Headquarters:
Toronto, ON, Canada
Year founded:
1993
Number of employees:
270
Phone:
416 365 7587
Email:
InfoCanada@libertymutual.com
Website:
libertymutualcanada.com
LinkedIn
ca.linkedin.com/company/libertymutualcanada
“Early into our DEI journey, we found it challenging to integrate DEI into the entirety of the employee experience, from recruitment through to onboarding and eventually career development and progression,” says Seppi.
“By focusing our efforts on these four key pillars and building working groups and objectives around them, we have been able to take our initiatives beyond what we initially thought was possible and make meaningful change to the employee experience, all within a short period.”
Part of this work includes spotlighting cultural celebrations, encouraging courageous conversations between colleagues, promoting the inclusion of gender pronouns in email signatures, and creating platforms to allow members of marginalized communities to share their experiences in a supportive and empathetic environment. While most of these initiatives have put an internal lens on DEI, the committee has also organized others that focus on supporting underrepresented communities across Canada.
One such initiative is the Liberty Mutual Canada Insurance Scholarship for Equity Deserving Students, created in partnership with Humber College and Centennial College. This scholarship aims to remove some of the systemic barriers that prevent diverse talent from entering and advancing their careers in the Canadian insurance industry. Liberty also supports organizations that seek to increase equity in the country, such as Junior Achievement Central Ontario and Pride at Work Canada, and aims to assist small businesses run by equity-seeking groups.
“Our DEI journey has progressed so far in just a short time frame, and our recent hiring of a dedicated DEI resource will help us further ingrain DEI into our culture,” says Rob Marsh, president of Liberty Mutual Canada.
“We need to be thoughtful in our approach. We’re trying to build inclusive behaviours to mitigate implicit bias in our workforce. That way, we can not only make an impact at a systemic level internally that advances equity and respect, but also help create a more equitable workforce across the Canadian insurance industry.”
“Our DEI journey has progressed so far in just a short time frame, and our recent hiring of a dedicated DEI resource will help us further ingrain DEI into our culture,” says Rob Marsh, president of Liberty Mutual Canada.
“We need to be thoughtful in our approach. We’re trying to build inclusive behaviours to mitigate implicit bias in our workforce. That way, we can not only make an impact at a systemic level internally that advances equity and respect, but also help create a more equitable workforce across the Canadian insurance industry.”
“It’s our goal to create an inclusive work culture where everyone is valued for their uniqueness and feels a sense of belonging, collectively making us stronger and more resilient as an organization”
Jessica Seppi,
Liberty Mutual Canada
“We’re trying to build inclusive behaviours to mitigate implicit bias in our workforce. That way, we can not only make an impact at a systemic level internally that advances equity and respect, but also help create a more equitable workforce across the Canadian insurance industry”
Rob Marsh,
Liberty Mutual Canada
Liberty Mutual Canada offers a broad suite of commercial insurance products and solutions to mid-size and large Canadian companies with Canadian, North American and/or multinational risks. These comprehensive solutions are delivered by underwriters and risk engineers who are experts in deconstructing risk and customizing insurance-based solutions to fit customers’ needs.
Liberty Mutual Canada is committed to helping people embrace today and confidently pursue tomorrow. For the commercial and specialty insurer, this means creating a culture of belonging where people feel that they can bring their authentic selves to work.
“It’s our goal to create an inclusive work culture where everyone is valued for their uniqueness and feels a sense of belonging, collectively making us stronger and more resilient as an organization.”
In the pursuit of this culture, Liberty Mutual Canada formed a DEI committee consisting of over 30 volunteers from across the organization. Taking a grassroots approach, this committee was built around four key pillars: strengthening DEI skills, increasing the representation of women and people of color at all levels, integrating DEI into employees’ daily experience, and building cultural dexterity.
“Early into our DEI journey, we found it challenging to integrate DEI into the entirety of the employee experience, from recruitment through to onboarding and eventually career development and progression,” says Seppi.
“By focusing our efforts on these four key pillars and building working groups and objectives around them, we have been able to take our initiatives beyond what we initially thought was possible and make meaningful change to the employee experience, all within a short period.”
Part of this work includes spotlighting cultural celebrations, encouraging courageous conversations between colleagues, promoting the inclusion of gender pronouns in email signatures, and creating platforms to allow members of marginalized communities to share their experiences in a supportive and empathetic environment. While most of these initiatives have put an internal lens on DEI, the committee has also organized others that focus on supporting underrepresented communities across Canada.
One such initiative is the Liberty Mutual Canada Insurance Scholarship for Equity Deserving Students, created in partnership with Humber College and Centennial College. This scholarship aims to remove some of the systemic barriers that prevent diverse talent from entering and advancing their careers in the Canadian insurance industry. Liberty also supports organizations that seek to increase equity in the country, such as Junior Achievement Central Ontario and Pride at Work Canada, and aims to assist small businesses run by equity-seeking groups.
