As Chief Executive Officer, Maziar Minovi is responsible for directing firm strategy and leading oversight of research, sales, and operations teams across all Eurasia Group companies and global offices.
Maziar has twenty-five years of experience investing in international and emerging markets. He was a senior member of the Investment Strategy Group at Goldman Sachs, responsible for tactical investments in emerging markets—including in debt, equities, and currencies—as well as geopolitical and global policy issues with market impact. Prior to that, Maziar was the head of the Emerging Markets Group at MassMutual/Babson Capital Management. He has also worked for the International Monetary Fund, Long Term Capital Management (LTCM), Putnam Investment Management, and the World Bank.
Maziar holds a doctorate in international finance and economic development, a master of business administration, and a bachelor of business administration from George Washington University. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Maziar’s involvement in international politics started involuntarily when the Iranian Revolution interrupted his teenage years.
Mr. Shenfeld has been with CIBC since 1993 and is widely recognized as one of Canada’s leading economists for his perceptive analysis and insight on economic developments and their implications for financial markets.
Mr. Shenfeld has won multiple awards for forecast accuracy from Dow Jones MarketWatch and Bloomberg markets for his calls on the US and Canadian economies. He has been consistently ranked by institutional investors as one of the top Canadian economists.
Mr. Shenfeld’s background includes experience in management consulting. He was on the economics faculty at the University of Toronto and in the summer program at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has addressed numerous business groups and has been quoted in the media in the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe.
Mr. Shenfeld holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard University.
Evan Siddall joined AIMCo as Chief Executive Officer in July, 2021. Previously, Evan served as President & Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Under his leadership, CMHC transformed itself into a client-centered, innovative, impactful organization. Evan’s three decade career in finance also includes stints with leading investment banking firms in Toronto and New York and two years as a senior executive with Irving Oil Limited.
Evan has a B.A. in Management Economics from the University of Guelph, a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and has completed Harvard Business School’s Presidents Program in Leadership.
He co-founded Growling Beaver Brevet, the largest single day fundraiser for Parkinson’s in Canada, which has raised nearly $2 million in five years. Evan is a dedicated cyclist, skier and a voracious reader. He has two adult children.
Andrew Ang, PhD, Managing Director, is Head of BlackRock Systematic Wealth Solutions and Head of the Factor-Based Strategies Group. He also serves as Senior Advisor to BlackRock Retirement Solutions.
Dr. Ang is a well-known financial economist specializing in quantitative investing. Author of over 100 publications, Dr. Ang has published on equities, fixed income, optimal asset allocation, and alternative assets. He has written seminal papers in the area of factor investing, including research behind the minimum volatility factor, incorporating macro factors into bond pricing models and factor allocation. His book, "Asset Management: A Systematic Approach to Factor Investing" is a comprehensive guide showing how factor risk premiums can be harvested in portfolio design and incorporated in all aspects of investment management.
Dr. Ang has won many industry prizes and grants, including the Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy award, and awards and grants from Q Group, INQUIRE, Netspar, and the National Science Foundation. According to RePEc/IDEAS, the largest bibliographic database in the field of economics, Dr. Ang is rated in the top 0.1% of world-wide economists by citations, downloads, and views.
Before joining BlackRock, Dr. Ang was the Ann F. Kaplan Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. He was previously Chair of the Finance and Economics Division and a Faculty Research Fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research. As a professor, Dr. Ang worked with several large institutional managers as an advisor. His work with industry was recognized by aiCIO naming him one of the top 10 most influential academics in the institutional investing world.
Dr. Ang earned a BEc(Hons) from Macquarie University, and a PhD in finance and MS in statistics from Stanford University. Dr. Ang used to be a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia.
Sandra Lau leads a team of investment professionals responsible for managing fixed income, private placement, private mortgages and private debt and loan assets on behalf of AIMCo clients.
Since joining AIMCo in 1999, she has held progressively more senior positions.
Sandra holds a B.Comm and an MA in Economics and Finance from the University of Alberta, and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. She is the Co-Founder of Edmonton Women in Finance, and a member of Bank of Canada Canadian Fixed Income Forum. Sandra sits on the Alberta Cancer Foundation’s Board of Trustees.
Gary Smith is responsible for the Fund Risk & Strategy area within ATRF. This area acts as a resource to the other investment areas and assumes responsibility for a number of key areas including investment strategy, asset allocation, macroeconomic research, investment risk management, hedging/derivative strategies and ESG (environmental, social and governance) strategies.
Dr. Smith has a PhD in Finance from the University of Alberta, an MBA from the University of Saskatchewan and is a CFA Charterholder.
James Barber is Executive Vice President, Public Equities at AIMCo. He leads a team of investment professionals responsible for the internal and external management, research and trading of over $47 billion in global equity investments.
James is a global investor with a strong client focus who most recently served as Co Founder and Managing Partner of AMP Investment Partners, having previously served as Chief Investment Officer – Equities at Russell Investments for seven years.
