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LifeWorks

LifeWorks – A professional services company that was originally famous as Morneau Shepell.

LifeWorks is a leading human resource services and technology company founded in 1966. The company was previously known as Morneau Shepell and in May 2021 the shareholders voted to change its name to LifeWorks. It is a publicly-traded company with headquarters based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The services provided by the company are administrative outsourcing, health, and benefit, management, asset, and risk, etc. LifeWorks is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and currently has a market capitalization of $2 billion. The company has made several big acquisitions over the year and offers services to more than 24,000 clients across the globe.

About LifeWorks

The main goal of LifeWorks is to offer personalized solutions to the people who need it and how they need it. In the digital era, every solution in every sector needs to combine with technology to deliver results that are optimal for the customers. So, LifeWorks combine its solutions with AI-based technologies that are simple and easily accessible for HR people. LifeWorks offers financial strategies, physical and mental support, and also choices for building strong social relationships. It covers every aspect of a person’s life to make a real difference in the community.

History of Morneau Shepell

Back in 1966, Frank Morneau founded an actuarial and consulting firm called W. F. Morneau & Associates. The first US office of the company was established in 1987 and after five years established a strategic alliance with Coopers & Lybrand. This alliance led to the acquisition of pension consulting and actuarial business of the latter by Morneau. In 1996, the company launched its administrative outsourcing practice and next year merged with Sobeco. The new company was named Morneau Sobeco where Bill Morneau became the new President and CEO.

After the merger, the company made its first acquisition in 1998 with the Canadian pension consulting firm Deloitte & Touche. After stepping into the 21st century, the company became an income trust, Morneau Sobeco Income Fund (MSIF) in 2005. Morneau eventually started to expand geographically and that led to the acquisition of several companies. In 2006, Morneau acquired Health Benefits Consulting (a Canadian firm) followed by the defined benefit pension business of Cowan Benefits Consulting in 2007.

In 2008, Morneau acquired Shepell-FGI which was the country’s largest provider of employee health and productivity solutions. After the acquisition was completed, Morneau Sebeco’s name was changed to Morneau Shepell. The acquisition was completed for $321.9 million from the Clairvest Group. In the same year, the company also acquired an actuarial firm, Leong & Associates.

LifeWorks
Image source: businesswire.com

Recent Events

In 2011, Morneau Shepell restructured its income trust (MSIF) into a public corporation called Morneau Shepell Inc. The same year it also acquired Jacques Lamarre & Associates to expand its presence in Quebec. In 2012, Morneau acquired a Canadian pension and benefits administration firm, Mercer Canada. To enhance its benefits administration platform, the company acquired SBC Systems in 2012. In 2013, Morneau acquired two companies, namely, Collage Pediatric Therapy and the worker’s compensation business of Dion Durrell.

In 2014, Morneau acquired Blue Ballon Health Services which is one of the many companies it acquired in the healthcare sector. It also acquired Pacific Risk Management Corp and Groupe AST in the same year. Next year, Morneau acquired another healthcare business (health and welfare benefits administration of Ceridian). In 2016, Morneau completed its 50th anniversary. In 2018, it acquired LifeWorks and decided to change its name three years later. Some of the other companies acquired by LifeWorks are MorningStar Health, Pro-Health Group, Chestnut Global Partners, etc.

Stephen Liptrap – President and CEO of LifeWorks

Stephen Liptrap, the current CEO and President of LifeWorks joined the company in 2008 as a member of the senior executive team. When he joined LifeWorks, he had 25 years of experience in the retail and packaged goods sector. He became the general manager and executive VP of the company’s largest business unit. Liptrap has also played his role as the COO of the company for almost a year. He graduated from Harvard Business School in 2016. He is also a Certified Human Resources Executive.

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