Read on
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Award Winner
SHIELDED INSURANCE BROKERS
Award Winner
LIBERTY MUTUAL CANADA
Rob Marsh
President
Chris Corbeil
SVP, Head of Strategy and Corporate Development
Haseeb Jalal
SVP, Head of Finance and Controller
Rob Marsh (he/him) is responsible for the culture, leadership, strategy, and overall performance of Liberty’s Canadian operation, which consists of approximately 270 insurance professionals across five offices. He co-chairs the North American Underwriting Council; is a champion of diversity, equity and inclusion; and has taken on a lead role in developing Liberty’s global environmental, social, and governance underwriting strategy.
Rob has over 15 years of experience in commercial and specialty insurance, and has taken on key leadership roles of increasing responsibility in Toronto and Calgary during his over 10 years at Liberty. He is passionate about his team and the development of top talent, and has a track record of achieving market-leading growth and profitability.
As a founding curator of Global Shapers, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, Rob is passionate about local community work, the betterment of Canada, and addressing key global challenges. He is the founder and past president of S-drive, a federally incorporated non-profit dedicated to the personal and professional development of young professionals through networking, philanthropy, and community engagement.
Rob finished second in the national competition and television show “Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister” and was the 2016 convocation speaker for the Queen’s Smith School of Business, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in commerce (honours). He is a proud East Coast Canadian and lives with his wife and three sons in Toronto.
President
Rob Marsh
Chris Corbeil (he/him) is an experienced leader with more than 15 years of underwriting experience and product development for Canadian and multinational insurance carriers. Throughout his career, his strategic thinking has helped Liberty Mutual Canada achieve significant success. In this wide-ranging role, his responsibilities include the successful development and execution of corporate strategies, initiatives, and priorities.
In addition, Chris is responsible for Liberty Mutual Canada’s reinsurance function as well as its program and faculty business. Chris also serves as chief of staff to Rob Marsh, president of Liberty Mutual Canada. He is focused on “making things better,” whether for customers, business partners, or employees. Chris believes that to operate at the highest level, an organization has to appropriately recognize and leverage the talent, expertise, and perspective within each of its functional areas while driving collaboration and ensuring alignment on key business priorities across the organization.
Chris has several career designations, including Chartered Insurance Professional, Canadian Risk Management, and Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker.
SVP, Head of Strategy and Corporate Development
Chris Corbeil
Haseeb Jalal (he/him) is a passionate leader with over 15 years of experience in finance and over 10 years in the insurance industry. His areas of expertise are related to key financial concepts, including financial planning and analysis, regulatory and tax compliance, finance operations, risk management, and process improvement. He brought this experience to Liberty Mutual Canada with the aim of continuing to build and optimize the finance function. Haseeb is a Certified Chartered Accountant, holds CPA and CA designations, and is in the process of obtaining a Canadian Risk Management designation.
In leading the finance and risk management functions, one of his core responsibilities is to enhance business reporting analysis to allow for business growth and make strategic changes to grow profitability. In addition, he has overhauled the risk management framework and is looking to continue making broad-scale process improvements.
Haseeb is a people leader who believes that the most important resource in any company is its people, and he looks to find opportunities to improve employee engagement on a daily basis. He actively ensures that the team is motivated, focused on building their career path and progressing in it, and finding better ways to collaborate. He recognizes that talent is the strongest asset of the company, and ultimately, investing in people is investing in the continued success of Liberty Mutual Canada.
SVP, Head of Finance and Controller
Haseeb Jalal
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“It’s our goal to create an inclusive work culture where everyone is valued for their uniqueness and feels a sense of belonging, collectively making us stronger and more resilient as an organization”
Jessica Seppi,
Liberty Mutual Canada
“We’re trying to build inclusive behaviours to mitigate implicit bias in our workforce. That way, we can not only make an impact at a systemic level internally that advances equity and respect, but also help create a more equitable workforce across the Canadian insurance industry”
Rob Marsh,
Liberty Mutual Canada
“I’d say the key to success this past year has been sharing our vision and plans with the team. We are on this journey together, and together we will celebrate our successes.” Managing the workload amid impressive growth has been Shielded’s biggest challenge in both 2020 and 2021. “It’s been another huge growth year, and workload has remained a constant battle, but I feel this year we have grown smarter,” Brady says. To address this, Shielded created new manager roles across broking, claims, compliance and administration. The brokerage has also continued to streamline processes and leverage technology to help reduce workloads and improve customer service.
IB: Marsh recently published a new report, Future of Construction: A Global Forecast for Construction to 2030. What does it reveal?
