CPPIB Ex-Chief Mark Wiseman Named AIMCo Board Chair

Mark Wiseman

The Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) has appointed Mark Wiseman, a former chief executive at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), as chair of AIMCo just as Alberta is considering withdrawing from the national plan.

Wiseman, who starts at AIMCo next month, is returning to public pensions after spending three years heading active equities at BlackRock, where he was once considered a contender for the top job at the world’s largest asset manager. He was ousted last year after breaching a company “relationship at work” policy.

But the industry head returns at a fraught time for the C$118 billion (US$87.9 billion) Alberta pension plan, as Alberta is considering seceding from the CPPIB, where Wiseman was chief executive for four years until 2016. The 50-year-old spent more than a decade at the national pension plan.

A comprehensive plan for a separate pension system for the province has gained traction. Supporters say that Albertans, who are younger and who have higher incomes and levels of employment, disproportionately contribute to the national plan, according to a Fair Deal report presented last month to the government.

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In 2017, Albertan workers counted for about 16.5% of the total contributions to the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP), worth C$420 billion (US$310.9 billion), while retirees from the same province consumed 10.6% of CPP expenditures, the report said.

Breaking from the CPPIB would hypothetically lower Alberta’s contribution rate to 5.89% from 9.9%, according to the report.

Alberta also would not be the first Canadian province to go it alone. Quebec also has a separate plan with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

Wiseman takes over as AIMCo chair from Richard Bird, who is leaving after completing his second three-year-term. Bird will stay on as a consultant during the transition period.

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Tags: AIMCo, Alberta Investment Management Corporation, BlackRock, CPPIB, Investment, Mark Wiseman

The Vatican is calling on the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics to divest from fossil fuels, and it’s urging the reform of fossil fuel subsidies and the taxation of CO2 emissions.

The decree came in a 225-page encyclical from the Vatican called “Journeying for the Care of the Common Home,” which was sent to all bishops within the church and sets guidelines for Catholic dioceses, parishes, missions, and movements around the world. It also encouraged monitoring sectors such as mining to make sure they are not damaging the environment.

The document calls for Catholics to reduce pollution, de-carbonize the energy and economic sectors, and invest in “clean and renewable” energy, which it said should be accessible to everyone. The document also emphasizes the need to promote a “circular economy” that does not over-exploit productive resources so they can be reused.

The Vatican suggests steps to take in order to reach the goals of the encyclical, which supports agreements to contain global warming and warned against the dangers of climate change.

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The release of the document marked the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si” (Praised Be), which was intended to stimulate reflection and dialogue on social and environmental justice and to motivate Catholics to take concrete actions.

In Laudato Si, Pope Francis wrote that climate change represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity, and that its worst impact will probably be felt by developing countries in the coming decades.

“There is an urgent need to develop policies so that, in the next few years, the emission of carbon dioxide and other highly polluting gases can be drastically reduced, for example, substituting for fossil fuels and developing sources of renewable energy,” Pope Francis wrote in the 2015 encyclical.

He also wrote that “greater investment needs to be made in research aimed at understanding more fully the functioning of ecosystems and adequately analyzing the different variables associated with any significant modification of the environment.”

Last month, 42 faith institutions from 14 countries announced that they would divest from fossil fuels. The initiative was led by Operation Noah, which was established in 2004 to provide a Christian response to the climate crisis.

According to Operation Noah, religious communities have contributed the single greatest number of commitments. At the time of the announcement, Operation Noah said that, during the previous month, 21 Catholic organizations with $40 billion in assets under management committed to invest in companies that align with their values by signing the Catholic Impact Investing Pledge.

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Tags: Catholic, divest, Fossil Fuels, Pope Francis, Vatican