Our Team
Deep industry knowledge
At CEM Benchmarking, we believe that our employees are the key to our success. Our team consists of passionate and experienced individuals who are committed to excellence. We promote a collaborative environment that encourages the sharing of ideas, the leveraging of each other’s strengths, and the achievement of outstanding results for our clients.
On our Teams page, you can learn more about the talented professionals who have made CEM Benchmarking a leader in our industry. We are dedicated to building a team that reflects the diversity of our clients and the global marketplace we serve.
Rashay Jethalal, MBA, CFA
CEO
Ye Pynenburg
CFO
Matt Coyle
Head, Client Experience & Product
Fleur Dubbelboer
Co-Head, Client Coverage
Chris Doll
Co-Head, Client Coverage
Sadaf Shaikh
Head, Production
Junior Payne
Head, Engineering
Chris Flynn, CFA
Head, Research
Fleur Dubbelboer
Co-Head, Client Coverage
Chris Doll
Co-Head, Client Coverage
Mike Heale, MBA
Head, Business Development, Rest of World
John Simmonds, MBA, FPMI
Head, Business Development, UK & Europe
Adam W Silver, MA
Director, Client Coverage
David Jennings
Director, Client Coverage, Nordics & UK
Franco Wang, CFA
Director, Client Coverage, North America
Kevin Vandolder, CFA
Director, Client Coverage, U.S. East
Ravi Senthivel
Director, Client Coverage, North America
Matt Coyle
Head, Client Experience & Product
Chris Flynn, CFA
Head, Research
Joao Barata
Senior Analyst
Shayan Bokhari
Senior Analyst
Maaike van Bragt, PhD
Senior Research Associate
Rhijuta Dahal
Analyst
David Dupont, CFA
Lead, Production
Tanya Durr
Manager, Operations
Daniel Griffiths
Senior Analyst
Edsart X. Heuberger
Product Manager, PABS, GPTB, GRP
Carl Ka Ho Ng
Analyst
Palwasha Saaim, CFA, FRM
Manager, Data Quality
Yvette van Velsen, MSc
Senior Analyst
Norayr Vardanyan, MBA
Senior Analyst
Janjaap Weeda
Product Manager, Defined Contribution
Victor Miglo
Analyst
James West
Senior Analyst
Sri Laya Devireddy
Senior Operations Analyst
Junior Payne
Head, Engineering
Caradec Bisesar
Team Lead & Senior Engineer
Efron Berlian
Senior Engineer
Sandy Halim
Chair of the Board
John McLaughlin
President, Treasury Technologies International Inc.
Keith Ambachtsheer
President, KPA Advisory Services
Rashay Jethalal, MBA, CFA
CEO
Rashay joined CEM in 2021 and is responsible for overall strategy and performance of the business. He is deeply passionate about improving the lives of retirees, insisting on a client-first approach to our growth. Rashay brings over 20 years of experience in financial services, spanning asset management, capital markets, and transaction banking. Rashay has held leadership roles at Purpose Investments, RBC, and CIBC, after being a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of British Columbia. He is also a CFA Charterholder.
Sandy Halim
Chair of the Board
Sandy joined CEM in 1993 and was its second employee. She was involved in the day-to-day operations including client service (many were CIEBA members), product development (including creating the Defined Contribution product), and management of what was essentially a start-up. Sandy has been trusted by boards and executives at the leading global pension funds to deliver fair and objective analysis, knowing that she always has had pension members’ best interests at heart. Sandy retired from CEM and joined the CEM board in 2017 and now chairs the board. In addition to her board work at CEM, Sandy is active in several not-for-profits, including at the board level. Sandy received her business degree from the University of Toronto and holds CFA and CPA designations.
John McLaughlin
President Treasury Technologies International Inc.
For the past 35 years through his own company, Treasury Technologies International Inc., John has advised business leaders in a wide variety of enterprises as they create, consider and execute strategic decisions. John has also been a principal in several successful start-up ventures. John has extensive governance experience as a director of public and private corporations and in the not-for-profit sector. John McLaughlin is a graduate of Ryerson University in Industrial Engineering Technology and the Schulich School of Business Administration. He holds the ICD.D director certification designation from the Rotman School of Business, University of Toronto and the Institute of Corporate Directors - Corporate Governance College.
