Edwin Cass was named the first dedicated chief investment officer of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Toronto, the C$434.4 billion ($317.8 billion) pension fund said Wednesday.
The newly created role of CIO will, in part, address the “anticipated size and scale of CPP Investments by 2025 and beyond,” the news release said.
As CIO, Mr. Cass is responsible for “total fund management, including capital allocation between investment programs, long-term investment department signals, and medium- and near-term portfolio guidance and balance sheet management.”
Prior to Mr. Cass’ appointment, the CIO function was “distributed between the CEO office, the chief investment strategist and at the investment department level,” a spokesman at CPPIB said in an email.
Senior managing directors in CPPIB’s investment department “will continue to be responsible for department-level portfolio construction, security selection and asset management, and they will continue to report directly to the CEO,” the spokesman added.
Mr. Cass, who was previously global head of real assets, will work closely with President and CEO Mark Machin, Chief Financial and Risk Officer Neil Beaumont and investment department leaders to “strengthen the organization’s investment governance even further with the aim of generating greater performance gains,” the news release said.
Mr. Cass will continue to report to Mr. Machin in his new role.
Mr. Cass joined CPPIB in 2008 and went on to hold various roles within public markets. He was also the pension fund’s chief investment strategist from 2014 to 2017, according to the news release.
“Our investment governance structure has served CPP Investments well for many years,” Mr. Machin said in a statement in the news release. “However, the fund is on a trajectory to grow to $1 trillion by 2033. The time is right in CPP Investments’ evolution to create a dedicated, fit-for-purpose, chief investment officer role.”
Deborah Orida, who was senior managing director and global head of active equities, was appointed global head of real assets, assuming Mr. Cass’ former role, the pension fund also said Wednesday.
Following an internal selection process, a new senior managing director and global head of active equities are to be announced at CPPIB.
