PSP Investments Hires New CEO from CPPIB | Chief Investment Officer

André Bourbonnais has been appointed as President and CEO of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) effective March 30, the institution has announced.

“Assets under management [are] expected to exceed C$200 billion by 2024.” – Michael Mueller, chair, PSP Investments board.He will join PSP Investments from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) where he was global head of private investments, overseeing a large team. In this role he was responsible for a portfolio of private investments totalling more than C$65 billion ($52.3 billion). He led on several deals the pension plan made in private markets over recent years.

“André is a seasoned investment executive with the ideal combination of leadership qualities, global industry knowledge, proven portfolio management skills, and an extensive international network,” said Michael Mueller, chair of the PSP Investments board.

Bourbonnais is to take over the role on a permanent basis following the departure of the former CEO Gordon Fyfe in June 2014. Fyfe joined the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation as CEO and CIO. John Valentini, COO and CFO, had taken on the role in the interim period.

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PSP Investments, which invests on behalf of the Public Service, the Canadian Forces, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, had assets under management of C$99.5 billion at September 30, 2014. However, Mueller said these assets were set to grow significantly.

“We are confident he is the right person to lead PSP Investments into its next phase of evolution,” said Mueller, “which involves increasingly global activities and sustained growth, with assets under management expected to exceed C$200 billion by 2024.”

As a result of Bourbonnais’ departure, CPPIB announced new appointments to its senior bench. Mark Jenkins has been promoted and will take over the vacant head of private investments role. Jenkins has been with CPPIB since 2008.

Pierre Lavallée, the fund’s chief talent officer, has been appointed to the new role of global head of investment partnerships. Lavallée will lead this new department that will “focus on broadening relationships with CPPIB’s external managers in private and public market funds, secondaries and co-investments, expanding direct private equity investments in Asia and further building thematic investing capabilities,” the fund said.

CPPIB CEO Mark Wiseman thanked Bourbonnais for his work at the fund, adding: “I look forward to collaborating with him and his new colleagues on many matters of mutual interest.”

The head of one of the world’s largest investors has told world leaders in Davos that finding a good deal in current markets has become increasingly tricky.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) CEO Ron Mock said that across asset classes “everything is expensive,” according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

“Infrastructure yields have come down to the single digits, which ignore the regulatory risk.” – Ron Mock, CEO, OTPP“In the infrastructure space, there is so much money chasing these alternative assets, it’s turned into non-stop auctions,” said Mock. “Infrastructure yields have come down to the single digits, which ignore the regulatory risk.”

His comments echoed a study by Preqin last year showing infrastructure deals were 12% more expensive in 2014 than the previous record set in 2012.

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“On the private equity side, there are deals at huge multiples of Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization [EBITDA],” said Mock, “and the spread between public and private yields are very narrow.”

However, Mock, who leads the C$140.8 billion (US$112.9 billion) plan, said in another Davos interview with CNBC that both asset classes were important to its portfolio.

He said private equity partners were key to its global investments: “We allocate to firms all over the planet. Where we don’t have people on the ground, having partners is really important to us.”

In both interviews, Mock asserted OTPP’s commitment to hedge funds, despite several of the plan’s peers opting to dump the asset class.

“We still have a good, sizeable allocation to them,” he told CNBC. “2014’s results were strong—above the industry average. It’s about who you select and choose to give money to.”

Regarding the Bank of Canada’s recent interest rate cut, Mock said the move was understandable given the oil price dip and issues within the country’s real estate market.