AIMCo begins search for de Bever’s successor

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One of Canada's largest pension funds is looking for a new boss.

Alberta Investment Management Corp., known as AIMCo, on Friday said it has officially started its search for chief executive Leo de Bever's successor. Mr. de Bever joined the organization in April 2008.

AIMCo in a statement said it has been "focusing" on succession planning for a number of months, and is now launching a search process "to ensure a new leader is in place to guide the organization into the next phase of its evolution."

Mr. de Bever, 65, will remain at the helm of the $70-billion fund until a new leader is selected. This could take one or two years, he said in an interview, so the board issued the release to prevent speculation as to why a search is underway.

While Mr. de Bever called the board's decision prudent, it "came a bit earlier" than he expected. "I understand why they are thinking that way... I'm 65. So tack on another five years, at that point maybe people would argue that someone younger should be in the seat.

"The world hasn't got the memo yet that 65 is the new 40," he said.

He does, however, believe the board may be announcing the search now because it expects it to be a slow process.

Mr. de Bever will not walk away from AIMCo entirely, the organization said in its statement. He will "continue to contribute to AIMCo's success by way of board representation on a number of portfolio companies and may participate with or advise AIMCo on other initiatives," the press release said.

AIMCo poached Mr. de Bever from Victorian Funds Management Corp., a major pension fund in Australia. He has also served as an executive vice-president at Manulife Financial, a senior vice-president at Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, a chief economist at Nomura Canada, chief economist and vice-president of investment administration at Crown Life Insurance, spent time at Chase Econometrics Canada, and was once a chief forecaster at the Bank of Canada. He was born in the Netherlands.

Mr. de Bever, who is based in Edmonton, said he will probably stay in western Canada.

"I've always had a passion for trying to increase productivity and apply new technologies faster," he said. "There's a lot of that here."

AIMCo's chairman, Charles Baillie, said Mr. de Bever has been "the driving force behind many of our successes."

AIMCo became a Crown corporation in 2008. Prior to that, assets were managed by a division of Alberta Finance and Enterprise. It invests around the world – Mr. de Bever often jumped at global infrastructure projects – on behalf of 28 pension, endowment, and government funds in Alberta. It invests without direction from the government.