Keith Ambachtsheer
Director Emeritus, International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM) Executive-in-Residence, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto Senior Fellow, National Institute on Aging (NIA), Ryerson University President, KPA Advisory Services
Keith Ambachtsheer has been a participant in the pensions and investments industry since 1969. He is recognized as one of the globe’s most original thinkers on pension design, governance, and investing issues. Since its founding in 1985, KPA Advisory Services has become known as a trusted incubator for new thinking in pensions, and for providing strategic advice to a global clientele in person, and through the monthly Ambachtsheer Letter. Moreover, he has strong ties to pension and investments through academia. He has personal governance experience as a member of several corporate and not-for-profit boards and has served as Board Chair of the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation and continues as a member of its Emeritus Council. He is a member of the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index Advisory Council, the Georgetown University Center for Retirement Initiatives Scholars Council, the Network for Sustainable Financial Markets, and the Tobacco Free Portfolios Global Advisory Council.
Mike Heale, MBA
Head, Business Development, Rest of World
Mike has a primary focus on global business development and client service within Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Prior to joining CEM in 1997, Mike had twelve years of extensive marketing experience in the pension and life insurance industry. Mike has led the firm's major client growth and market expansion initiatives. He is a frequent speaker at various industry conferences. Mike received his undergraduate degree in Physical and Health Education from Laurentian and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Western Ontario.
John Simmonds, MBA, FPMI
Head, Business Development, UK & Europe
Business Development
Europe
John is responsible for business development and client service in the UK and Ireland. John has worked in the pension industry for over 30 years and counts many of the UK’s largest pension schemes as clients. He has written for numerous pension publications, featured in the UK national press and is a regular presenter at industry seminars. John is a Fellow of the Pensions Management Institute (FPMI) with a Masters in Business Administration from Warwick Business School. He previously worked for Deloitte and Arthur Andersen.
Edsart X. Heuberger
Product Manager, PABS, GPTB, GRP
Business Development
Netherlands
Edsart has responsibility for business development and client service in the Netherlands. Edsart joined CEM in 2008 as an analyst on the Pension Administration team and senior analyst on the Investment team. He has an intimate and quantitative understanding of CEM’s investment and pension administration services and database, and will continue to conduct and support administration and investment research. Edsart has a Masters of Science in supply chain management from Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
David Jennings
Director, Client Coverage, Nordics & UK
Business Development
Europe
David joined CEM in early 2020 and is responsible for client service and business development in the UK and Europe. David has worked in financial services for over 20 years building relationships with some of the largest UK pension schemes. Prior to joining CEM, he worked for Fidelity International and Lazard Asset Management as a Client Relationship Manager. He has a deep understanding of the challenges facing asset owners and is experienced in tailoring solutions for a wide variety of situations. David has a Bachelor degree in Archaeology from the University of Southampton.
HANNAH BLOMFIELD
Client Relationship Manager
Business Development
Europe
Hannah joined CEM in 2021 and is responsible for pension administration client service and business development in the UK and Ireland. She has worked in the pension industry for over 20 years providing various services to many different pension funds within the UK, including some of the largest and most complex. Prior to joining CEM, Hannah worked for several companies including Hewitt Associates, Capita and ITM, specialising in pension calculations, pension processes, data quality and long-term projects. She has a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the Open University, which has been put to good use many times throughout the past 15 years.
Adam W Silver, MA
Director, Client Coverage
Adam joined CEM in 2022 and is responsible for driving operational improvements in the business. His focus at CEM is on making the work of our teams and interactions with our clients more efficient and effective. He cares greatly about ensuring retirees can enjoy their retirement without having to overpay for that privilege. Adam brings more than 20 years of work, across a variety of industries, including banking, insurance and technology as both a consultant and executive. He began his career as an economist with S&P, became a management consultant with McKinsey and recently had leadership roles at Farber and Mensana. He holds a Master of Arts from the University of Toronto in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Economics and Psychology from Queen’s University.