Stuart Brady: The fundamental finding underpinning it all is the level of growth we're going to see over the next 10 years. From where we are now, we're going to see 42% growth, which will take the industry to $15.2 trillion. That's huge in itself, but when you think about how it’s going to outstrip manufacturing and services, which is probably a surprise to some, it shows you just how significant construction is as a global industry. We're going through this phase where construction is used as a catalyst for post-pandemic stimulus. Construction is a very good way of getting capital into the system, but it's going to move through in a phase of responding to population growth and urbanization and what's going on regionally around the world. So, it's an exciting time. That growth will outstrip what's gone on in the last 10 years, and it will really be part of the bounce-back.
IB: How has the construction industry been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic?
SB: Initially, it proved incredibly resilient and nimble. But it's important not to generalize, because if you look at the US, for example, it was far less interrupted than other parts of the world like Asia, where you've still got countries that are, to a lesser or a greater extent, in lockdown, and they've got projects that have stalled for 18 months or so. It's not a homogenous picture, but I think the industry proved itself incredibly resilient.
Read on
Award Winner
LIBERTY MUTUAL CANADA
Haseeb Jalal
SVP, Head of Finance and Controller
Chris Corbeil
SVP, Head of Strategy and Corporate Development
Rob Marsh
President
Leadership
Headquarters:
Toronto, ON, Canada
Year founded:
1993
Number of employees:
270
Phone:
416 365 7587
Email:
InfoCanada@libertymutual.com
Website:
libertymutualcanada.com
LinkedIn
ca.linkedin.com/company/libertymutualcanada
Rob Marsh (he/him) is responsible for the culture, leadership, strategy, and overall performance of Liberty’s Canadian operation, which consists of approximately 270 insurance professionals across five offices. He co-chairs the North American Underwriting Council; is a champion of diversity, equity and inclusion; and has taken on a lead role in developing Liberty’s global environmental, social, and governance underwriting strategy.
Rob has over 15 years of experience in commercial and specialty insurance, and has taken on key leadership roles of increasing responsibility in Toronto and Calgary during his over 10 years at Liberty. He is passionate about his team and the development of top talent, and has a track record of achieving market-leading growth and profitability.
As a founding curator of Global Shapers, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, Rob is passionate about local community work, the betterment of Canada, and addressing key global challenges. He is the founder and past president of S-drive, a federally incorporated non-profit dedicated to the personal and professional development of young professionals through networking, philanthropy, and community engagement.
Rob finished second in the national competition and television show “Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister” and was the 2016 convocation speaker for the Queen’s Smith School of Business, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in commerce (honours). He is a proud East Coast Canadian and lives with his wife and three sons in Toronto.
Co Founder & Director
Douglas Strong
Chris Corbeil (he/him) is an experienced leader with more than 15 years of underwriting experience and product development for Canadian and multinational insurance carriers. Throughout his career, his strategic thinking has helped Liberty Mutual Canada achieve significant success. In this wide-ranging role, his responsibilities include the successful development and execution of corporate strategies, initiatives, and priorities.
In addition, Chris is responsible for Liberty Mutual Canada’s reinsurance function as well as its program and faculty business. Chris also serves as chief of staff to Rob Marsh, president of Liberty Mutual Canada. He is focused on “making things better,” whether for customers, business partners, or employees. Chris believes that to operate at the highest level, an organization has to appropriately recognize and leverage the talent, expertise, and perspective within each of its functional areas while driving collaboration and ensuring alignment on key business priorities across the organization.
Chris has several career designations, including Chartered Insurance Professional, Canadian Risk Management, and Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker.
Co Founder & Managing Director
Stuart Brady
Haseeb Jalal (he/him) is a passionate leader with over 15 years of experience in finance and over 10 years in the insurance industry. His areas of expertise are related to key financial concepts, including financial planning and analysis, regulatory and tax compliance, finance operations, risk management, and process improvement. He brought this experience to Liberty Mutual Canada with the aim of continuing to build and optimize the finance function. Haseeb is a Certified Chartered Accountant, holds CPA and CA designations, and is in the process of obtaining a Canadian Risk Management designation.
In leading the finance and risk management functions, one of his core responsibilities is to enhance business reporting analysis to allow for business growth and make strategic changes to grow profitability. In addition, he has overhauled the risk management framework and is looking to continue making broad-scale process improvements.
Haseeb is a people leader who believes that the most important resource in any company is its people, and he looks to find opportunities to improve employee engagement on a daily basis. He actively ensures that the team is motivated, focused on building their career path and progressing in it, and finding better ways to collaborate. He recognizes that talent is the strongest asset of the company, and ultimately, investing in people is investing in the continued success of Liberty Mutual Canada.
