Latest news with #Kevin
Irish Examiner
14 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
My Job: Protecting and growing investors' money — in Cork and beyond
Name: Kevin Canning Occupation: Managing director, Quintas Capital Background: Cork-based investment firm specialising in private market opportunities for private and institutional investors. It specialises in providing bespoke private market investment opportunities tailored for private investors, family offices, and institutional investors. Remembering the most useful piece of financial counsel he ever received, Kevin Canning's response is succinct: 'The best personal financial advice I've received is simple but powerful: 'Always protect your capital.' Or, as one client once said: 'Don't lose my money.' Chasing outsized returns at the cost of potential capital loss rarely ends well,' he adds. 'Preservation of capital should always come first.' As to what general commercial counsel he lives by, Kevin says: 'From a business perspective, the best advice has been: 'Control your operating expenses'. "Revenue rarely arrives exactly when you expect it, but operating expenses always have to be paid. So ensure you leave a large buffer.' At a time when markets are roiling from the combined uncertainty around tariffs and ever-increasing global conflict, he says investor sentiment remains cautious, as it always should be. 'Making an investment, and staying the course, requires discipline and a long-term view, especially in volatile times. Public markets can be particularly challenging due to daily pricing and the emotional toll of sharp drawdowns triggered by events like policy shifts or trade tensions.' In contrast, he says private markets are less reactive and therefore easier for many investors to navigate emotionally. 'This stability is one of their key advantages, amongst many others.' As a private market investment firm — one of the few in Ireland and only in Cork — Quintas Capital offers a number of advantages compared to public markets, including potential for higher returns; lower short-term volatility, a longer-term investment horizon and significant tax planning benefits. The firm focuses on two- to five-year investments across the Employment and Incentive Investment Scheme (EIIS), private equity and private credit, with a strong emphasis on tax-efficient strategies. "Private investing is deeply local in nature. A strong understanding of local markets and communities is essential, which is why it's important we foster more homegrown Irish private market firms, rather than depending heavily on international capital." Quintas Capital sees Cork as a very attractive market for investment, especially with the ambitious development plans set for the next two decades. The Marina development, for example, has great potential. Through our EIIS fund, we're currently investing in several social infrastructure projects including state-of-the-art creches opening in Midleton and Douglas this summer, and a new sports facility in the Marina due to launch later this year. While Cork is a major focus, the firm's investment strategy also extends across Ireland, the UK, and the UAE. 'That said, we're especially proud to be championing Cork as a thriving hub for private investment outside of Dublin.' As to whether private companies have an advantage in adapting more effectively than their public peers, he says rather than comparing the abilities of individual companies, the more important investment discussion is around the contrast between active management in public versus private markets. 'In public markets, traditional active management is fading. Most investors now favour lower-cost Exchange Traded Fund's and no longer rely on expensive stockbrokers. "But in private markets, a trusted investment manager is essential. It's incredibly difficult to navigate private investments alone unless you have a full family office infrastructure. Today's top-tier wealth managers offer far more than just stock-picking, they provide integrated advice across tax planning, estate structuring, budgeting, and crucially, access to high-quality private market opportunities. That's where firms like Quintas Capital come in.' Legendary investor Warren Buffett once advised potential stock market speculators: 'Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.' Kevin Canning adds investing is as much about temperament as it is about technical knowledge. 'Emotional discipline is critical, especially in public markets, where constant news flow and pricing updates can lead to reactive decisions.' "In private markets, where investments are typically longer-term and less volatile day-to-day, there is more space for rational decision-making. But in either case, successful investing requires patience, a long-term view, and the ability to stay calm when markets are anything but. The Employment Investment Incentive Scheme is the bedrock of what they do at Quintas Capital, he explains. 'We currently invest over €10m annually through EIIS, and that figure is rising steadily. What makes our approach different is that we focus on social infrastructure — projects like solar energy, childcare centres, sports facilities, and hotels. These not only offer compelling returns and 50% tax relief upfront for investors, but they also provide real community impact. In the main, I believe anyone earning over €100,000 annually should be exploring EIIS. "Yet current participation rates are far too low — just €50m to 60m is invested in the scheme each year. That number should be closer to €100m, and we really believe we can make that happen.' The fact significant amounts of money remain in bank deposit accounts earning next to nothing is a complex topic best looked at through the prism of banking fundamentals. 'Banks operate by taking depositors' money and lending it out to borrowers, with their profit in the margin between what they pay depositors and what they earn from loans. However, depositors are indirectly exposed to the risk profile of the bank's lending decisions and in the event of a failure, any deposits over €100,000 may not be protected.' A growing alternative, both in Ireland and globally, is private credit. 