Paul Burnell, FSA, FCIA
Managing Director
Paul has worked in the pension industry since 1993. He has worked on all aspects of consulting related to pension plans including pension administration, funding, investment, plan design, plan wind-up, and mergers and divestitures. Paul has worked with many different types of pension plans, including both single-employer and multi-employer plans and plans in the public and private sectors.
Paul volunteers extensively with the Canadian Institute of Actuaries currently serving on the Practice Development Committee and Professional Conduct Board. In the past, he has served on the Institute’s Board of Directors.
Paul holds a Bachelor of Science degree (majoring in Mathematics) from Dalhousie University and a Post Degree Diploma in Actuarial Science from the University of Waterloo. In 2004, Paul attained his Fellowship with both the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.
Paul joined Plenus Consultants in 2002 and became Plenus’ Managing Director in 2020.
Doug Taylor, FSA, FCIA
Senior Advisor
Doug Taylor has worked in the actuarial field since 1979. He began his career with various life insurance companies in Canada and the United States. In 1989, Doug joined the Halifax office of The Wyatt Company (which was subsequently acquired by Eckler Partners Limited) as a consulting actuary. In 1990, he became a Fellow of both the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. In the summer of 1999, Doug founded a new actuarial services firm, Welton Beauchamp Atlantic Inc. (WBA), in partnership with Welton Beauchamp, Parent Inc. (now Welton Parent Inc.). In the fall of 2002, WBA changed its operating name to Plenus Consultants.
During his consulting career, Doug has provided advice and given presentations to a broad range of clients, including:
senior level financial and human resource officers,
chief administrative/executive officers,
courts and arbitration hearings,
plan members (at all levels of education and responsibility) both in large groups and one-on-one,
provincial cabinet and the Premier
pension committees, and
boards of joint trustees.
Doug has been active within the actuarial profession, having served on the Society of Actuaries’ Examination and Education Committee and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries’ Task Force on Workers’ Compensation. He is past-chair of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries’ Committee on Workers’ Compensation.
Mark Simpson, FCIA, CFA
Senior Consultant
Mark has worked in the actuarial field since 2004 and joined Plenus in 2024. Prior to joining Plenus, Mark worked in the consulting field with a primary focus on providing actuarial services to workers’ compensation boards on valuation, funding, accounting, plan design, and rate-setting issues. In addition, Mark has significant experience working with long-term disability plans and other post-employment benefit plans, along with providing guidance to clients on investment issues.
Mark has also served as a past member of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries Committee on Workers’ Compensation and as a member of various designated groups responsible for developing guidance material for practicing actuaries.
Mark holds a Master of Arts degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Economics from the University of New Brunswick. He is qualified as a Fellow in the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (FCIA) and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation (CFA).
René Madden, ASA, ACIA
Senior Consultant
René joined Plenus in 2020 and has worked in the actuarial consulting and administration fields since 2013. Rene works with pension and benefit plans providing governance and funding solutions for public and private sector programs – including funding, administration, plan redesign, wind-ups, and annuity purchases. Additionally, Rene previously spent time working directly with a large Nova Scotia public sector pension plan developing its internal administration and actuarial operations as well as its trustee and membership communication strategies.
René currently serves on the board of directors of a Nova Scotia credit union and is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.
Yanhong (Julie) Li
Actuarial Analyst
Yanhong graduated from the University of Prince Edward Island in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science degree. She majored in Actuarial Science with a pre-professional specialization and completed minors in Statistics and Mathematics. Yanhong has successfully passed six of the Society of Actuaries exams and completed all the Validation by Educational Experience (VEE) courses. She is currently working towards her designations from the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. Yanhong joined Plenus in 2023.
Libin (Mary) Liu
Actuarial Analyst
Mary graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree, with a double major in Statistics and Psychology, from Dalhousie University in 2017 and joined Plenus the same year. She has completed three of the Society of Actuaries exams, and all of the VEE courses and is working towards the Associate of the Society of Actuaries designation.