SVP, Head of Finance and Controller
Haseeb Jalal
SPECIAL REPORT
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Bio
For the second year running, Shielded Insurance Brokers has claimed the number-one spot among IB’s Top Brokerages. In 2020, it was record-setting growth that drove the company’s impressive success. This year, says managing director Stuart Brady, the key ingredient behind the win is the Shielded culture. Brady is proud of the shared vision for constant improvement across all aspects of the business. “We are thrilled to take out the win again, and it’s hats off to the team for their hard work over the past year,” he says.
“We’re trying to build inclusive behaviours to mitigate implicit bias in our workforce. That way, we can not only make an impact at a systemic level internally that advances equity and respect, but also help create a more equitable workforce across the Canadian insurance industry”
Rob Marsh,
Liberty Mutual Canada
“It’s our goal to create an inclusive work culture where everyone is valued for their uniqueness and feels a sense of belonging, collectively making us stronger and more resilient as an organization”
Jessica Seppi, Liberty Mutual Canada
IB: Marsh recently published a new report, Future of Construction: A Global Forecast for Construction to 2030. What does it reveal?
Stuart Brady: The fundamental finding underpinning it all is the level of growth we're going to see over the next 10 years. From where we are now, we're going to see 42% growth, which will take the industry to $15.2 trillion. That's huge in itself, but when you think about how it’s going to outstrip manufacturing and services, which is probably a surprise to some, it shows you just how significant construction is as a global industry. We're going through this phase where construction is used as a catalyst for post-pandemic stimulus. Construction is a very good way of getting capital into the system, but it's going to move through in a phase of responding to population growth and urbanization and what's going on regionally around the world. So, it's an exciting time. That growth will outstrip what's gone on in the last 10 years, and it will really be part of the bounce-back.
IB: How has the construction industry been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic?
SB: Initially, it proved incredibly resilient and nimble. But it's important not to generalize, because if you look at the US, for example, it was far less interrupted than other parts of the world like Asia, where you've still got countries that are, to a lesser or a greater extent, in lockdown, and they've got projects that have stalled for 18 months or so. It's not a homogenous picture, but I think the industry proved itself incredibly resilient.
Read on
Award Winner
LIBERTY MUTUAL CANADA
Haseeb Jalal
SVP, Head of Finance and Controller
Chris Corbeil
SVP, Head of Strategy and Corporate Development
Rob Marsh
President
Leadership
Headquarters:
Toronto, ON, Canada
Year founded:
1993
Number of employees:
270
Phone:
416 365 7587
Email:
InfoCanada@libertymutual.com
Website:
libertymutualcanada.com
LinkedIn
ca.linkedin.com/company
/libertymutualcanada
SPECIAL REPORT
Home
Bio
Rob Marsh (he/him) is responsible for the culture, leadership, strategy, and overall performance of Liberty’s Canadian operation, which consists of approximately 270 insurance professionals across five offices. He co-chairs the North American Underwriting Council; is a champion of diversity, equity and inclusion; and has taken on a lead role in developing Liberty’s global environmental, social, and governance underwriting strategy.
Rob has over 15 years of experience in commercial and specialty insurance, and has taken on key leadership roles of increasing responsibility in Toronto and Calgary during his over 10 years at Liberty. He is passionate about his team and the development of top talent, and has a track record of achieving market-leading growth and profitability.
As a founding curator of Global Shapers, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, Rob is passionate about local community work, the betterment of Canada, and addressing key global challenges. He is the founder and past president of S-drive, a federally incorporated non-profit dedicated to the personal and professional development of young professionals through networking, philanthropy, and community engagement.
Rob finished second in the national competition and television show “Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister” and was the 2016 convocation speaker for the Queen’s Smith School of Business, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in commerce (honours). He is a proud East Coast Canadian and lives with his wife and three sons in Toronto.
President
Rob Marsh
Chris Corbeil (he/him) is an experienced leader with more than 15 years of underwriting experience and product development for Canadian and multinational insurance carriers. Throughout his career, his strategic thinking has helped Liberty Mutual Canada achieve significant success. In this wide-ranging role, his responsibilities include the successful development and execution of corporate strategies, initiatives, and priorities.
In addition, Chris is responsible for Liberty Mutual Canada’s reinsurance function as well as its program and faculty business. Chris also serves as chief of staff to Rob Marsh, president of Liberty Mutual Canada. He is focused on “making things better,” whether for customers, business partners, or employees. Chris believes that to operate at the highest level, an organization has to appropriately recognize and leverage the talent, expertise, and perspective within each of its functional areas while driving collaboration and ensuring alignment on key business priorities across the organization.
Chris has several career designations, including Chartered Insurance Professional, Canadian Risk Management, and Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker.
