John A. MacNaughton, president and CEO of the CPP Investment Board, Toronto, today announced he will retire by March 31, 2005, the end of the plan's fiscal year. Mr. MacNaughton, who was appointed in 1999, said he will stay until the board of directors chooses his successor, according to a CPP statement. The search is expected to take six to nine months, and the board will likely use an executive search firm, but the process has not yet begun, said John Cappeletti, investment board spokesman.
Separately, Canada Pension Plan, Ottawa, announced 17.6% in investment gains for the fiscal year ended March 31, to C$70.5 billion (U.S.$51.3 billion) from C$55.6 billion a year earlier. The growth was mostly because equity and real estate investments, run by the CPP Investment Board, earned 31.7% for the year ended March 31; fixed income and cash, run by the federal department of finance, earned 8.7% for the 12 months, according to a CPP statement. The plan lost 1.5% for the year ended March 31, 2003, the CPP said; equity and real estate were down 21%, while fixed income gained 8.4%, according to the statement.