Karen Karniol-Tambour
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Monday the appointment of Karen Karniol-Tambour, Bridgewater Associates’ co-CIO as CEO of the Canada Strong Fund—the country’s newly established sovereign wealth fund.
Launched in April with a C$25 billion ($17.69 billion commitment), the fund will invest in co-investment opportunities in collaboration with Canadian federal entities and will also invest in high-potential products in the country. Additionally, the fund will offer an investment product for retail investors to participate in these domestic investments.
“The Canada Strong Fund will put Canadian capital to work in the projects and companies building our country’s future. Ms. Karniol-Tambour brings the experience and ambition to lead this mission – making investments that strengthen our economy and build lasting wealth for Canadians,” Carney said in a statement. “As we build a stronger, more independent Canada, we are ensuring Canadians have a direct stake in its success.”
The Canada Strong Fund is intended to work as a standalone Crown corporation, once legislation for that is introduced and enacted. In the interim, according to the release from Carney’s office, the fund will be incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canada Development Investment Corp., with its own dedicated board of directors and CEO.
Karniol-Tambor joined Bridgewater in 2006 and previously held roles including head of investment research and co-CIO for sustainability. She became the firm’s co-CIO in 2023. It was not immediately known if Bridgewater would name another co-CIO following Karniol-Tambour’s departure.
She holds a bachelors of arts degree from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.