'This essentially bypasses the bank, allowing investors to lend directly to borrowers such as real estate developers or SMEs. Investors can potentially earn returns in the region of 8%-15% per annum, without exposure to the banking system. At Quintas Capital, this area is growing rapidly. We originate capital for these deals from high-net-worth individuals and family offices — some of whom operate private credit as a core part of their business model.' Despite the ongoing global geo-political turbulence, Kevin remains very optimistic about Ireland's economic outlook overall, and particularly for Cork. 'While there are valid concerns about our reliance on US multinationals, global supply chains can't shift overnight, and Ireland remains a strategic location. Our sovereign wealth fund, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, continues to grow and play a vital role in long-term national development.' It is essential investment continues in critical infrastructure projects like the Cork Docklands regeneration and the proposed Cork Luas. 'Supporting homegrown investment firms is also crucial — no one cares more about Ireland's long-term success than Irish-owned businesses rooted in the local economy.' Read More My Job: Paul Sheridan on 25 years of the Tour de Munster
Cision Canada
16 hours ago
- Business
- Cision Canada
Sun Life appoints Brennan Kennedy as new Chief Actuary Français
TORONTO, /CNW/ - Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX: SLF) (NYSE: SLF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Brennan Kennedy as Senior Vice-President and Chief Actuary, effective October 4, 2025. Brennan is currently Sun Life's Senior Vice-President of Global Asset Liability Management. In his new role, Brennan will provide leadership, direction and vision for the actuarial functions across the organization with a focus on talent development, leading-edge technology solutions, innovations and thought leadership in support of Sun Life's strategic imperatives and Client Impact Strategy. He will partner closely with business groups and corporate functions to apply actuarial best practices to valuation, reporting, product development and pricing activities to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards. Brennan is a seasoned leader with more than 26 years of deep experience and expertise at the organization. He has held progressively senior roles across the business in Actuarial, Risk Management, Finance and Asset Liability Management functions since joining in 1998. Brennan holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries. "I'm thrilled to have Brennan step into this critical role. I'm confident his leadership will continue to drive success for Sun Life," said Tom Murphy, Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer. "His deep expertise and forward-thinking approach will be instrumental in supporting our continued growth and strengthening our actuarial capabilities as the industry evolves." Brennan succeeds Kevin Morrissey, Senior Vice-President and Chief Actuary, who will retire after an illustrious 37-year career with Sun Life on October 3, 2025. Over the next few months, Kevin will support Brennan in his onboarding to the Chief Actuary role until his retirement. Kevin began his career with Mutual Life of Canada in 1988, which eventually became Clarica, which was later acquired by Sun Life in 2002. Throughout his tenure, Kevin progressed through various leadership roles across Finance, Risk Management and Actuarial. He has served in his current role of Senior Vice-President and Chief Actuary since 2016. "On behalf of our Board of Directors and our Global Leadership Team, I'd like to thank Kevin for his leadership and tremendous contributions to Sun Life and wish him well in his retirement," added Murphy. "For the past two decades, Kevin has proved to be a key partner in helping Sun Life navigate various external economic challenges and maintain its resiliency. As the guiding light for our Global Actuarial Community, he has always led by example." About Sun Life Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing asset management, wealth, insurance and health solutions to individual and institutional Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of March 31, 2025, Sun Life had total assets under management of $1.55 trillion. For more information, please visit Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Video: Dad's GRWM Video With Baby Girl Is Peak Fatherhood Content
Fathers are always excited to play with their babies. No doubt, their bonds are adorable. However, in a recent Instagram video, a dad is not just responsible for playing with his daughter but also for getting her ready. He looks thrilled while making a 'GRWM [Get Ready With Me] Girl Dad Edition' video before leaving for an event. Naturally, it ends up making the viewers go gaga over the adorable duo. In a viral parenting video, a dad named Kevin shows how he dresses his daughter, Breezy, for an event. The caption reads, 'How did breezy and daddy do?' It begins with the father holding his adorable baby and mentioning that he will be changing her from PJs to a new outfit. In the next scene, Kevin asks baby Breezy to choose one dress. He asks, 'What's speaking to you?' In response, the toddler yawns, which seems like the girl is bored. Further in the reel, the dad explains the two outfits and tells the tiny tot to drool on the one she wants to wear. The hilarious clip then shows Breezy drooling over a dress that gave a 'very Tarzan' vibe. Playfully, Kevin puts the outfit on the baby girl, who giggles and enjoys the process. The father-daughter duo continues to have fun as the dad flaunts some dance moves to entertain his kid. Adoring Breezy's look, Kevin comments, 'My little Eliza Thornberry,' which is a famous cartoon character from 'The Wild Thornberrys' show. He ends the video with a mini musical performance with his daughter. Meanwhile, viewers could not stop gushing over the 'GRWM' girl dad video. One said, 'She is the cutest and most expressive baby,' while another commented, 'OMG Look at her face!!! She is the sweetest.' Netizens lauded Kevin for his parenting skills and praised the father-daughter bond. A user wrote, ''I look like a dance dad' at least she's laughing at your dad jokes.' Many went gaga over Breezy's yawn moment and her giggles. At the time of writing, the girl dad video has received over 185K likes. The post Video: Dad's GRWM Video With Baby Girl Is Peak Fatherhood Content appeared first on Momtastic.
