Catching Up with Eduard van Gelderen, New Head of Research at FCLTGlobal
FCLTGlobal, a non-profit that aims to help institutional investors drive long-term value creation named Eduard van Gelderen, former CIO of Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investments, as head of research.
Van Gelderen had joined PSP in 2018 and department in October.
A number of global institutional investors are members of FCLTGlobal, including APG, BlackRock, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, PSP Investments, Future Fund, and many of the largest asset owners in the world.
“We are delighted to welcome Eduard as our new Head of Research. His extensive leadership experience, deep understanding of long-term investment strategy, and proven track record in shaping sustainable investment practices will be instrumental in advancing our research agenda,” said Sarah Keohane Williamson, CEO of FCLTGlobal in a statement.
As an organization, FCLTGlobal seeks to promote long-term investing. According to the nonprofit’s website, 90% of executives said that long-term horizons would improve investment performance. Despite this, 50% of executives said that they would delay value-creating projects if it meant missing quarterly earnings targets.
Prior to his role at PSP Investments, van Gelderen was a senior managing director at the University of California and was was previously CEO of Dutch pension manager APG. He is currently chair of the Alternative Investment Management Association Global Investor Board.
Van Gelderen holds a master’s degree in quantitative finance from Erasmus University Rotterdam and a post-graduate degree in asset liability management from Maastricht University. He is a PhD candidate at the international School of Management in Paris.
Last week, FCLTGlobal put out a press release announcing the appointment of Eduard van Gelderen as the Head of Research:
Boston, MA – FCLTGlobal, a non-profit organization that advocates for a longer-term focus in business and investment decision-making, announced today that it has appointed Eduard van Gelderen as Head of Research, effective 15 December 2024.
In this role, van Gelderen will shape FCLTGlobal’s long-term research agenda and define its goals, work with members and staff to advance that agenda, and produce research and communications that extend the organization’s reach and impact.
van Gelderen was most recently Chief Investment Officer of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) from 2018 to 2024, where he was responsible for PSP Investments’ total fund portfolio and long-term investment strategy. He also headed the sustainable investment, public policy, global government affairs, and strategic communications functions of PSP Investments.
Sarah Keohane Williamson, CEO of FCLTGlobal, said, “We are delighted to welcome Eduard as our new Head of Research. His extensive leadership experience, deep understanding of long-term investment strategy, and proven track record in shaping sustainable investment practices will be instrumental in advancing our research agenda. We look forward to leveraging his expertise to further FCLTGlobal’s mission.”
From 2014 to 2017, van Gelderen was CEO of the Dutch financial service provider APG Asset Management, after serving as Chief Investment Officer from 2010-2014. Previously, he served as Deputy Chief Investment Officer of ING Investment Management.
Over the past two decades, van Gelderen has published numerous articles and academic papers on fund management and strategy; his work has been published in the Dutch Journal of Investment Analysts, International Investor, ISM Journal of International Business, Investment & Pensions Europe, Journal of Financial Transformation, and Journal of Portfolio Management, among others.
van Gelderen is a certified financial risk manager and a chartered financial analyst and has served on several investment advisory boards; he is the Founder and Chair of the AIMA Global Investors Board. He holds a master’s degree in quantitative finance from Erasmus University Rotterdam and a post-graduate degree in asset liability management from Maastricht University in Limburg. He is currently a PhD candidate at the International School of Management in Paris.
Visit www.fcltglobal.org to learn more.
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About FCLTGlobal
FCLTGlobal’s mission is to focus capital on the long term to support a sustainable and prosperous economy. We are a non-profit organization that develops actionable research and tools to drive long-term value creation for savers and communities. Our members are leading companies and institutional investors. Visit www.fcltglobal.org to learn more.
This afternoon I caught up with Eduard for a drink downtown to chat and see how he's doing.
He looked great, slimmed down quite a bit and was in good spirits.
Eduard is a class act, a real leader with high IQ and EQ and in this business, it's rare to have both.
We didn't dwell too much on what happened at PSP, only told me is he was very surprised to learn about it.
I think the entire pension community in Canada and around the world was shocked.
I certainly was but nowadays, nothing shocks me.
We discussed events at AIMCo and how political interference flies in the face of the Canadian model.
We both agreed that nothing kills organizational morale as firing your board, CEO and three senior executives and having government bureaucrats manage the fund.
I told him flat out "it makes absolutely no sense" and some of my sources told me Premier Smith has read some of my posts (doubt it but hope she did, not that it will make a difference, the damage is done, nobody in their right mind will go work at AIMCo now).
I also said part of being a pension fund where you need long-term thinking is you also need people with a lot of experience who have been around a while and can make long-term decisions.
When I left PSP in October 2003, the turnover rate was roughly 45%, totally insane, and it wasn't any better when Andre Bourbonnais took over the helm and fired a bunch of people (paying out millions in severance packages).
Sometimes organizational shakeups are needed but sometimes they aren't and only weaken an organization (and if handled wrongly, they kill morale and the culture).
Anyway, enough about PSP, on to Eduard and his new gig at FCLTGlobal.
The headquarters are in Boston but he told me he's not planning to move his young family out of Montreal and for the time being, he will work from here and travel there as needed.
He said he wants to increase the membership geographically to the Middle East and elsewhere and he wants to produce research which isn't academic in nature and can be used by a wider audience.
He also wants to increase the profile of the organization and I told him I'd be more than happy to help as I know about FCLTGlobal but truth is I haven't covered this organization much on this blog over the years (learn about its mission here).
It was founded in 2013 as a joint initiative of CPP Investments (led by Mark D. Wiseman) and McKinsey & Company.
CPP Investments CEO John Graham is the acting chair of the board and it's an impressive board of directors (Chris Ailman, CalSTRS' former CIO is part of it as are many other impressive investors).
Now, I'm not sure what is going on with the CEO search at HOOPP but I'm sure Eduard, Evan Siddall and Marlene Puffer are on the short list.
He didn't tell me anything about that process and whether he was interviewed but did mention HOOPP is a very impressive organization which always did things its way and I agreed.
We also talked about politics and how absurd things have become since the October 7th attack on Israel. We talked about how incumbent governments all over the world are being replaced.
Like I said, Eduard is a rare breed, a real class act, a thoughtful leader, someone with depth and breadth.
I have no doubt he will be a valuable addition to FCLTGlobal as Head of Research and I look forward to covering more of his work there.
Lastly, we did talk about the Canadian model and how it has become somewhat stale as everyone is pretty much doing the same thing and there's very little "innovative" investing nowadays (it's cruise control, manage career risk).
I also mentioned how we can improve governance at Canada's large pension funds and how it's high time we introduce in-depth performance audits but to do this properly, you need knowledgeable people who know how to kick the tires and ask the right questions.
Anyway, fascinating discussion, I'm glad I met up with Eduard for a second time and hope to work with him more closely as he assumes his new role at FCLTGlobal next month.
Below, a deep dive into the renowned Canadian Maple Model with a panel discussion featuring Eduard van Gelderen and other leaders from Canada's top pension funds (January 2024).
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