Fleur Dubbelboer
Co-Head Client Coverage
Fleur joined CEM in September 2021 as a Director Client Coverage, she is responsible for UK and Dutch Corporate, Local Government and Public pension schemes. Fleur cares deeply about having a personal relationship with her clients, and ensuring our reporting is accurate and timely to better enable management and board decision making. Prior to joining , Fleur has over 10 years of experience at Goldman Sachs International and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Whilst there she enjoyed various roles including, SPV and Hedge Fund strategies operations, Separately Managed Account Project Management and more recently as Client Relationship Manager for the UK and Ireland institutional Team. She has detailed knowledge of separately managed account strategies, in both the creation and management of these mandates. Fleur has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Bath. Fleur lives in Tunbridge Wells, and when not working is busy renovating and running after her young daughters.
Franco Wang, CFA
Director, Client Coverage, North America
Franco is a Director at CEM Benchmarking who is responsible for client service in North America and parts of Asia. He was previously an analyst on the Investment Benchmarking Service team, where he performed analysis and research for institutional investor clients. He continues to leverage his extensive familiarity with CEM’s database to deliver insights to clients. He is a CFA Charterholder and has a degree in Accounting and Financial Management from the University of Waterloo.
Tanya Durr
Manager, Operations
Tanya joined CEM over 20 years ago and is responsible for making CEM a great environment for our employees, clients and our partners. Over the years she has met many of our clients at our conferences (which she has organized) after corresponding with them for years about publications or invoicing. Tanya takes great pride in the office plants and is the keeper of the candy jar at the Toronto office front desk.
Sadaf Shaikh
Head, Production
Sadaf Shaikh joined CEM in 2022 and is responsible for Production, HR, Talent, PMO, Contracts, and Office Services at CEM, ensuring our production, internal talent and business programs, processes and corporate systems are optimized to support the high performance, growth culture at CEM. Sadaf brings over 15 years of broad HR, Talent and process experience in financial services. Before joining CEM, Sadaf ran her own consulting practice and was an HR Business Partner at OMERS and Brookfield. Sadaf is a Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL), a Six Sigma Green Belt, and a Certified Executive Coach.
Junior Payne
Head, Engineering
Junior joined CEM in 2023 as the Head of Engineering at CEM Benchmarking, where he tackles key challenges and develops innovative solutions. Leading through inspiration, his expertise helps foster collaboration and drives advancements that enhances team efficiency and industry standards. Prior to CEM, Junior created a cybersecurity product at Architelos, built a high-performing technology team at Research in Motion, and shifted strategic direction at AuthenticWeb. When not at work, Junior enjoys the outdoors with running, hiking, and kayaking, allowing him to recharge and set a positive example for his team.
Ye Pynenburg
CFO
Ye Pynenburg joined CEM in 2023 and is responsible for all aspects of financial management of the business including accounting, financial planning, tax and treasury. She brings more than a decade of financial experience working with both public and private clients in various industries and sizes. Prior to joining CEM, Ye held positions at Rogers Communications Inc. and PwC in both their Consulting & Deals and Audit & Assurance practices. Ye received both her Masters of Accounting and Bachelors of Accounting and Financial Management from the University of Waterloo. She also holds Chartered Business Valuator (CBV) and Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) designations.
Matt Coyle
Head, Client Experience & Product
Matt joined CEM in 2024 and is responsible for leading communities, marketing and client experience. He brings over 15 years of senior leadership, holding positions at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, Cineplex Entertainment and Purpose Investments. Matt uses his training in design thinking to develop delightful moments for our customers. He is a board of director at the Halton Field Hockey Club and in his spare time love to travel with his family. If you're ever traveling to Walt Disney World, feel free to ask him for some tips.
Jim Stamper
Head, Business Development, U.S. West
Jim has a primary focus on business development and client service within the U.S west coast. Prior to joining CEM in 2022,
Jim spent over 10 years in the asset management industry in consultant relations and institutional client service roles.
Jim also spent over 10 years as a consultant with AON Hewitt in the defined contribution space where he worked with plan sponsors
on investment manager selection and plan design.
Jim received a BA in International Relations from Michigan State University.
