Justin Lord Promoted as CIO of AIMCo
Alberta Investment Management Corp. has promoted Justin Lord to chief investment officer, choosing an internal candidate with a background in public equities to lead a revamped investing mandate.
Mr. Lord starts his new role immediately and will be based in Alberta, after serving as AIMCo’s global head of public markets since September. The government-owned pension fund manager said Mr. Lord’s appointment followed “an extensive international search.”
Mr. Lord joined AIMCo in 2012 as an equities portfolio manager and rose through the equities team, serving two years as head of public equities.
Last year, he also took on leadership of fixed-income investing and as CIO he will oversee the full AIMCo portfolio, which manages $180-billion for 17 pension, endowment, insurance and government clients in Alberta.
Recent client surveys show higher satisfaction levels that he said reflect the work the new leadership has been doing, as well as its investment results – AIMCo earned a 12.3-per-cent return last year. “I think we’re headed in the right direction,” Mr. Lord said in an interview.
Mr. Lord’s promotion fills a key role in AIMCo’s leadership team, which has undergone major change over the past year and is led by interim chief executive officer Ray Gilmour.
“Justin has proven he has the experience, expertise and investment acumen to head this critical function,” Mr. Gilmour said in a statement. “He is a trusted partner to our clients and an excellent leader to our investment teams, and I am pleased AIMCo has the deep bench strength to tap for this role.”
AIMCo’s last CIO was Marlene Puffer, who left in September after less than two years in charge of the pension fund manager’s investment teams. The CIO’s duties were split in two at the time, with Mr. Lord taking on responsibility for equities and fixed income, and David Scudellari in charge of private assets until he left AIMCo in February.
Peter Teti, who oversaw private assets on an interim basis since then while leading AIMCo’s private equity group, has been appointed global head of private assets, reporting to Mr. Lord.
“I’ll be starting off with a deep dive across parts of the portfolio that perhaps I’ve been less involved in, across private assets,” Mr. Lord said.
After Alberta’s government subsequently overhauled AIMCo’s senior leadership and board last year in November, installing Mr. Gilmour as interim CEO, provincial Finance Minister Nate Horner told The Globe and Mail that choosing a new CIO would be “the first order of business” to set a new course for the pension fund manager.
AIMCo has also hired John Walsh as chief legal officer and promoted Janice Guzzo to chief human resources officer earlier this year. And it added former CIO Sandra Lau to its board of directors in June.
Mr. Lord said AIMCo’s investment operations have evolved in recent years, “and the last year in particular, working very closely together across asset classes.”
“I would see a continuation of that and, as a group, those changes or pivots will seem quite natural,” he added. His plans include “nothing drastic, to be quite honest.”
With political and trade tensions top of mind for AIMCo’s clients, Mr. Lord said he expects AIMCo to “be risk and return-focused” and “location agnostic” in choosing where to invest.
And as the federal government promises investments in infrastructure, energy projects and defence, while Alberta’s leaders push for greater economic sovereignty, AIMCo and other large Canadian pension funds could have new chances to invest domestically.
“From a Canadian perspective, should that opportunity set be competitive on a global scale, we’d be delighted to take a look at those opportunities,” Mr. Lord said.
Kevin Orland of Bloomberg also reports Justin Lord promoted as CIO of AIMCo:
Alberta Investment Management Corp. promoted Justin Lord to chief investment officer as the provincial pension manager revamps its leadership following a government shakeup.
Lord joined Aimco in 2012 and has previously overseen the company’s equities and fixed income teams, the Edmonton-based money manager said Friday. Lord started his career at New Brunswick Investment Management Corp. in 2005.
The promotion comes amid a tumultuous stretch for Aimco, which manages about $180 billion of pension money and other capital. Lord’s predecessor, Marlene Puffer, left the firm last September, several weeks before the provincial government stunned staff by firing the entire board, Chief Executive Officer Evan Siddall and other executives.
Alberta’s government accused Siddall and the board of allowing costs to soar as they added new international offices and increased staff. Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was named Aimco’s chair, and it’s currently operating under an interim CEO, Ray Gilmour.
Luke Juricic of Investing.com also reports Justin Lord appointed as new CIO at Alberta Investment Management:
Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) has named Justin Lord as its new Chief Investment Officer, effective immediately, following an extensive international search.
Lord, who joined AIMCo in 2012, previously served as Senior Executive Managing Director and Global Head of Public Markets, where he oversaw the organization’s public equities and fixed income teams.
"Justin has proven he has the experience, expertise and investment acumen to head this critical function," said Ray Gilmour, Interim Chief Executive Officer at AIMCo. "He is a trusted partner to our clients and an excellent leader to our investment teams, and I am pleased AIMCo has the deep bench strength to tap for this role."
Lord brings 20 years of industry experience to the position, having started his career at the New Brunswick Investment Management Corporation in 2005. He holds a BBA with a major in Finance from the University of New Brunswick and is a CFA Charterholder. He will continue to be based in Alberta.
"I am proud to work on behalf of AIMCo’s clients and to lead such a world-class investment team," said Lord. "I know that together we share the same deep commitment to successfully executing our investment strategy and to delivering on our mandate."
AIMCo is one of Canada’s largest institutional investment managers, with more than C$179.6 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2024. The organization invests globally for pension, endowment, insurance, and government funds in Alberta, with offices in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, London, and Luxembourg.
Earlier today, AIMCo issued a press release on the new CIO appointment:
Edmonton, July 11, 2025 –Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) today announced that Justin Lord will be its new Chief Investment Officer (CIO), effective immediately. The appointment follows an extensive international search.
