Alberta Pension Looks For New CIO Amid Push to Expand Calgary Office

86p){jw7[m8[bwa]f6j0acqe_media_dl_1.png Aimco annual reports

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(Bloomberg) — Alberta Investment Management Corp. is hunting for a new chief investment officer as it carries out an overhaul that began last year when the provincial government fired the board and its top executive. 

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The new CIO would be based in Calgary, the largest city in Alberta and the home of Canada’s major oil and gas companies. Edmonton-based Aimco is considering both internal and external candidates, according to people familiar with the matter, asking not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. 

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Four people held the CIO title at Aimco in less than four years. The most recent, Marlene Puffer, departed in September.

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Aimco, which manages about C$180 billion ($131 billion) of pension capital and other money for the Canadian province, wants to increase its staff in Calgary to boost the city’s financial sector. Newly appointed Chief Legal Officer John Walsh works out of the Calgary office, which has about 70 of Aimco’s 680 employees. 

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“The size of the team in Calgary has grown and we’re looking for space to accommodate them,” Aimco spokesperson Carolyn Quick said.

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The firm is also changing its remote-work policy, requiring employees to work from the office three times a week starting in January, the people said.

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Aimco’s restructuring was set in motion on Nov. 7, when Alberta’s finance minister sacked the board, Chief Executive Officer Evan Siddall and three other executives, saying they had allowed expenses to soar to unacceptable levels. Ray Gilmour was named interim CEO and Stephen Harper, the former Canadian prime minister, was installed as chair.  

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Since then, the money manager’s global expansion, championed by Siddall, has reversed. It shuttered its offices in New York and Singapore and parted ways with David Scudellari, its global head of private assets, and Kevin Bong, the executive who ran the Singapore office. 

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Last month, Aimco laid off around a dozen employees and decided to freeze around 25 vacant roles, according to one of the people. Earlier this year, Aimco eliminated 19 jobs, including the role responsible for the diversity, equity and inclusion program.

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Aimco produced a 12.6% return last year in its balanced fund, missing its benchmark of 13.4%. Its total fund return was 12.3%. But the fund’s results exceeded those of some peers in the so-called Maple Eight, such as Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, which last year earned 8.3% and 9.4%, respectively. 

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Canada’s largest pension funds are under pressure to consider investing more in the domestic economy as the US wages a tariff war against its closest trading partners.    

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In addition to Edmonton and Calgary, Aimco has offices in Toronto, London and Luxembourg.

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