The Spinoff
2 days ago
- General
- The Spinoff
Why Homo sapiens are Auckland Zoo's priority species
Auckland Zoo is involved in dozens of conservation projects, but one species is paramount – us. Naomii Seah visits the Zoo to find out why. On a mild winter's night, by the light of the full moon, a group of Auckland Zoo staff and mana whenua pick their way carefully through the thick native bush. Beneath their boots, the damp undergrowth gives off a rich, earthy aroma of rotting bark and leaf litter. Spying a marker tied to an ancient pōhutakawa, a member of the group pauses, and gingerly holds a clear container to the craggy bark. From it a brown, unassuming insect peeks out then scurries onto the trunk. It's about an inch long. While it's hard to imagine, this young wētāpunga will one day be as big as a mouse. These expeditions have been running for over a decade across eight pest-free islands in the Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Islands as part of Auckland Zoo's wētāpunga breed-and-release programme. It's just one of the Zoo's many conservation initiatives. As the Zoo sees it though, the most important creatures on this trip aren't just the hundreds of tiny wētāpunga about to be released – it's the people. Kevin Buley is the director of Auckland Zoo. 'The fundamental purpose of the Zoo is to reconnect people with the environment, with wildlife and with themselves – what it means to be human, and part of the environment, not apart from it,' he says. Since 2018, Kevin has led the Zoo through huge changes, both physically and philosophically, driven in part by the impacts of the pandemic. 'Covid was like the moment the scales dropped from our eyes, and we saw how the Zoo could fundamentally improve the wellbeing of people that visited us.' Dozens, if not hundreds of papers have now shown a connection between time spent in nature and improved wellbeing. But with increasing urbanisation – over 80% of New Zealanders now live in urban areas – the disconnect between communities and te taiao (the natural world) is only growing. As an organisation, the Zoo sees itself as a vital conduit between Auckland communities and the environment. This realisation, Kevin says, necessitated a significant change to the kaupapa of the Zoo. Namely, the Zoo wanted to reposition itself as distinctively of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and strengthen its relationship with Te Ao Māori. The Zoo has been working alongside iwi Māori to weave indigenous concepts through the zoo experience and into its wider programming. Incorporating Te Ao Māori is one way the Zoo hopes to continue building a more holistic approach to wildlife conservation. This holistic approach speaks to what Kevin sees as the ultimate purpose of a zoo – to help build a future where the classic 'just-in-time' sticking-plaster approach to conservation work is no longer required. What would that future look like though? As Kevin sees it, it's a future where we have successfully renegotiated our relationship with the natural environment and are living sustainably as part of it. It's a future where we no longer have to fight an endless battle against biodiversity loss and species extinction. Think, he says, of communities, corporates and governments all putting the health of te taiao first in their decision-making. 'If our ultimate goal is to help people tune back into nature, to have humans as a species living at one with the planet, then first we've got to support people's wellbeing. We can't ask people to recycle, to use sustainable palm oil, to eat sustainable fish if their day-to-day wellbeing is not in a great place,' says Kevin. The evolving role of zoos is something Dr. Sarah Thomas, head of conservation advocacy and engagement at Auckland Zoo, spends a lot of time thinking about. 'How do we change how we think about being a zoo to being a community-serving cultural organisation? Raising up and giving equal credit to the way we serve our communities is just as important as our conservation fieldwork.' Post-Covid, Sarah noticed how alienated communities felt from each other and the environment. In many ways, she says, we are still dealing with the impacts of Covid's social isolation and economic fallout. In this atmosphere, Sarah and the Zoo recognised the need to walk alongside the community. The team started a programme which gifted thousands of tickets to community groups. This removed the financial barrier and opened the Zoo up to them as a place for repair, recovery and respite. 'The passion that I have is [trying to understand] how we can serve our communities to feel good and function well, so we have a society that's thriving here in Aotearoa,' Sarah says. 'We know that there's a lot of lonely people in Auckland. All the stats are there to say people are struggling, whether that's post-Covid or just in the current environmental, societal state. So, for me, having the Zoo as te pā hono – a place of connection, is like a beacon of hope.' By looking after wellbeing, and addressing community needs, the team hopes to enable a greater, long-term change in how we take care of ourselves and our environment. Part of that means being an accessible gateway to wildlife and te taiao. Many people may never visit the African savannah, the Southeast Asian rainforest or even Auckland's predator-free offshore islands. But that shouldn't preclude communities from feeling connections to those places. In Te Ao Māori, the wētāpunga is known as the god of ugly things. It's a reputation that's contributed to the wētāpunga being maligned and overlooked. Just over a decade ago, the last remaining population was isolated to Te Hauturu-o-Toi (Little Barrier Island). Now though, through Auckland Zoo's programme, which was built on previous work by DOC and Butterfly Creek, wētāpunga populations have been established on eight additional islands. It's been so successful that Richard Gibson, Auckland Zoo's head of animal care and conservation, says the programme will wrap up soon. 