SVP, Head of Strategy and Corporate Development
Chris Corbeil
Haseeb Jalal (he/him) is a passionate leader with over 15 years of experience in finance and over 10 years in the insurance industry. His areas of expertise are related to key financial concepts, including financial planning and analysis, regulatory and tax compliance, finance operations, risk management, and process improvement. He brought this experience to Liberty Mutual Canada with the aim of continuing to build and optimize the finance function. Haseeb is a Certified Chartered Accountant, holds CPA and CA designations, and is in the process of obtaining a Canadian Risk Management designation.
In leading the finance and risk management functions, one of his core responsibilities is to enhance business reporting analysis to allow for business growth and make strategic changes to grow profitability. In addition, he has overhauled the risk management framework and is looking to continue making broad-scale process improvements.
Haseeb is a people leader who believes that the most important resource in any company is its people, and he looks to find opportunities to improve employee engagement on a daily basis. He actively ensures that the team is motivated, focused on building their career path and progressing in it, and finding better ways to collaborate. He recognizes that talent is the strongest asset of the company, and ultimately, investing in people is investing in the continued success of Liberty Mutual Canada.
SVP, Head of Finance and Controller
Haseeb Jalal
For the second year running, Shielded Insurance Brokers has claimed the number-one spot among IB’s Top Brokerages. In 2020, it was record-setting growth that drove the company’s impressive success. This year, says managing director Stuart Brady, the key ingredient behind the win is the Shielded culture. Brady is proud of the shared vision for constant improvement across all aspects of the business. “We are thrilled to take out the win again, and it’s hats off to the team for their hard work over the past year,” he says.
“I’d say the key to success this past year has been sharing our vision and plans with the team. We are on this journey together, and together we will celebrate our successes.” Managing the workload amid impressive growth has been Shielded’s biggest challenge in both 2020 and 2021. “It’s been another huge growth year, and workload has remained a constant battle, but I feel this year we have grown smarter,” Brady says. To address this, Shielded created new manager roles across broking, claims, compliance and administration. The brokerage has also continued to streamline processes and leverage technology to help reduce workloads and improve customer service.
Janette McGrath
SVP, Head of Operations and Technology
Jessica Seppi
SVP, Chief Counsel and
Chief Compliance Officer
Walter Fransen
SVP and Chief Actuary
Todd Armstrong
EVP, Head of Underwriting
Taylor Shields
SVP, Marketing, Distribution,
and Communications
Sandy Bernier
SVP, Human Resources
Leanne Desai
SVP, Head of Claims
Leanne Desai (she/her) is an experienced claims leader with an insurance industry career that spans over 25 years. During this time, Leanne has built and managed highly effective claim teams, and has an unwavering dedication to provide best-in-class claim services and deliver on the promise to the company’s customers and brokers. Under her leadership, the claims team at Liberty Mutual Canada takes a customer-centric approach to claims, valuing relationships with clients and partners. Claim professionals are empowered to make decisions and provide creative solutions to complex claim issues. Local authority and collaboration with underwriting partners enable the claims team to proactively manage claims with a commitment to excellent results.
SVP, Head of Claims
Leanne Desai
Jessica Seppi (she/her) is senior vice president, chief counsel, and chief compliance officer at Liberty Mutual Canada. She has more than 20 years of insurance industry experience with a varied background that includes claims, underwriting, in-house legal, compliance, and regulatory work. She is also the executive sponsor of the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee at the company.
SVP, Chief Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Jessica Seppi
Janette McGrath (she/her) is an experienced and passionate change leader with over 25 years of experience in P&C insurance, operations, and technology. Throughout her career, Janette has built a reputation for driving results to transform businesses, placing an emphasis on continually making things better. She provides strategic guidance and leadership to the company’s operations and technology functions and is responsible for accelerating its technology and digital evolution by delivering innovative solutions. She continues to streamline operational capabilities to drive consistency and process excellence throughout the organization.
Her team exists to drive excellence in execution, support top-line growth, and manage efficiencies with operational and digital transformation. The team members value progress over perfection, drive decisions backed by data, and embrace an experimental approach through testing and learning and close collaboration with the company’s end users.
Janette has earned an MBA and master’s certificates in Innovation Leadership and Lean Six Sigma – Black Belt from York University’s Schulich School of Business.
SVP, Head of Operations and Technology
Janette McGrath
As Liberty Mutual Canada’s chief actuary, Walter Fransen (he/him) brings more than 30 years of actuarial and senior leadership experience from across the Canadian insurance industry, including personal lines, commercial lines, and reinsurance. Walter has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from Concordia University in Montreal, and is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.
Walter’s experience covers the entire range of pricing, reserving, data analytics, portfolio analysis and profitability metrics, catastrophe modeling, financial planning, capital stress testing, regulatory reporting, and reinsurance. He believes that some of Liberty Mutual Canada’s largest differentiators are its people and culture, specifically the strong teamwork, collaboration, and professionalism, and the intrinsic sense that everyone is working toward the common goal of exceeding customers’ expectations.
