Canadian bankers making the pilgrimage to China to see if the country's sovereign wealth fund wants to invest in a deal will have a new man to deal with after the country's huge sovereign wealth fund named a new chief investment officer.
China Investment Corp., the $300-billion wealth fund, named Li Keping as CIO, replacing Gao Xiqing, Reuters reports.
Whenever there's a big deal on the table, such as the potential acquisition of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Canadian bankers start making the trek to China to try to interest the country in participating, and that means dealing with CIC.
CIC has strong ties to Canada, having made a very successful investment in Teck Resources, and opening its first foreign office in Toronto. The wealth fund manager loves Canada, Mr. Gao told the Globe's Tara Perkins in an interview last year.
Reuters said that Mr. Gao will stay on as president, but Mr. Li is likely to replace him in that role as well.
Mr. Li has a background in the pension and wealth management industry in China, having been director of the investment department for the National Council for Social Security Fund. He has a bachelor's degree in economics rom Peking University, received in 1982.