James Davis is chief investment officer of the OPSEU Pension Trust, one of Canada’s largest pension funds with net assets of more than $27 billion and investment professionals in Toronto, London and Sydney.

Davis joined the OPTrust in 2015. He leads the organization’s investment strategy and oversees its diversified portfolio spanning the globe with capital market, private equity, infrastructure and real estate assets in North America, Europe, developed Asia and emerging markets.

He has more than 30 years of investment, risk management and leadership experience. Prior to joining the OPTrust, he held the role of vice-president of strategy and asset mix and chief economist at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

Davis believes investment outcomes are best achieved when investment strategy is aligned with clearly defined investment objectives. He’s a strong proponent for a total portfolio approach. His main areas of interest include investment strategy and portfolio design, global macro and systematic investing, private market value creation and creating high performing investing teams.

Previous roles include president at FutureTrends Capital Corp. and vice-president and head of global fixed income and currencies at RBC Global Investment Management in Toronto. Before embarking on a career in investments, he worked as a meteorologist with Environment Canada.

In addition to degrees in mathematics and meteorology, Davis holds a master of business administration in finance from Dalhousie University and is a chartered financial analyst.