SVP and Chief Actuary
Walter Fransen
Taylor Shields (she/her) has worked in the property and casualty insurance industry for over 14 years. Over this time, she has gained experience leading initiatives in marketing, communications, business development, and underwriting. Taylor graduated from Queen’s University with a bachelor’s degree (honours) in commerce and has earned the Canadian Risk Management designation from the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies, as well as a certificate in Digital Marketing Management. She is a believer in continuous learning and development and has participated in various leadership courses, including the Queen’s University Executive Education Strategy program.
In her expansive role at Liberty, Taylor leads all activities related to marketing, distribution, and communications, driving key strategic initiatives within these functions to support business goals and priorities. Taylor’s customer-centric approach has allowed her to help demonstrate the unique expertise and value that Liberty Mutual Canada offers through thought leadership, customer engagement, and process improvement. Taylor firmly believes in putting people first and clients at the center of everything Liberty does. She is also a supporter of community engagement, social responsibility, and philanthropy.
SVP, Marketing, Distribution, and Communications
Taylor Shields
Sandy Bernier (she/her) is a high-energy and results-oriented HR executive with more than 20 years of experience in employee relations, organizational design, change management, total rewards, talent development, performance, training, HRIS, and talent acquisition. She is a Certified Human Resources Leader, Certified Compensation Professional, Certified Benefits Professional, Certified Coach, and Global Remuneration Professional. She taught part-time for almost 10 years in the HR Diploma Program at a local community college.
In her current role, Sandy is responsible for leading Liberty’s overall human resources strategy and oversees a team of HR professionals that provide the full spectrum of HR services. She is a creative business partner and problem solver who links HR strategy to organizational goals, offers solutions to complex HR challenges, and plays a key role in achieving strong financial results. She is a change advocate who believes in the importance of challenging the status quo to make things better. She believes that people are Liberty Mutual Canada’s greatest asset, and that the company’s open, collaborative culture encourages teamwork and creative thinking.
SVP, Human Resources Co Founder & Director
Sandy Bernier
Todd Armstrong (he/him) brings a unique perspective to his role as EVP and head of underwriting with more than 25 years of diverse leadership experience across commercial and specialty underwriting, claims, risk services, and operations. In his current role, Todd is responsible for strategic guidance and managerial direction of all underwriting and risk services units across Canada.
Over the past 12 years at Liberty Mutual Canada, he has played a key role in the growth and success of the organization, expanding his leadership footprint, and building strong relationships in the industry. Todd firmly believes that cross-functional collaboration and a solutions-oriented culture drives best-in-class outcomes for customers. Todd enjoys being a mentor and coach, recognizing the importance of these roles in fostering engaged and diverse talent within the company.
Todd is a graduate of the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He lives with his spouse, son, and daughter in the greater Toronto area.
EVP, Head of Underwriting
Todd Armstrong
Leanne Desai
SVP, Head of Claims
Jessica Seppi
SVP, Chief Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Janette McGrath
SVP, Head of Operations and Technology
Todd Armstrong
EVP, Head of Underwriting
Taylor Shields
SVP, Marketing, Distribution, and Communications
Sandy Bernier
SVP, Human Resources
Walter Fransen
SVP and Chief Actuary
Leanne Desai (she/her) is an experienced claims leader with an insurance industry career that spans over 25 years. During this time, Leanne has built and managed highly effective claim teams, and has an unwavering dedication to provide best-in-class claim services and deliver on the promise to the company’s customers and brokers. Under her leadership, the claims team at Liberty Mutual Canada takes a customer-centric approach to claims, valuing relationships with clients and partners. Claim professionals are empowered to make decisions and provide creative solutions to complex claim issues. Local authority and collaboration with underwriting partners enable the claims team to proactively manage claims with a commitment to excellent results.
SVP, Head of Claims
Leanne Desai
Jessica Seppi (she/her) is senior vice president, chief counsel, and chief compliance officer at Liberty Mutual Canada. She has more than 20 years of insurance industry experience with a varied background that includes claims, underwriting, in-house legal, compliance, and regulatory work. She is also the executive sponsor of the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee at the company.
SVP, Chief Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Jessica Seppi
Janette McGrath (she/her) is an experienced and passionate change leader with over 25 years of experience in P&C insurance, operations, and technology. Throughout her career, Janette has built a reputation for driving results to transform businesses, placing an emphasis on continually making things better. She provides strategic guidance and leadership to the company’s operations and technology functions and is responsible for accelerating its technology and digital evolution by delivering innovative solutions. She continues to streamline operational capabilities to drive consistency and process excellence throughout the organization.
