Alberta fires entire AIMCo board, relieves CEO of duties, due to ‘significant’ cost increases

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The Alberta government has jettisoned the entire board of Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo), as well as CEO Evan Siddall, saying the investment manager of pensions, government and endowment funds in the province has seen “significant” increases in operating costs and management fees in recent years “without a corresponding return on investment.”

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From 2019 to 2023, AIMCo’s third-party management fees have increased by 96 per cent, the number of employees increased by 29 per cent and salary wage and benefit costs increased by 71 per cent, the government said in a news release Thursday, adding that the costs increased even though AIMCo managed a smaller percentage of funds internally during that time.

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The release did not mention Siddall, the CEO, but Alberta’s minister of treasury board and finance confirmed in a media scrum that he is also gone.

“I did relieve the CEO of his duties,” Nate Horner told reporters Thursday afternoon. He said the government has been monitoring the situation at AIMCo “with concern” for some time and that a meeting on Wednesday evening showed that costs were continuing to increase.

“It seemed like it needed a reset and that’s what we did today,” he said.

The news release said Alberta’s government plans to appoint a new board chair within 30 days. In the interim, Horner has been appointed the sole director and chair for AIMCo. All previous board member appointments have been “rescinded” and a new board is to be established after a permanent chair is named, according to the release.

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The province announced Friday that it was appointing long-serving bureaucrat Ray Gilmour as interim chief executive of the pension fund manager.

Gilmour, who currently serves as deputy minister of the executive council, will work to “stabilize operations and ensure smooth operations” at AIMCo while a permanent CEO is chosen, the province said.

“AIMCo’s work has direct consequences for Albertans,” Horner said in the statement. “While they have achieved returns for their clients, we are acting to bring a renewed focus on the best possible returns and low operating costs.”

Prominent members of AIMCo’s board included Jim Keohane, a pension veteran and former CEO of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) and Bob Dhillon, founder and CEO of Calgary-based Mainstreet Equity Corp.

In another, albeit smaller, shakeup at the pension manager in September, chief investment officer Marlene Puffer left after less than two years on the job. There is no known connection between her departure and the board and CEO purge on Thursday.

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Although AIMCo’s board is appointed by the Alberta government, previous executives and directors have said there are measures in place to give the investment manager independence when it comes to investment decisions for clients.

Pension clients include the province’s teachers, judges and public service. AIMCo also manages investments for government funds and for endowments. 

In 2020, AIMCo lost a stunning $2.1 billion on a volatility investing strategy. The board ordered a review and pledged to implement a series of recommendations. The CEO at the time of the losses, Kevin Uebelein, left the pension manager in the summer of 2021 and Siddall was brought on board. 

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