On AIMCo's Latest DEI Shakeup
Alberta Investment Management Corp. eliminated 19 jobs in non-investment areas, months after the government of the province ordered changes at the pension fund manager and fired its chief executive and the board.
The employee responsible for AIMCo’s diversity, equity and inclusion program is one of the 19, according to people familiar with the matter.
A spokesperson for the firm confirmed the job cuts and said the move hasn’t lessened AIMCo’s commitment to “an equitable and inclusive workplace.”
“All AIMCo colleagues will continue to share the responsibility and accountability for ensuring AIMCo remains diverse, inclusive, innovative and motivating, in keeping with our corporate objectives and core values,” spokeswoman Carolyn Quick said by email.
Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner stunned AIMCo executives on Nov. 7 by firing chief executive Evan Siddall, other senior executives and the entire board of directors, saying they had allowed expenses to soar to unacceptable levels. The government named Ray Gilmour as interim CEO and installed Stephen Harper, the former Canadian prime minister, as chair.
AIMCo’s investment team, which manages about $169 billion, wasn’t affected by the 19 job cuts.
Jack Farrell of the Canadian Press also reports Alberta pension manager fires 19 employees, including DEI program lead:
Alberta’s public pension manager has laid off 19 employees and cut their positions, including the role of running its diversity, equity and inclusion program.
The Alberta Investment Management Corporation says the company remains committed to an equitable and inclusive workplace.
A company spokesperson declined to say what other specific jobs were cut but says the 19 positions were in non-investment roles.
The company’s board of directors and chief executive officer were fired in November by Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner, who appointed former prime minister Stephen Harper as board chair.
Horner said at the time that AIMCo’s rising costs, including its number of employees, were unacceptable when compared with its annual investment performance.
AIMCo has about 600 employees with offices in Canada, the United States, Europe and Singapore.
Alright, it's Tuesday, bear with me as I dissect this "big news" out of AIMCo.
It shows you how pathetic things have gotten at AIMCo that such trivial news leaks out and reporters run with it.
The Head of DEI and 18 other employees in non-investment roles were fired and this makes national headlines?
Let me back up and give you my unbridled thoughts.
When the Government of Alberta named Ray Gilmour, a career bureaucrat as interim CEO, they probably quietly told him to cut some fat while he's there.
So they're starting with the low-hanging fruit, non-investment professionals (for now) and chopping off anything that smells of woke politics.
Am I impressed? Not really. Firing people is easy, trust me, I've seen my fair share of restructuring at banks and pension funds in my short career and experienced the sting of being fired.
The way it typically works however is a bit different.
Typically, the Board hires a CEO who then starts firing senior managers to place his or her people in there and then gives the new managers marching orders to cut a percentage of their workforce.
And they typically hire McKinsey, BCG or some other consultants to produce a report to justify these actions and appease their Board.
Here, we have a bureaucrat who is interim CEO, he doesn't really know what each investment department is doing, who are the outperformers and who are the underperformers and how to properly gauge their value add, so what he does is go after easy "soft" targets, non-investment professionals.
Because you know, the Head of DEI at AIMCo was making big bucks (insert roll eyes here).
I'm being facetious, of course, but the whole thing is so stupid and trivial, it makes AIMCo look bad for no reason.
Don't get me wrong, there might be legitimate reasons to cut the Head of DEI and those 18 other non-investment roles, but the way they are going about this is so wrong on so many levels.
The first order of business at AIMCo should be to appoint the new CEO.
Everything else takes a back seat until they name someone to replace Evan Siddall.
That new CEO is then responsible to hire senior managers or work with existing ones and it's up to them to determine where they need to cut first and where to focus their attention.
And the new CEO will report to AIMCo's Board and will be held accountable for results.
Importantly, you want someone competent at the helm making right decisions and not the Government of Alberta making decisions via their interim CEO.
That's just ridiculous.
From a moral standpoint, I think DEI is extremely important and I'd give most of Canada's large pension investment managers a decent grade on DEI initiatives, but there's no question in my mind that AIMCo was way ahead of the pack in this regard.
That was due to the former CEO, Evan Siddall, who took DEI and all it encompassed very seriously.