Chris Flynn, CFA
Head, Research
Chris has been with CEM since 2003 and is currently Head of Research. He leads the evolution of CEM’s core models and analysis, and in customizing those models to meet client needs. He oversees the research team in conducting best practice research, custom work for clients and partnering with outside researchers. Chris has deep experience presenting or partnering with clients to conduct analysis and research to clients and has testified as an expert on pension fund costs. Prior to working at CEM, Chris worked as a developer at an investment management firm. He holds a Bachelor of Science(Honours) in Quantitative Economics from the University of Toronto and is a CFA Charterholder.
Kevin Vandolder, CFA
Director, Client Coverage, U.S. East
Kevin has extensive experience in the pension industry, having served as a Senior Consultant at DiMeo Schneider and AndCo, and as a Partner and DC Client Practice Leader at Aon Hewitt and EnnisKnupp for 24 years. He is a founding member of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) and currently serves on its Investment Policy and Design committee. Kevin has lectured at DePaul and Northwestern Universities and has been active with the CFA Institute, including roles as President and Treasurer of the CFA Society of Chicago. He holds an MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of Windsor. Kevin also served in the Royal Canadian Navy and Presbyterian World Service.
Ravi Senthivel
Director, Client Coverage, North America
Ravi is a Director at CEM Benchmarking with responsibility for client service and success in North America. Ravi brings over 20 years of experience across a variety of industries including financial services, telecommunications, and loyalty. He began his career in investment banking with Salomon Smith Barney and recently held leadership positions in multiple fintech startups. He holds an MBA from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University.
Chris Doll
Co-Head, Client Coverage
Christopher Doll joined CEM in 2023 and is responsible client coverage in the U.S. market. He is deeply passionate about improving the lives of retirees, insisting on a client-first approach to our growth. He brings over 20 years asset management experience with a focus on client relations, product management and development and marketing. Prior to joining CEM, Christopher launched multiple asset managers and helped build the Canadian ETF business for a multinational asset manager. He was a frequent speaker at industry conferences. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Ottawa. Christopher lives in Oakville with his wife and two daughters.
Maaike van Bragt, PhD
Senior Research Associate
Maaike is an analyst on the Investment Benchmarking team.
Prior to joining CEM in 2017, she applied her analytical
skills to her postdoctoral research in the biomedical field,
first in Boston (USA) and later in Ottawa (Canada). Maaike
earned her PhD in stem cell biology at the University of
Utrecht (the Netherlands).
Rhijuta Dahal
Analyst
Rhijuta is an Analyst at CEM Benchmarking. Prior to joining
CEM Benchmarking, Rhijuta was working in Mercer’s manager
research team. Rhijuta has previous experience in DC
Consulting, Client Reporting from Towers Watson and has also
spent few years in Nepal working with social enterprises.
Rhijuta has a master’s degree in Mathematics from Lancaster
University.
David Dupont, CFA
Lead, Production
David is a Director at CEM Benchmarking. Prior to joining
CEM in 2006, David worked at CIBC Mellon for eight years in a
variety of departments ranging from pension accounting to
sales and marketing. David is a CFA charter holder and has a
degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from the University of
Toronto.
Tanya Durr
Manager, Operations
Tanya joined CEM over 20 years ago and is responsible for making CEM a great environment for our employees, clients and our partners. Over the years she has met many of our clients at our conferences (which she has organized) after corresponding with them for years about publications or invoicing. Tanya takes great pride in the office plants and is the keeper of the candy jar at the Toronto office front desk.
Daniel Griffiths
Senior Analyst
Daniel is an Analyst at CEM Benchmarking. Prior to joining CEM Benchmarking, Daniel was working for New Zealand's stock exchange, NZX. Daniel worked as an analyst across NZX's Capital Markets and Finance teams. Daniel has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance (Hons) and Economics from Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand).
Carl Ka Ho Ng
Analyst
Carl is a Business Solutions Analyst at CEM Benchmarking, responsible for analyzing client data and implementing product reports. Before joining CEM, Carl accumulated over 12 years of experience in the pension industry specializing in actuarial pension calculations and pension software developments. Carl holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and is currently a candidate in the Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.
