Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Mark Wiseman steps down as chair of AIMCo board after three-year term

JAMES BRADSHAW
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTING REPORTER
PUBLISHED MARCH 21, 2023

The chair of Alberta Investment Management Corp.’s board of directors, Mark Wiseman, is stepping down after a three-year term.

Mr. Wiseman was appointed to lead AIMCo’s board in June, 2020, at a time when Alberta’s government-owned investment fund was shaking up its executive ranks and trying to turn the page after a $2.1-billion loss on trades linked to market volatility.

A successor to Mr. Wiseman has yet to be named, and he has agreed to stay on until the end of 2023 to help with the transition.

In nearly three years as chair, Mr. Wiseman led a revamp of AIMCo’s top executive team, including hiring current chief executive officer Evan Siddall, and changes to the plan’s governance.

“As my term reaches its conclusion, I am looking forward to spending additional time in my professional roles after achieving what I was tasked to do,” Mr. Wiseman said in a statement.

AIMCo invests for 32 pension, endowment and government funds in Alberta at arm’s length from government, with more than $168-billion in assets under management.


Mr. Wiseman is a senior adviser at investment banking and asset management firm Lazard Ltd., and a part-time senior adviser at Boston Consulting Group Inc.

A veteran of the Canadian pension industry, Mr. Wiseman was formerly the CEO of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the country’s largest pension fund manager, and an executive at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

He was also global head of active equities at BlackRock Inc., but was terminated from that job in 2019 over a relationship with a co-worker that violated the investment company’s code of conduct.


“The world-class governance he established and changes he oversaw ensured the organization emerged strongly through a turbulent period,” Mr. Siddall said in a statement.

AIMCo’s board chairs are appointed for three-year terms. Mr. Wiseman’s predecessor, Richard Bird, served two terms for a total of six years as chair.

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