At LifeLabs, she worked to build a healthier Canada along with approximately 5,400 professionally-trained employees who deliver over 100 million laboratory tests and results, serving 19 million patient visits annually.
Prior to joining LifeLabs, Sue led Pharmasave Drugs (National) Ltd., the largest independently owned and operated banner of community pharmacies in Canada. This followed a successful career practicing law and managing an international law practice; Sue was the managing partner of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP in BC (now Fasken Martineau), where she led the growth of the firm from one office to an international presence with nine offices on three continents.
Sue received a Queen’s Counsel designation in 2001 and was awarded the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Law Distinguished Alumni Award in 2003. She has also been recognized as one of BC’s “Most Influential Women in Business” and was inducted into “Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Hall of Fame.”
Sue is a recognized community and business leader. She currently sits on a number of corporate and community boards including the CORIX group of companies, the Executive Committee of the BC Business Council, and the Faculty Advisory Board for the Sauder School of Business. She formerly chaired the boards for the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, the Vancouver Board of Trade, the MLA Compensation Task Force, and served on the BC Pharmaceutical Task Force.
Mr. Dean A. Connor
President & Chief Executive Officer, Sun Life Financial
Dean A. Connor was appointed President & Chief Executive Officer, Sun Life Financial on December 1, 2011, and is a member of the company’s Board of Directors.
Dean joined Sun Life in 2006 and held a series of roles prior to his current appointment, including head of Sun Life’s Canadian Operations, and Chief Operating Officer. Dean joined Sun Life following 28 years at Mercer Human Resource Consulting, where he rose to be President for the Americas.
Dean serves on the Board of the Business Council of Canada, as a Trustee for the University Health Network in Toronto, and as a member of the Ivey Advisory Board and the Asia Business Leaders Advisory Council. He also Chaired the 2017 United Way campaign for Toronto and York Region, and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute’s ‘Making Incredible Happen’ campaign.
Dean is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. He holds an Honours Business Administration (HBA) from the Ivey School of Business at Western University. Dean was named Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year for 2017® and Ivey’s Business Leader of the Year for 2018.
Mr. Kenny Lam
Group President, Noah Holdings
Mr. Kenny Lam brings 20 years of experience in strategic, operational and management transformations in the financial industry. Prior to Noah, Kenny was a Global Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company based in Hong Kong, a co-leader of its Asia Financial Institution Practice, and Head of Asia Private Banking and Asset Management Practice. For 16 years, he has led transformational programs for leading financial institutions across China, India, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan on a wide range of strategic, financial and operational topics and was McKinsey’s expert on private banking and wealth management. Kenny has also worked with governments and regulators on private banking strategy in the key offshore hubs of Asia. He was one of the key architects behind the creation of the Private Wealth Management Association in Hong Kong, having worked closely with industry practitioners and the city’s regulators (SFC and HKMA). Before McKinsey, he was with American law firm Shearman & Sterling in New York and Hong Kong, counseling multinational corporations in various M&A transactions and NYSE/Nasdaq public offerings. Kenny graduated with a MA (Honours) in Law from Oxford University and magna cum laude with a BS in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Joseph Wharton Scholar and a Benjamin Franklin Scholar. He has been frequently interviewed by global and local media, including Bloomberg, CNN and Financial Times and a featured speaker in numerous global financial conferences.
Dominic Barton
Global Managing Partner Emeritus , McKinsey & Company
Dominic Barton is the global managing partner of McKinsey & Company. In his 30 years with the firm, he has advised clients in a range of industries, including banking, consumer goods, high tech, and industrials. Prior to his current role, Dominic was based in Shanghai as McKinsey’s Asia chairman from 2004 to 2009. He led the Korea office from 2000 to 2004.
He is the chair of the Canadian Minister of Finance’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth and the chair of the Seoul International Business Advisory Council. He is also a trustee of the Brookings Institution, a member of the Singapore Economic Development Board’s International Advisory Council, and a member of the boards of Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City and the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.
Dominic has authored more than 80 articles on the role of business in society, leadership, financial services, Asia, history, and the issues and opportunities facing markets worldwide. He is a coauthor, with Roberto Newell and Greg Wilson, of Dangerous Markets: Managing in Financial Crises (Wiley & Sons, 2002) and of China Vignettes: An Inside Look at China (Talisman, 2007).
Dominic has received multiple awards for his business leadership and contributions to the communities in which he has lived and worked. In February 2013, he received the Order of Civil Merit (Peony Medal) from former President Lee of South Korea, and in August 2014, he was awarded the Singaporean Public Service Star (Distinguished Friends of Singapore). He is a Rhodes trustee and an Honorary Fellow at Brasenose College, Oxford. He is also an adjunct professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
He graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BA Honors in economics and studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Brasenose College, Oxford University.
