IMCO Restructures its Leadership, CIO to Depart in New Year
The Investment Management Corp. of Ontario (IMCO) is moving away from a single chief investment officer model as Rossitsa Stoyanova prepares to leave the role in January 2027.
IMCO plans to distribute her responsibilities among three senior investment executives, according to a press release. Rather than appoint a direct successor, the fund will divide responsibilities previously held by the CIO across its total portfolio, private markets and public equities functions.
Nick Chamie, currently senior managing director of total portfolio and capital markets and chief strategist, will become executive managing director of total portfolio. Craig Ferguson, senior managing director and head of private equity and global credit, will become executive managing director of private markets, while Angus Botterell, senior managing director and head of public equities, will become executive managing director of public equities.
All three will report directly to President and Chief Executive Officer Bert Clark and join IMCO’s senior executive team.
Stoyanova, who has served as CIO since September 2021, will remain in the role through January to oversee the transition before becoming a special advisor to IMCO. The organization said she has decided to pursue her “next professional chapter.”
In the release, Clark said Stoyanova has played a pivotal role in strengthening IMCO’s investment platform and helping shape the organization. “We are grateful for her many contributions and pleased that she will continue to support the organization during this important transition,” he said.
Stoyanova joined IMCO from CPP Investments, where she held several senior roles across the total portfolio, including managing director and head of portfolio design and construction, with responsibility for portfolio design, risk appetite and allocation. Before joining CPP Investments, she worked at GE Energy Financial Services and Deloitte & Touche.
During her tenure, IMCO continued to build out a more integrated investment platform combining asset-class investing with total portfolio asset mix, liquidity and risk management. The organization also expanded its internal investment capabilities and strategic partnerships across public and private markets.
IMCO said the new leadership structure reflects the growing scale and complexity of its investment platform and is intended to create greater focus across key investment disciplines while promoting senior talent from within.
“These appointments are a natural progression of our strategy,” Clark said. “We have deliberately built a strong investment team, and promoting outstanding leaders from within strengthens our culture, deepens collaboration and increases organizational resilience.”
IMCO manages C$90.7 billion on behalf of Ontario public-sector clients and provides investment management services, including portfolio construction, access to public and private asset classes and risk management.
Benefits Canada also reports IMCO restructuring investment leadership following CIO’s departure:
Rossitsa Stoyanova is leaving the Investment Management Corp. of Ontario as chief investment officer, effective January 2027.
She will become a special advisor to the investment organization after transitioning from the CIO role. In response, the IMCO will evolve the CIO role to a broader investment leadership function and make several leadership structure changes.
Nick Chamie will become executive managing director of total portfolio, while Craig Ferguson will become executive managing director of private markets and Angus Botterell will be named executive managing director of public equities. All three will join the senior executive team at the investment organization and report directly to president and chief executive officer Bert Clark.
The leadership changes reflect the growing scale and complexity of the IMCO’s investment platform, according to a press release.
“Rossitsa has played a pivotal role in strengthening our investment platform and helping shape the organization we are today,” Clark said in the release. “We are grateful for her many contributions and pleased that she will continue to support the organization during this important transition.”
IMCO announced the investment leadership appointments back in August:
Expanded leadership structure reinforces continuity, deepens investment expertise and positions IMCO to deliver long-term value for clients
TORONTO (August 7, 2026) – The Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (“IMCO”) today announced changes to its investment leadership team following Chief Investment Officer Rossitsa Stoyanova's decision to pursue her next professional chapter.
Stoyanova will remain Chief Investment Officer through January 2027 to ensure a seamless transition before becoming Special Advisor to IMCO.
IMCO will use the transition to evolve the Chief Investment Officer role into a broader investment leadership function. Accountabilities that previously sat with one executive will be distributed across senior leaders with complementary expertise, strengthening execution across IMCO’s multi-client platform and creating growth opportunities for proven internal talent.
"Rossitsa has played a pivotal role in strengthening our investment platform and helping shape the organization we are today,” said Bert Clark, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are grateful for her many contributions and pleased that she will continue to support the organization during this important transition."
Effective January 2027:
- Nick Chamie, currently Senior Managing Director, Total Portfolio and Capital Markets and Chief Strategist will become Executive Managing Director, Total Portfolio.
- Craig Ferguson, currently Senior Managing Director, Head of Private Equity and Global Credit will become Executive Managing Director, Private Markets.
- Angus Botterell, currently Senior Managing Director, Head of Public Equities will become Executive Managing Director, Public Equities.
Each will report directly to the President and CEO and join IMCO's Senior Executive Team.
The new structure reflects the growing scale and complexity of IMCO’s investment platform, creates greater focus across key disciplines and reinforces IMCO’s commitment to developing exceptional leaders from within.
“These appointments are a natural progression of our strategy,” said Clark. “We have deliberately built a strong investment team, and promoting outstanding leaders from within strengthens our culture, deepens collaboration and increases organizational resilience. Most importantly, it positions us to deliver even stronger long-term outcomes for our clients.”
The appointments build on IMCO’s differentiated investment philosophy, which emphasizes broad diversification, disciplined risk and liquidity management, cost-effective implementation and a long-term investment horizon. Managing client portfolios holistically helps strengthen portfolio resilience and efficiency while positioning clients to capture long-term opportunities.
"Our strategy has never depended on any one individual," added Clark. "It depends on building enduring institutional capability. The depth of talent we have developed gives us tremendous confidence in the future and ensures continuity for our clients as we continue to grow."