Mr. Lord, who joined AIMCo in 2012, was promoted to the CIO role. Prior to this appointment, he held several key roles at AIMCo, including Senior Executive Managing Director, Global Head of Public Markets, overseeing AIMCo’s public equities and fixed income teams.
“Justin has proven he has the experience, expertise and investment acumen to head this critical function,” said Ray Gilmour, Interim Chief Executive Officer, AIMCo. “He is a trusted partner to our clients and an excellent leader to our investment teams, and I am pleased AIMCo has the deep bench strength to tap for this role.”
Mr. Lord brings 20 years of experience to this role, beginning his career at the New Brunswick Investment Management Corporation in 2005. Mr. Lord holds a BBA with a major in Finance from the University of New Brunswick and is a CFA Charterholder. He will continue to be based in Alberta.
“I am proud to work on behalf of AIMCo’s clients and to lead such a world-class investment team,” said Mr. Lord. “I know that together we share the same deep commitment to successfully executing our investment strategy and to delivering on our mandate.”
About Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo)
AIMCo is one of Canada’s largest and most diversified institutional investment managers with more than C$179.6 billion of assets under management as at December 31, 2024. AIMCo invests globally on behalf of pension, endowment, insurance, and government funds in the Province of Alberta. With offices in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, London, and Luxembourg, our more than 200 investment professionals bring deep expertise in a range of sectors, geographies, and industries.
Alright, it's Friday, I'll keep this short and sweet.
First, congratulations to Justin Lord, AIMCo's new CIO, wish him much success.
Next, good move on the part of AIMCo's board of directors to promote Justin Lord to the position of CIO.
I say board of directors and not interim CEO Ray Gilmour because it's they who ultimately decided who should be the next CIO and they wisely chose to go in-house and promote someone from within the organization than bring someone from outside (4 out of 5 times that ends up being a disaster).
The other reason why this was a smart move was because the clients know him, trust him and like him (no doubt the Board consulted them).
Moreover, employees know him and like him and that is probably even more important than the clients because after the tumultuous year AIMCo had, morale was low and this will help shore it up.
Don't know much about Justin Lord but I remember when he was promoted to run Public Markets, I thought he earned it just based on his track record looking at the long-term performance.
He has managed public equities and fixed income and even though he doesn't have direct private markets experience, he can lean on Peter Teti, Senior Executive Managing Director, Global Head of Private Assets and Ben Hawkings, Executive Managing Director, Global Head of Infrastructure, Renewable Resources and Energy Transition.
Moreover, he has a great investment team reporting to him:
So I'm not worried if Justin Lord doesn't have private markets experience, he'll learn fast.
In my opinion, it's more important to have solid public markets experience when you're a CIO of a major pension fund because that's the liquid foundations of investing 101, you can pick up private markets experience and lean on your team to understand what is going on there.
With this move, everyone at AIMCo can breathe easier and focus on investing.
Next, when will they replace interim CEO Ray Gilmour?
I don't know when this will happen. The Globe and Mail recently reported that Mr. Gilmour could earn millions in bonus after the overhaul:
Mr. Gilmour was paid $241,869 in less than five months on the job, to March 31, according to AIMCo’s annual report released Friday. That included $210,796 in base salary, plus pension contributions and other pay. When prorated for a full fiscal year, Mr. Gilmour could be paid an annual base salary of more than $500,000.
Mr. Gilmour is also part of AIMCo’s corporate incentive plan, which sets his base target for bonus pay at 355 per cent of his salary, or about $1.78-million, according to a copy of his employment contract obtained by The Globe and Mail under an access to information request.
However, the agreement says that Mr. Gilmour can earn a maximum of 2.5 times that incentive target, and it has been customary for previous AIMCo CEOs to earn approximately 1.75 times the target payment for good performance. At that level, Mr. Gilmour would earn about $3.1-million in incentive pay, for total compensation of at least $3.6-million.
AIMCo’s annual report does not list any incentive payments to Mr. Gilmour as of March 31. His base salary is redacted in the documents released to The Globe.
“Our compensation structure is based on market salaries in similar Canadian institutional investment organizations, with executive compensation and associated terms discussed and validated by the Board’s independent compensation adviser,” AIMCo spokesperson Sabrina Bhangoo said in an e-mailed statement.
Look, Mr Gilmour deserves to be paid for the job he's doing but $3.6 million for someone who was previously a senior civil servant seems a bit much to me.
I also don't like the title "interim CEO", either make him the permanent CEO (not sure how clients and employees would feel about that) or move fast to find a new permanent CEO.
There are excellent internal and external candidates for this top job and once a new CEO is in place, they can turn the page on the brouhaha from the "purge".
The only thing I find weird is they appointed a CIO before finding a CEO and that's not how it typically works unless of course Mr. Gilmour will become permanent or they have an internal candidate in mind for the CEO position (odds are high on both).
Alright, a lot to cover in markets but it will have to wait till next Friday.
Once again, I congratulate Justin Lord and wish and the entire investment team at AIMCo much success.
Below, CNBC's "Closing Bell" team discusses what may be next for markets after hitting record highs with Paul Ciana, Bank of America’s head of FICC and equity technical research.
Also, CNBC's "Closing Bell" team discusses what to watch in the markets with Avery Sheffield, co-founder, CIO and senior portfolio manager at VantageRock, a long/short equity hedge fund at Rockefeller Asset Management.
Third, the CNBC Investment Committee debate the resiliency of the market as stocks continue climbing higher.
Lastly, Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio joins David Rubenstein to discuss his new book How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle.
Honestly, I saw it in the book store but decided not to buy it because the font was too small and it was too hard (dense) to read. Maybe I'll go back and read it more carefully and see if it's worth buying.
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