Palwasha Saaim, CFA, FRM
Manager, Data Quality
Palwasha is a Manager, Data Quality at CEM Benchmarking, responsible for managing the Investment Benchmarking Subscription (IBS) offered to 300+ institutional investors globally, including pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations. She manages the data requirements, analysis and reporting for investments and staffing levels. Palwasha has been with CEM for five years and is an active liaison between CEM’s client coverage, engineering and production teams, delivering on client needs. Prior to joining CEM, Palwasha worked in various analytical roles in the financial services, IT and digital media industries. Palwasha is a CFA Charterholder, a certified FRM (Financial Risk Manager) and holds a Bachelor degree in Economics and Finance.
Yvette van Velsen, MSc
Senior Analyst
Yvette joined CEM in 2012 and is involved in all aspects of CEM’s Pension Administration service for our North American, Australian and Dutch clients. Prior to joining CEM, Yvette held financial and operational management positions with charity organizations in Indonesia and Malawi. Yvette holds a Master’s degree in Earth Sciences, Engineering Geology from the Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands.
Norayr Vardanyan, MBA
Senior Analyst
Norayr joined CEM in 2012 and provides development support for CEM’s benchmarking models as well as analytical support for CEM best practice research projects. Experience in Canada and the United States as a business systems analyst and IS Manager complements years of experience gained at the World Bank IT Enterprise Incubator in Armenia as an IT, financial and business analyst. Norayr has conducted requirements analysis, business analysis, financial modeling, reporting, automation, software development and testing, project management, data and statistical analysis. He has an MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a MS Computer & Electronics Engineer from the State Engineering University, Yerevan, Armenia.
Janjaap Weeda
Product Manager, Defined Contribution
Janjaap ('JJ') Weeda is the Defined Contribution product manager at CEM Benchmarking.
JJ is devoted to making the DC dashboard an insightful and easy-to-use collaborative platform for plan sponsors and industry partners. At the same time, he is backing CEM’s ongoing effort to automate data inputs, making the survey easier to complete.
Janjaap joined CEM in 2017 as an analyst, where he gained extensive experience in the full cycle of data collection, cleaning, analytics, and reporting on CEM's extensive database.
He holds a Bachelor of Science from the Radboud University of Nijmegen (the Netherlands) and obtained vast experience in data analytics and reporting during his Master's program in Business Economics in Vienna, Austria.
Do not forget to ask him about his product roadmap when you spot him in the wild!
Victor Miglo
Analyst
Victor Miglo has been with CEM since 2022 and is a member of our Product Delivery team as an Analyst. In his role, Victor is responsible for building relationships with clients and ensuring they receive accurate and insightful data in order to make strategic decisions. Prior to CEM Victor completed his Masters in Finance from University of British Columbia and is a published academic author. Victor is also a national university tennis champion and enjoys playing sports with his friends.
James West
Senior Analyst
James West has been with CEM since 2023 and is a member of the Pension Administration Benchmarking Subscription team. Prior to joining CEM Benchmarking, James spent over 25 years in pension administration in various roles including member experience, employer services and system implementation. James has a Bachelor degree in Business from Wilfrid Laurier University and has his CEBS designation.
Caradec Bisesar
Team Lead & Senior Engineer
Caradec Bisesar has been at CEM since 2019 and is currently the Team Lead and Senior Engineer at CEM Benchmarking. He oversees the team's operations, project management, and technology strategy. Caradec plays a key role in the design and architecture of user-centric solutions, contributes to IT support and infrastructure maintenance, and collaborates on cross-functional initiatives to enhance product offerings and client engagement. Caradec holds a Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Toronto Scarborough. He is also a certified Product Owner (CPO).
Efron Berlian
Senior Engineer
Efron Berlian joined CEM in 2017 and is a Senior Engineer on the team. In his role, Efron develops software solutions and maintains IT infrastructure to support our data analysis and benchmarking processes. He has been the architect of the engine behind our interactive Dashboard and continues to develop our second version along with other key projects and initiatives related to our subscriptions. Efron holds a Bachelor of Computer Science from University of WIndsor.
Sri Laya Devireddy
Senior Operations Analyst
Sri Laya Devireddy joined CEM in 2023 as our Operations Analyst. In her role, Laya is responsible for making our internal product delivery and client coverage processes more streamlined and efficient, and reducing errors in our production cycle. Laya holds a Bachlor of Commerce degree with a focus on finance and strategy from University of Toronto and is currently working towards her PMP certification.