Her team exists to drive excellence in execution, support top-line growth, and manage efficiencies with operational and digital transformation. The team members value progress over perfection, drive decisions backed by data, and embrace an experimental approach through testing and learning and close collaboration with the company’s end users.
Janette has earned an MBA and master’s certificates in Innovation Leadership and Lean Six Sigma – Black Belt from York University’s Schulich School of Business.
SVP, Head of Operations and Technology
Janette McGrath
Todd Armstrong (he/him) brings a unique perspective to his role as EVP and head of underwriting with more than 25 years of diverse leadership experience across commercial and specialty underwriting, claims, risk services, and operations. In his current role, Todd is responsible for strategic guidance and managerial direction of all underwriting and risk services units across Canada.
Over the past 12 years at Liberty Mutual Canada, he has played a key role in the growth and success of the organization, expanding his leadership footprint, and building strong relationships in the industry. Todd firmly believes that cross-functional collaboration and a solutions-oriented culture drives best-in-class outcomes for customers. Todd enjoys being a mentor and coach, recognizing the importance of these roles in fostering engaged and diverse talent within the company.
Todd is a graduate of the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He lives with his spouse, son, and daughter in the greater Toronto area.
EVP, Head of Underwriting
Todd Armstrong
Taylor Shields (she/her) has worked in the property and casualty insurance industry for over 14 years. Over this time, she has gained experience leading initiatives in marketing, communications, business development, and underwriting. Taylor graduated from Queen’s University with a bachelor’s degree (honours) in commerce and has earned the Canadian Risk Management designation from the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies, as well as a certificate in Digital Marketing Management. She is a believer in continuous learning and development and has participated in various leadership courses, including the Queen’s University Executive Education Strategy program.
In her expansive role at Liberty, Taylor leads all activities related to marketing, distribution, and communications, driving key strategic initiatives within these functions to support business goals and priorities. Taylor’s customer-centric approach has allowed her to help demonstrate the unique expertise and value that Liberty Mutual Canada offers through thought leadership, customer engagement, and process improvement. Taylor firmly believes in putting people first and clients at the center of everything Liberty does. She is also a supporter of community engagement, social responsibility, and philanthropy.
SVP, Marketing, Distribution, and Communications
Taylor Shields
Sandy Bernier (she/her) is a high-energy and results-oriented HR executive with more than 20 years of experience in employee relations, organizational design, change management, total rewards, talent development, performance, training, HRIS, and talent acquisition. She is a Certified Human Resources Leader, Certified Compensation Professional, Certified Benefits Professional, Certified Coach, and Global Remuneration Professional. She taught part-time for almost 10 years in the HR Diploma Program at a local community college.
In her current role, Sandy is responsible for leading Liberty’s overall human resources strategy and oversees a team of HR professionals that provide the full spectrum of HR services. She is a creative business partner and problem solver who links HR strategy to organizational goals, offers solutions to complex HR challenges, and plays a key role in achieving strong financial results. She is a change advocate who believes in the importance of challenging the status quo to make things better. She believes that people are Liberty Mutual Canada’s greatest asset, and that the company’s open, collaborative culture encourages teamwork and creative thinking.
SVP, Human Resources
Sandy Bernier
As Liberty Mutual Canada’s chief actuary,
Walter Fransen (he/him) brings more than 30 years of actuarial and senior leadership experience from across the Canadian insurance industry, including personal lines, commercial lines, and reinsurance. Walter has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from Concordia University in Montreal, and is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.
Walter’s experience covers the entire range of pricing, reserving, data analytics, portfolio analysis and profitability metrics, catastrophe modeling, financial planning, capital stress testing, regulatory reporting, and reinsurance. He believes that some of Liberty Mutual Canada’s largest differentiators are its people and culture, specifically the strong teamwork, collaboration, and professionalism, and the intrinsic sense that everyone is working toward the common goal of exceeding customers’ expectations.
SVP and Chief Actuary
Walter Fransen
Janette McGrath
SVP, Head of Operations and Technology
Taylor Shields
SVP, Marketing, Distribution, and Communications
Sandy Bernier
SVP, Human Resources
Leanne Desai
SVP, Head of Claims
Jessica Seppi
SVP, Chief Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Walter Fransen
SVP and Chief Actuary
Todd Armstrong
EVP, Head of Underwriting Principal
Todd Armstrong (he/him) brings a unique perspective to his role as EVP and head of underwriting with more than 25 years of diverse leadership experience across commercial and specialty underwriting, claims, risk services, and operations. In his current role, Todd is responsible for strategic guidance and managerial direction of all underwriting and risk services units across Canada.
Over the past 12 years at Liberty Mutual Canada, he has played a key role in the growth and success of the organization, expanding his leadership footprint, and building strong relationships in the industry. Todd firmly believes that cross-functional collaboration and a solutions-oriented culture drives best-in-class outcomes for customers. Todd enjoys being a mentor and coach, recognizing the importance of these roles in fostering engaged and diverse talent within the company.
