Fiera CIO Bourdon leaves firm

Francois Bourdon stepped down as global chief investment officer at Fiera Capital Corp., according to two people familiar with the situation, weeks after the money manager was forced to restrict redemptions in a large debt fund.

Mr. Bourdon, who worked for the Montreal-based firm for more than 16 years, left on Tuesday, one of the people said. He oversaw its investment policies and strategies as well as risk management.

A spokewoman confirmed Bourdon’s departure late Thursday. “François Bourdon chose to leave the firm following a very accomplished and dedicated career with Fiera Capital,” said Mariem Elsayed in a written statement. Mr. Bourdon declined to comment.

The move comes on the heels of a wider restructuring of Fiera, which managed C$167 billion ($123 billion) as of April 30.

As CIO, Mr. Bourdon also managed private financing strategies, global bonds and income funds — including Fiera's $1.1 billion Diversified Lending Fund, which put a limit on redemptions this spring after telling investors it was not positioned for a recession. The fund lends to the residential and commercial construction sector through limited partnerships and invested heavily in loans to housing projects.

Mr. Bourdon managed the fund with two others, according fund documents, and the managers expressed confidence that bumps will be temporary and loans will be repaid. "The most likely scenario is that economic growth recovers at some point during the second half of 2020 and the strategy continues to produce attractive monthly returns," they said in a written commentary to investors.

Fiera has about 750 employees in North America and Europe. Its largest revenue line comes from handling institutional money.

Last month, the company said it would change its global management structure. Instead of being organized along geographic lines, it shifted to three operating groups: public markets, private markets and private wealth. The company said it expected to record severance and restructuring costs of C$19 million to C$21 million during the second quarter.

Fiera shares were down 11 cents to C$9.39 as of 11:16 a.m. EDT in Toronto. The shares are down nearly 20% this year.

Mr. Bourdon will continue to do work for the firm as a consultant, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

Nearly half of Fiera's assets are in fixed income, though in recent years it has begun to build up a business managing funds in infrastructure and alternative assets.

A representative for the firm did not reply to a request for comment. Mr. Bourdon declined to comment.