The International Centre for Pension Management is appointing Sebastien Betermier as its next executive director.
Betermier, who is currently an associate professor of finance at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University, will succeed Rob Bauer, professor of finance at the School of Business and Economics at Maastricht University, who’ll be stepping down from the role at the end of 2022.
“Though Rob Bauer leaves big shoes to fill, we know Sebastien is ideally suited to build further on the value that ICPM already brings to its global network of asset owners,” said Michelle Ostermann, vice-chair of the ICPM board, in a press release.
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In the role, Betermier will be tasked with leveraging the ICPM’s global network of pension plans and other institutional investors, which collectively manage assets worth about $8 trillion, to provide increasing value to members on pensions, long-term investments and governance issues. He’ll also be responsible for facilitating collaboration between the ICPM’s member institutions through the implementation of a new, technology-driven member engagement strategy.
“I am excited to lead ICPM as it further enhances mutually beneficial collaboration among the impressive set of pension investors comprising this global network,” said Betermier in the release.
Well-known to institutional investors for his work identifying the unique features of the Canadian pension model, Betermier has published numerous articles on asset allocation, the risk-return relationship and the design of sustainable pension systems in numerous high-profile academic journals.
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Outside of academia, he’s written articles for publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Bloomberg. He’s also an academic advisor to the Bank of Canada and founded the McGill International Portfolio Challenge, the world’s largest buy-side competition focused on sustainability challenges for pension funds and other institutional investors.
In April, he delivered an academic keynote address on the Canadian pension model at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2022 Global Investment Conference.