Ontario Teachers’ Taps New CIO

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan today announced Bjarne Graven Larsen as its new CIO, effective February 1.

Graven Larsen—formerly CIO of Denmark’s largest pension plan ATP—will head up the newly restructured senior investment leadership team for the C$154.5 billion ($108.5 billion) fund.

“With his investment expertise, global experience, forward thinking on risk management, and importantly, hands-on work within a total return framework, Bjarne is uniquely positioned to be our chief investment officer,” CEO Ron Mock said in a statement. 

The new CIO was most recently chief financial officer at Copenhagen-based life science venture capital firm Novo A/S. He also led Denmark’s sixth largest bank FIH Erhvervsbank A/S.

“I consider this position to be a career opportunity of a lifetime and I look forward to learning from the outstanding team here and sharing my experiences with them as we work together to deliver members’ pensions,” Graven Larsen said.

Graven Larsen also spent time as a managing director of Denmark’s largest mortgage bank Realkredit Denmark, and as monetary policy director at the nation’s central bank, Nationalbanken.

He holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Aarhus.

Graven Larsen replaces Neil Petroff who stepped down in June 2015 after six years as CIO. Petroff has since joined Canadian alternatives investment firm Northwater Capital Management.

Related: Ontario Teachers’ CIO Neil Petroff to Retire & Ontario Teachers’ Ex-CIO Joins Asset Manager