CPE News (9/9/2020) – Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) has promoted Edwin D. Cass, most recently Global Head of Real Assets, as CPP Investments’ first dedicated Chief Investment Officer (CIO).
Cass will work closely with CEO Mark Machin, the Chief Financial and Risk Officer and investment department leaders to strengthen investment governance even further with the aim of generating greater performance gains. He will continue to report to Machin.
Deborah Orida, most recently Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Active Equities, has been named Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Real Assets. Orida will be responsible for the Global Real Assets program, which encompasses Energy & Resources, Infrastructure, Power & Renewables, Real Estate and Portfolio Value Creation.
photo credit: CPP Investments
News Release
CPP Investments Announces Senior Executive Appointments
Toronto, Canada (September 9, 2020) – Today, Mark Machin, President & Chief Executive Officer of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), announced the following senior executive changes and appointments, effective immediately:
Edwin Cass is appointed as CPP Investments’ first dedicated Chief Investment Officer (CIO). In this newly created role, Ed will work closely with the CEO, the Chief Financial and Risk Officer and investment department leaders to strengthen the organization’s investment governance even further with the aim of generating greater performance gains. He will continue to report to the CEO. Ed joined CPP Investments in 2008 and held various positions within Public Markets. He was also the organization’s Chief Investment Strategist from 2014-2017 and was most recently Global Head of Real Assets. With more than 25 years of investment experience, Ed previously held senior positions at Fortress Management Group, Deutsche Bank Canada and TD Securities. Ed holds a BS (Hons) in Theoretical Physics from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School.
Deborah Orida is appointed Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Real Assets, where she will be responsible for the Global Real Assets program, which encompasses Energy & Resources, Infrastructure, Power & Renewables, Real Estate and Portfolio Value Creation. Deborah was most recently Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Active Equities. She joined CPP Investments in 2009 and has held senior leadership roles including Managing Director, Head of Private Equity Asia, which she led after establishing the Relationship Investments Asia portfolio from Hong Kong. With more than 25 years of investment experience, Deborah spent nine years at Goldman Sachs in New York and Toronto. Deborah holds an LLB and BA from Queen’s University, Canada and an MBA from The Wharton School, at the University of Pennsylvania.
“Our investment governance structure has served CPP Investments well for many years. However, the Fund is on a trajectory to grow to $1 trillion by 2033. The time is right in CPP Investments’ evolution to create a dedicated, fit-for-purpose, Chief Investment Officer role,” said Mark Machin, President & CEO, CPP Investments. “Ed is very well positioned for this role, with his considerable investment expertise, enterprise-wide knowledge and global experience. The appointment of Deborah as Global Head of Real Assets continues to demonstrate CPP Investments’ deep bench strength of proven investment leaders.”
The CIO role was created to effectively address the anticipated size and scale of CPP Investments by 2025 and beyond. As CIO, Ed is responsible for total Fund management, including capital allocation between investment programs, long-term investment department signals, medium- and near-term portfolio guidance and balance sheet management. Investment department leaders will continue to be responsible for the execution of portfolio strategy for their respective investment departments.
The new Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Active Equities will be announced in due course after an internal selection process.
About Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments™) is a professional investment management organization that invests around the world in the best interests of the more than 20 million contributors and beneficiaries of the Canada Pension Plan. In order to build diversified portfolios of assets, investments in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income are made by CPP Investments. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. At June 30, 2020, the Fund totalled $434.4 billion. For more information, please visit www.cppinvestments.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.