The fact that he has Parkinson's Disease and is an advocate for research and awareness undoubtedly shaped his vision of DEI at AIMCo.
Under Evan, DEI was sown into the moral fabric at AIMCo and all senior managers took it seriously.
Will this continue now that he's gone and his Head of DEI was fired?
My honest answer is I certainly hope so but I'm skeptical and that will hurt morale of employees even more.
Now, I realize DEI isn't everyone's cup of tea and there can definitely be a case made that things went too far to the Left over the last decade, just like responsible investing and some extreme views on the environment.
But at the end of the day, we live in a country called Canada made up of people from different backgrounds and we need to recognize some groups are more vulnerable to discrimination than others.
More importantly, I firmly believe that gender and other diversity is a source of strength for any organization and those that don't take it seriously will lose out because they will be unable to attract the best talent to their workplace.
Now, do we need a Head of DEI at each of our large pension investment managers? I'm not sure, it all depends on whether these people truly add value. If they do, then they are earning their keep.
The same goes for all roles, investment and non-investment.
In my brutal world, either I make money or die, it's that simple, no big fat bonus awaits me at the end of the year if I beat some benchmark.
Every day I wake up, help mommy take care of my child and then start reading furiously, first macro news, then micro and company specific news and chat with friends who are equally keen on markets.
I love it, don't answer to anyone except Miss Market and sometimes she's nice to me, most of the times she's not and I have to figure out ways to beat her at her own game.
But in the world of large pensions and other Crown corporations it's not like that, these organizations have a social responsibility to have a diverse workplace, one that reflects the composition of our country.
Sure, they can ignore DEI completely but to their detriment.
I'm not saying AIMCo is doing this, they are on record stating they will continue taking diversity, equity and inclusion seriously, and I hope they will.
But this wasn't the first order of business at AIMCo and I'm disappointed that their focus is on trivial matters.
Get the right CEO in there, hold them accountable to make tough decisions and add value over the long run.
Reading these articles just annoys me because I feel like AIMCo has no time to waste.
The focus has to be on finding a highly qualified CEO who will build an investment strategy around his or her team and get on with it already.
I know what Trump is doing with DEI in the US. That's politics, we don't need to politicize our pensions.
Let's focus on making money and taking intelligent risks, and enjoying coming into work, the rest is immaterial.
Alright, let me stop there and feed my toddler his milk, something I enjoy doing after a long day.
Below, Paul Hickey, Bespoke Investment Group co-founder, and Kevin Gordon, Charles Schwab senior investment strategist, joins 'Closing Bell Overtime' to talk the day's market action.
Update: Janet French of the CBC reports AIMCo job cuts raise questions about commitment to inclusion, critics say:
Helen Ofosu, a human resources consultant and adjunct psychology professor at Ottawa's Carleton University, says removing leaders in charge of inclusion and diversity sends the message those principles don't matter to the organization.
"That's basically telling people who may be dealing with a disability, being a visibly racialized person, a religious minority — any of those people all of a sudden start to feel like, 'Hmm, what is my place here? Do I matter?' "
It definitely doesn't send the right signal. Read more here.
Also, someone made a good point on LinkedIn, namely, AIMCo is a large fiduciary that needs to keep track of many companies and use its proxy votes to raise concerns. DEI is a serious concern with any investment, public or private, so why get rid of the Head of DEI?
In other news, AIMCo was named one of Canada’s top employers for young people as well as one of Alberta’s top 85 employers:
Edmonton – The Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) is pleased to announce it has been named one of Canada’s Top Employers for Young People as well as one of Alberta’s Top 85 Employers, both distinctions awarded by the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project.
AIMCo was recognized for its fulsome programs to support the professional development of its employees. These include entry-level programs that allow new graduates to gain experience in multiple departments across the organization, and support for all employees to enroll in skills development courses related to their roles. Initiatives such as these reinforce a culture that prioritizes professional development, which in turn drives AIMCo’s overall success. The Canada’s Top 100 Employers project is the largest Canadian editorial endeavour to recognize top-performing workplaces across the country. The project has been running for 25 years and now includes 19 national, regional and special-interest competitions.
For more information about AIMCo’s recognition as a top employer, please click here.
Well, I think we know who deserves the credit for this but he's gone now.
Comments
Post a Comment