The Alberta Investment Management Corp. is appointing the former head of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. as its next chief executive officer.
The investment manager said Evan Siddall (pictured) will officially start the job on July 1. He’ll succeed Kevin Uebelein, who has been CEO of the AIMCo since Jan. 1, 2015. Uebelein remains the CEO until June 30 and will then support transition initiatives, according to a press release. Last November, Uebelein and the AIMCo board began the process of a leadership transfer after the CEO announced he would step down early.
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In an email to Benefits Canada last November, Dénes Németh, director of corporate communications for the AIMCo, wrote, “This decision is Kevin’s. His natural term ending date is in the not-too-distant future and, accordingly, he believes the board should begin the search for his successor now.”
Siddall stepped down as CEO of the CMHC earlier this month after serving in the role since 2014. Before joining the national housing agency, Siddall was a special advisor to the governor of the Bank of Canada and spent 20 years with investment banking firms in Toronto and New York, including roles as a managing director at the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and as a vice-president and director at BMO Nesbitt Burns. He also served for two years as a senior executive with Irving Oil Ltd.
In 2020, the AIMCo earned a total-fund return of 2.5 per cent net of all fees, on behalf of its clients. Overall, for the one-year period ending Dec. 31, 2020, the AIMCo’s total fund return is 5.4 per cent below that of its benchmark.
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“[The] AIMCo is a long-term investor, in alignment with the objectives of our clients and accordingly, our performance is gauged by investment returns measured in decades, not years,” Uebelein said in a release. “Nevertheless, a year like 2020, where so many asset classes declined in near unison, erasing the typical benefits of well-diversified portfolios, is extremely humbling. [The] AIMCo has demonstrated complete transparency regarding investment performance in 2020. We undertook a comprehensive review of risk management and believe we’re well-positioned going forward.”