About IMCO
The Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (“IMCO”) manages $90.7 billion of assets on behalf of its clients. Designed exclusively to drive better investment outcomes for Ontario's broader public sector, IMCO operates under an independent, not-for-profit, cost recovery structure. We provide leading investment management services, including portfolio construction advice, better access to a diverse range of asset classes and sophisticated risk management capabilities. As one of Canada's largest institutional investors, we invest around the world and execute large transactions efficiently. Our scale gives clients access to a well-diversified global portfolio, including sought-after private and alternative asset classes. Follow us on LinkedIn and X @imcoinvest.
Alright, someone emailed me inconspicuously this morning to let me know about the leadership restructuring that took place at IMCO.
My apologies; this story came out in early August, and I totally missed it.
I must admit, I don't track IMCO closely, but I should have lumped this with my discussion on senior departures at HOOPP and CPP Investments a month ago.
Also, to be brutally honest, my attention these days is almost exclusively on markets, a lot less on pensions.
So, my bad for not covering events at IMCO last month; let me share my thoughts quickly.
First, I am sad to see Rossitsa leave the role of CIO at IMCO. I thought she was doing an excellent job there over the last five years (she was appointed CIO of IMCO in August 2021, replacing Jean Michel).
IMCO's press release states she will be staying on till January after which she will shift into the role of "special advisor" as she prepares for her next "professional challenge".
Between you and me, that's a polite way of showing someone the door, you pay them off, ask them to remain in the role till the new year begins and "transition them to the role of special advisor".
Again, I might be wrong, maybe she has another job lined up like Lori Hall-Kimm who joined her former boss at CPP Investments, Alain Carrière, over at Abu Dhabi Investment Council, but it is odd that Rossitsa isn't staying on as CIO at IMCO.
Now, to be fair to Bert Clark, maybe he tried the CIO approach for five years and wants to try something different. There is nothing edged in stone that a large pension fund has to have a CIO.
La Caisse doesn't have one (only a head of Liquid Markets). BCI's CEO, Gordon Fyfe, also assumes the role of CIO, a hat he seems reluctant to part with ever since I knew him in 2002 at La Caisse and then subsequently in 2003 at PSP.
OMERS recently restructured its leadership after its CIO, Ralph Berg left the organization and CEO Blake Hutcheson gave more responsibility to Michael Hill and other senior executives who will report directly to him.
OTPP has two co-CIOs who are in charge of total portfolio and liquid and private markets and it seems to be working well for them.
But there's nothing set in stone that a large pension fund has to have a CIO.
In fact, some people hate it, others love it. All I can tell you is if you don't put the right, competent person as a CIO and give them ample power across public and private markets, then it can backfire on the organization.
CIOs like Bob Bertram and the late Neil Petroff are my benchmark for outstanding CIOs, and they don't come around often.
All this to say, maybe there were legitimate reasons for Bert Clark to promote his boys -- Nick Chamie, Craig Ferguson, and Angus Botterell -- and get rid of Rossitsa and the position of CIO, but let me tell you, if I was a client of IMCO, I'd be ripping into Bert Clark and the Board, asking a lot of pertinent questions.
Notice I said to promote his "boys"? I find it strange that the two most senior female investment executives at IMCO recently left the organization.
Back in May, Jennifer Hartviksen, IMCO's former global head of Credit, announced on LinkedIn she left the organization to head up Fixed Income at TD Asset Management.
So, two women, big positions at IMCO, replaced by men.
"So what Leo, who cares, let the men reign for once, everything is DEI hires these days."
Trust me, I don't have an issue with promoting competent men (key word is competent), but the optics don't look good, especially to IMCO's clients, many of which are women.
The other thing I'm going to throw out there to all pension fund leaders is that immigrants are taking over Canada. They might have funny names with lots of vowels, but they are increasingly moving up the socioeconomic ranks and if they're not properly represented at all levels of your organization, well, shame on you!!
It's about time that immigrants or sons and daughters of immigrants get their fair share of representation at all our large pension funds and here I will not mince my words: some organizations are doing a much better job than others at hiring a diverse workforce across all levels, including senior levels.
"Well Leo, we cannot have people with funny sounding names at senior levels of a large Canadian pension fund, doesn't look, well, Canadian."
Bullocks!! Absolute rubbish!! Put the best person in charge regardless of their name, religion, gender, sexual orientation, color of their skin, or disability (don't get me started on that last one).
So yeah, maybe Bert Clark had legitimate reasons to restructure his leadership and get rid of the CIO position, but the optics of all this do not look particularly good for IMCO and could send the wrong message to women and Canadian allophones busting their ass to get into these shops.
"Leo, come on, nobody really cares; it's all part of the game. Politics looms large at these large shops. In a year, nobody will remember Rossitsa Stoyanova or Jennifer Hartviksen ever worked at IMCO, just like people forgot all about Jean Michel."
Maybe, but here is my warning to Bert Clark and IMCO's Board: be very careful about how you are perceived out there, or you risk attracting B-types at your organization (I'm dead serious).
Alright, back to markets and trading. Unlike the pension aristocracy I cover here, I have to eat what I kill.
I wish Rossitsa Stoyanova all the best in her next professional challenge; it was a pleasure conversing with her a couple of times while covering IMCO properly.
Below, the CNBC Investment Committee debates how they're setting up their portfolios as we head into the fourth quarter.
Also, Glen Smith, chief investment officer at GDS Wealth Management, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the impact of bonds and inflation on the markets.
Rising rates are already hitting the US housing market and that's not good if unemployment rises significantly.
Update: Someone shared this with me: "Tanya Lai who was head of Active Equities, was also asked to leave several months ago. She is brilliant and a loss to IMCO."
As I stated, this sends the wrong message out there and attracts the wrong people to your organization.
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