Ontario Teachers’ Names New London Office Head

Jo Taylor, Managing Director EMEA, Ontario Teachers’ Pension PlanThe Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has promoted a longtime private equity investor as head of it expanding London office.

Jo Taylor, who has been with the C$141 billion ($124 billion) fund since 2012, was also named managing director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and joins the pension’s investment committee.

Following the promotion, Taylor will retain responsibility for Teachers’ private capital arm and private equity investments in the region. The new job puts him charge of “the full cycle of opportunity origination, analysis, value creation, and execution of investment activities across asset classes,” according to the pension fund.

He takes over an office in transition. Ontario Teachers’ established a London satellite in 2007, and has since built out substantial multi-asset capabilities there. Next year, Taylor will oversee the move to new offices at Portman Square to accommodate the larger—and still growing—division.

Never miss a story — sign up for CIO newsletters to stay up-to-date on the latest institutional investment industry news. 

“Jo’s expanded role reflects our commitment to growing our global presence and deepening our long-term relationships with our partners in key markets,” said Neil Petroff, Ontario Teachers’ CIO and member of the Power 100. “His experience, relationship-building skills, and his deal and market knowledge make him the ideal person for this new position.”

Taylor serves on a number of boards, including sportswear purveyor Helly Hansen and Jammie Dodgers manufacturer Burton’s Biscuits.

Two of the largest UK public sector pensions have agreed a partnership that would see more £10 billion ($15.6 billion) pooled and potentially co-managed in-house.

The Lancashire County Pension Fund and the London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) have announced the first steps in what they call a “ground-breaking asset and liability management partnership”.

The funds, which are based on either ends of England, said they would create an investment entity registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. This would mean it could take investment decisions on behalf of their pension fund members without using a consultant or third-party manager.

“The partnership will build on existing expertise and increase co-operation and collaboration between the pension funds,” a statement released by the funds said. “It will put into practice the views expressed by both pension funds in their responses to central government on the reform of the Local Government Pension Scheme.”

For more stories like this, sign up for the CIO Alert newsletter. 

These responses focused upon a move by central government to push public and local authority pension funds to invest purely in passively managed vehicles.

A spokesman for the Lancashire pension said the partnership believed this would be a step backwards as both funds had found benefits in actively managing assets.

In July, Sir Merrick Cockell, deputy chair of the LPFA, was quoted as saying everyone he had talked to thought the move was “mad”.

In October, the London fund appointed a new CIO to replace Alex Gracian who left six months earlier. LPFA CEO Susan Martin has announced she intends to build up an internal team to manage its £5 billion in in-house and gathered assets.

The Lancashire pension has been a runner up at CIO’s European Innovation Awards for the past two years.