(September 9, 2013) – The investment team roster at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan will look very different by the year’s end.
The C$129.5 billion fund appointed five internal staff members to new positions today, all of which will start on October 21, 2013.
Ron Mock, currently senior vice president for fixed income and alternatives, will take over from retiring President/CEO Jim Leech on January 1, 2014. Following Mock’s appointment as president and CEO, he and CIO Neil Petroff undertook a strategic review of the staffing structure. The result, according to the fund, is a chain reaction of job changes within the investment team.
Wayne Kozun, senior vice president for public equities, will take over the fixed income and alternatives portfolios from Ron Mock.
Kozun will be replaced by Michael Wissell, Ontario Teachers’ senior vice president in charge of tactical asset allocation and natural resources. Ziad Hindo, vice president for global opportunities and natural resources, has been promoted to Wissell’s current position.
Mock’s move to the top job opens his seat on the board of Cadillac Fairview, Ontario Teachers’ commercial real estate arm. It will be filled by Senior Vice President Jane Rowe, who will also become chair of the investment division’s credit and counterparty committee.
Rowe’s current position, listed on the Ontario Teachers’ website as senior vice president of private capital and infrastructure, will be split into two. She will retain the private capital side, while vice president Andrew Claerhout has been promoted to lead infrastructure efforts.
Petroff will continue as CIO of this revamped investment group.
“Investment innovation is our edge at Teachers’,” said Leech. “These moves are designed to bolster that competitive advantage through cross-department transfers and promotions at the senior-most levels that bring new viewpoints and perspectives to each asset class. In other words, we expect the status quo to be challenged.”
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