'We're going to be ending the wētāpunga programme very soon because we've done it. We've transformed that animal's risk of extinction.' It's feat that's extremely rare in conservation circles, where efforts can go on for decades just to conserve a few precious individuals. But for Richard and the rest of the team at the Zoo, this remarkable success is only the beginning. 'What we've done for the wētāpunga is given them a fighting chance for the next 100 to 200 years, but that's nothing in evolutionary terms.' It's a hard reality that all conservationists must grapple with. Human intervention at the brink of extinction can only do so much. So how do we build a future where endangered species can reestablish themselves and truly thrive? 'One could argue that the true value of the wētāpunga breed and release programme is in its advocacy, education and awareness role,' says Richard. 'It doesn't matter how hard we try to save a species or a group of species, we're only able to do it in a very short timeframe. Their long-term persistence relies on us changing our relationship with the planet.' Currently, the world is grappling with its sixth mass extinction. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the current species extinction rate is estimated to be between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than natural rates due to the impacts of human activity. Dozens of species are going extinct every day, and up to 50 percent of all species face extinction by 2050. In the face of this challenge, nothing less than a radical paradigm shift will make a real difference. Regardless, the ripple effects of the wētāpunga programme have been far reaching. Over the past decade, it has attracted media coverage from both national and international outlets like Al Jazeera. This coverage has helped raise the profile of the wētāpunga. Breed-and-release expeditions, meanwhile, have directly engaged the wider community, from children to iwi groups and volunteers. These missions have generated new appreciation for the wētāpunga and inspired future invertebrate champions. Long after these Zoo bred wētāpunga die and become part of the forest floor themselves, these messages will continue to resonate, says Richard. 'Auckland Zoo is all about conservation, yes, but we see Homo sapiens – our staff, visitors, volunteers and wider communities – as vital to the present and future health of this planet.' Kevin agrees and says: 'We sometimes hear people say that in a perfect world we wouldn't need zoos. But I disagree. In order for there to be a perfect world, we need good zoos that continue to nurture and support that human connection to nature, to wildlife and to each other.'
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Unlike Alberta, Manitoba won't charge for COVID shots: health minister
Manitoba will not be following Alberta's lead to charge citizens for COVID-19 vaccines in the fall. Health minister Uzoma Asagwara said 'COVID vaccines will be readily available for Manitobans at the right time. 'There will be no charge… we are making sure COVID vaccines are available and will be free for the public because we recognize it is one way, it's an important way, for keeping themselves safe. So that's the approach we are taking as a government. We believe that vaccines are really, really important. 'We know they're important, we know they're safe, and we encourage folks to go out and get themselves protected.' Keir Johnson, a spokesman for Doctors Manitoba, a physician advocacy organization, said the government's decision is a good one. 'Our position is, that just like flu shots, the COVID vaccine should be available to everyone at no charge,' Johnson said. 'Cost should never be a barrier to the protection vaccines offer for the individual and the broader community.' Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced last week most Albertans would be charged for a COVID-19 vaccination starting in the fall. The Alberta Medical Association and health-care unions have raised concerns about the change, but Smith has said it is about targeting who most need the vaccinations while preventing wastage and recovering costs. The Alberta government has not said how much it will charge, but has said the cost for the government to buy each shot is about $110. Dr. Nichelle Desilets, president of Doctors Manitoba, said 'the majority of strongly recommended vaccines are publicly funded. 'In the past, things like annually recommended flu shots and COVID shots have been funded at no cost to the patient, provided that they have a valid Manitoba health card. And so, going forward, we would expect that vaccines that are strongly recommended by public health would be supported through government funding of that vaccine and of that service.' Kevin RollasonReporter Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press's city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin. Every piece of reporting Kevin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
