The Alberta government has contemplated hiring former prime minister Stephen Harper to manage the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), which does not have a permanent board after all of its directors being fired last week.Sources said to Bloomberg on Tuesday Harper had been floated as a possible chair for AIMCo for several months. If Harper takes on this position, he would have influence to change up an organization managing $169 billion of public pensions and Alberta government funds and having offices in Edmonton, London, and New York City. He led Canada from 2006 to 2015 and lives in Alberta. Alberta Treasury Board President and Finance Minister Nate Horner announced on Thursday significant changes would be coming to AIMCo following years of it underperforming relative to its benchmark returns..Alberta finance minister restructures AIMCo to restore public confidence amid rising costs, falling benchmarks .To realign AIMCo’s priorities, all board appointments have been rescinded and a new board chair is expected to be appointed within 30 days.Until a permanent chair is named, Horner had stepped in as its sole director and chair effective immediately, overseeing a reorganization aimed at ensuring low operating costs and maximized returns for Albertans.The Alberta government said on Friday it had appointed AIMCo Interim CEO Ray Gilmour to his position..Alberta government names deputy minister to head AIMCo after firing CEO, board .It said Gilmour’s appointment will serve to further stabilize operations and provide smoothness during the transition period.“Ray has been the most trusted official in the province under three premiers,” said Horner. Alberta government records show AIMCo has more than 200 investment professionals and more than 600 employees in total. “Alberta’s government will be announcing the new chair of AIMCo within the next couple weeks,” said Alberta Treasury Board and Finance acting press secretary Ashley Stevenson to Bloomberg. At the moment, Harper runs Harper and Associates, which provides advice to businesses in the financial services, technology and energy sectors. Harper and Associates touts access to his global network and his experience as a former G7 leader. In the last few years, AIMCo has been through multiple major staffing changes. After a bad bet against market volatility cost it $2.1 billion when the COVID-19 pandemic damaged the global economy in 2020, it initiated a leadership overhaul. To try to recover from the damage, it appointed former BlackRock executive Mark Wiseman as its chair in 2020. In response, Wiseman led the recruitment of new leadership, including bringing on former AIMCo CEO Evan Siddall. Wiseman resigned from AIMCo in 2023. Additionally, former AIMCo chief investment officer Marlene Puffer resigned in September after working at it for less than two years. Under Siddall’s leadership, it said in its annual report its investment team beat its benchmark in the three-year period ending December 31, with its balanced fund returning 6.2% annualized. However, it outperformed its benchmark in 2021 and 2022, but it underperformed in 2023. In the first six months of 2024, its balanced fund earned a 5.6% net return. Siddall said in a LinkedIn post he was “tying up loose ends, smelling wildflowers, reading, writing, playing guitar (badly), restoring my health, and focusing on Sonia [Verma], our family, and friends.” He is married to Verma, who is a prominent Canadian journalist.