Todd is a graduate of the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He lives with his spouse, son, and daughter in the greater Toronto area.
EVP, Head of Underwriting
Todd Armstrong
Taylor Shields (she/her) has worked in the property and casualty insurance industry for over 14 years. Over this time, she has gained experience leading initiatives in marketing, communications, business development, and underwriting. Taylor graduated from Queen’s University with a bachelor’s degree (honours) in commerce and has earned the Canadian Risk Management designation from the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies, as well as a certificate in Digital Marketing Management. She is a believer in continuous learning and development and has participated in various leadership courses, including the Queen’s University Executive Education Strategy program.
In her expansive role at Liberty, Taylor leads all activities related to marketing, distribution, and communications, driving key strategic initiatives within these functions to support business goals and priorities. Taylor’s customer-centric approach has allowed her to help demonstrate the unique expertise and value that Liberty Mutual Canada offers through thought leadership, customer engagement, and process improvement. Taylor firmly believes in putting people first and clients at the center of everything Liberty does. She is also a supporter of community engagement, social responsibility, and philanthropy.
SVP, Marketing, Distribution, and Communications
Taylor Shields
Sandy Bernier (she/her) is a high-energy and results-oriented HR executive with more than 20 years of experience in employee relations, organizational design, change management, total rewards, talent development, performance, training, HRIS, and talent acquisition. She is a Certified Human Resources Leader, Certified Compensation Professional, Certified Benefits Professional, Certified Coach, and Global Remuneration Professional. She taught part-time for almost 10 years in the HR Diploma Program at a local community college.
In her current role, Sandy is responsible for leading Liberty’s overall human resources strategy and oversees a team of HR professionals that provide the full spectrum of HR services. She is a creative business partner and problem solver who links HR strategy to organizational goals, offers solutions to complex HR challenges, and plays a key role in achieving strong financial results. She is a change advocate who believes in the importance of challenging the status quo to make things better. She believes that people are Liberty Mutual Canada’s greatest asset, and that the company’s open, collaborative culture encourages teamwork and creative thinking.
SVP, Human Resources
Sandy Bernier
Leanne Desai (she/her) is an experienced claims leader with an insurance industry career that spans over 25 years. During this time, Leanne has built and managed highly effective claim teams, and has an unwavering dedication to provide best-in-class claim services and deliver on the promise to the company’s customers and brokers. Under her leadership, the claims team at Liberty Mutual Canada takes a customer-centric approach to claims, valuing relationships with clients and partners. Claim professionals are empowered to make decisions and provide creative solutions to complex claim issues. Local authority and collaboration with underwriting partners enable the claims team to proactively manage claims with a commitment to excellent results.
SVP, Head of Claims
Leanne Desai
Jessica Seppi (she/her) is senior vice president, chief counsel, and chief compliance officer at Liberty Mutual Canada. She has more than 20 years of insurance industry experience with a varied background that includes claims, underwriting, in-house legal, compliance, and regulatory work. She is also the executive sponsor of the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee at the company.
SVP, Chief Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Jessica Seppi
Janette McGrath (she/her) is an experienced and passionate change leader with over 25 years of experience in P&C insurance, operations, and technology. Throughout her career, Janette has built a reputation for driving results to transform businesses, placing an emphasis on continually making things better. She provides strategic guidance and leadership to the company’s operations and technology functions and is responsible for accelerating its technology and digital evolution by delivering innovative solutions. She continues to streamline operational capabilities to drive consistency and process excellence throughout the organization.
Her team exists to drive excellence in execution, support top-line growth, and manage efficiencies with operational and digital transformation. The team members value progress over perfection, drive decisions backed by data, and embrace an experimental approach through testing and learning and close collaboration with the company’s end users.
Janette has earned an MBA and master’s certificates in Innovation Leadership and Lean Six Sigma – Black Belt from York University’s Schulich School of Business.
SVP, Head of Operations and Technology
Janette McGrath
As Liberty Mutual Canada’s chief actuary, Walter Fransen (he/him) brings more than 30 years of actuarial and senior leadership experience from across the Canadian insurance industry, including personal lines, commercial lines, and reinsurance. Walter has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from Concordia University in Montreal, and is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.
Walter’s experience covers the entire range of pricing, reserving, data analytics, portfolio analysis and profitability metrics, catastrophe modeling, financial planning, capital stress testing, regulatory reporting, and reinsurance. He believes that some of Liberty Mutual Canada’s largest differentiators are its people and culture, specifically the strong teamwork, collaboration, and professionalism, and the intrinsic sense that everyone is working toward the common goal of exceeding customers’ expectations.
SVP and Chief Actuary
Walter Fransen