Charles Émond named CDPQ’s new President & CEO

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By Ted Liu

The board of directors of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has appointed Charles Émond as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective February 1, 2020.

Émond is currently Executive Vice-President, Québec, Private Equity and Strategic Planning at CDPQ, which he joined in February 2019.

Prior to joining CDQP, Émond worked for nearly 20 years at Scotia Bank and Scotia Capital, where he held the positions of Executive Vice-President, Financial Affairs, Head of Canadian Corporate Banking and Global Head, Investment Banking and Capital Markets.

Émond is a graduate of HEC Montréal and holds the CPA, CA and Chartered Business Valuator (CBV) designations.

Émond will continue to lead the Québec, Private Equity and Strategic Planning functions until a successor is announced.

Émond succeeds Michael Sabia who announced resignation following 14 years as CDPQ’s President and Chief Executive Officer in November 2019, effective February 2020.

photo credit: CDPQ

News Release

Charles Émond is appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

MONTRÉAL, JANUARY 29, 2020

Following a thorough and rigorous selection process, the Board of Directors of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has appointed Charles Émond as President and Chief Executive Officer. In accordance with CDPQ’s incorporating act, the appointment was made by CDPQ’s Board of Directors and approved by the Government of Québec today. His appointment takes effect on February 1, 2020.

Charles Émond is currently Executive Vice-President, Québec, Private Equity and Strategic Planning at CDPQ, which he joined in February 2019 after nearly 20 years at Scotia Bank. In addition to leading the Québec investment strategy, he heads the Private Equity (Québec and International) teams, which include direct and indirect investments in nearly 800 companies. He also leads CDPQ’s annual strategic planning process.

When he left Scotia Bank, he was based in Toronto as Global Head, Investment Banking and Capital Markets, and Head of Canadian Corporate Banking. In these roles, he oversaw a team of over 500 professionals in Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. At the same time, he continued to lead Scotia Capital’s Québec activities, serving as the bank’s most senior representative to world-class companies and their various stakeholders. See Charles Émond’s complete biographical notes

“For over 25 years, Charles has acquired extensive international experience and a deep understanding of Québec’s companies and business community. As a leader, he is recognized for his sound judgment, his technical and managerial abilities and for his communications skills. A seasoned negotiator, Charles has demonstrated throughout his career that he can successfully conclude complex and major projects by mobilizing his teams and managing stakeholder relationships with a long-term perspective. This rich combination of experience and skills led to the Board’s decision,” said Robert Tessier, CDPQ’s Chairman of the Board.

“I am very pleased that he has agreed to steer CDPQ through the next stage of its evolution and continue building an organization that is even more solid and resilient,” he added.

“Leading CDPQ is a challenge that I am incredibly proud and greatly humbled to accept. I also accept it with confidence, because I know I can count on the expertise and immense talent of our teams. CDPQ is a unique institution with a distinctive signature, as it plays a key role in our economy and exports its investment know-how around the world, to the benefit of Quebecers,” said Charles Émond. “I want to continue building this organization to firmly position it to face the major challenges of our time, including developing our economy for tomorrow and investing sustainably while generating returns for our depositors in the future.”

“On behalf of my colleagues on the Board of Directors and all CDPQ employees, I would like to once again thank Michael Sabia for his vision and profound dedication, which have made CDPQ what it is today,” concluded Mr. Tessier.

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