He holds a Bachelor of Science, Statistics and Economics from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, Master’s in Business Administration from University of Witwatersrand and is a Chartered Financial Analyst Charterholder. He has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
Andrew DeMond is an Executive Director in the Fixed Income and Multi-Asset Class (MAC) Research group and the head of MAC factor research. His team focuses on helping clients construct portfolios and manage risk across a wide range of asset classes and investment horizons. Broad research responsibilities include fixed income and credit, MAC systematic strategies, risk model integration, alternatives, and macroeconomic factor research. Since joining MSCI in 2008 he has also worked on securitized products and sovereign risk. He holds a PhD in Biophysics from the University of California-Berkeley and a B.A. in Physics from Reed College.
On the Mortgage Investments team, Sarah’s primary responsibilities include the origination and investment in commercial mortgages in Canada, the United States and Europe across various asset classes and strategies. She contributes to the day-to-day asset management of the $4.4 billion portfolio and participates with the team in establishing and executing on the strategic direction. Sarah serves as AIMCo’s representative at the Investor Leadership Network’s “Diversity in Investment” initiative and is a member of AIMCo’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Management Committee.
Sarah holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia.
Amit Prakash joined AIMCo in 2020 as its first Chief Investment Strategy Officer. Amit was formerly Managing Director, Multi Asset Solutions, Canada at BMO Global Asset Management in Toronto. Prior to this role, Amit was Managing Director, Global Exchange Traded Funds and Alternative Investments and was also responsible for establishing and leading BMO Global Asset Management’s Asia business based out of Hong Kong.
His career spans portfolio management, investment and product strategy and trading roles with top global investment management firms such as BlackRock in Singapore and London, Barclays Global Investors in Toronto and Wells Fargo Nikko Advisors in San Francisco.
Amit holds an MBA from Tulane University, a Master of Economics and Bachelor of Arts in Economics from University of Delhi and is a CFA charterholder.
Jean David joined AIMCo in December 2010 to lead the Global Tactical Asset Allocation investment activity. He has, since then, transitioned internally in a senior capacity to work on strategic asset allocation, investment strategy, macroeconomic analysis and quantitative research. He is currently a Director, Investment Strategy Research.
Prior experience includes macroeconomic analysis, TAA and global macro portfolio management at Caisse dépôt et placement du Québec - CDPQ. He also worked in strategic investments for National Bank of Canada. Jean David began his career working in mergers and acquisitions at Credit Suisse in Toronto.
He holds an M.Sc. degree in finance from the Henley Business School - ICMA Centre at the University of Reading, United Kingdom and a B.Comm. - finance major, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Canada.
As Chief Investment Officer, Dale MacMaster is responsible for ensuring the assets under management entrusted to AIMCo by its clients are invested strategically and align with their respective investment policies to produce sustainable, long-term investment performance. He is a member of the Executive Committee and chairs the Management Investment Committee and the Tactical Asset Allocation Committee.
Dale holds a B.Comm from Concordia University (1980), an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, and is a CFA Charterholder.
A career highlight has been assisting in the transition and growth of AIMCo from a department of the Alberta Government into a world-class asset manager that Albertans can be proud of.
Mark Wiseman is a leading investment manager and experience corporate executive. He was formerly President and CEO of Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board. He was Global Head of Active Equities for BlackRock Inc. and Chairman of BlackRock Alternative Investors, and also served as Chair of the firm’s Global Investment Committee and on its Global Executive Committee.
Previously Mr. Wiseman was responsible for the private equity fund and co-investment program at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan; was an officer with Harrowston Inc., a publicly traded Canadian merchant bank; and a lawyer with Sullivan & Cromwell, practicing in New York and Paris. He also served as a law clerk to Madam Justice Beverley McLachlin at the Supreme Court of Canada.
Mr. Wiseman was a member of the Advisory Council on Economic Growth, which advised the Canadian Finance Minister on economic policies to achieve long-term sustainable growth.
Mr. Wiseman holds a Bachelor of Arts from Queen’s University and a law degree and Masters in Business Administration from the University of Toronto. He was also a Fulbright Scholar at Yale University, where he obtained a Master of Laws. He is a certified member of the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors.
He serves on the board of several non-profit organizations, including Alpine Canada, the United way of Greater Toronto, Sinai Health Services, the Capital Markets Institute and the Dean’s Advisory Board at the Rotman School of Management, the University of Toronto’s graduate business school.
Mark Prefontaine joined AIMCo in 2016 after working for the Government of Alberta as a Senior Assistant Deputy Minister and as Assistant Deputy Minister (including the Roles of Superintendent of Pensions, Superintendent of Insurance and Superintendent of Financial Institutions.
Mark has worked in finance for more than 20 years, in both the public and private sectors. Prior to that, he was an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Mark has an undergraduate degree in Honours Economics and Commerce from the Royal Military College of Canada and his MA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Royal Roads University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and hold an ICD.D.
Justin Lord is the Director of Event Driven Strategies and oversees the management of the internal absolute return strategies. Justin is a member of AIMCo’s Tactical Risk Allocation Committee and also a member of the Board of Directors for the AIMCo Foundation.
Justin has been with AIMCo for 9 years. His prior experience includes equity and derivative portfolio management and trading roles at a peer Canadian institutional investment manager.
Justin holds a BBA (Finance) from the University of New Brunswick and is a CFA Charterholder.
Opening Remarks for the 2021 AIMCo Investment Symposium with AIMCo CEO, Evan Siddall.
Opening Remarks for the 2021 AIMCo Investment Symposium with AIMCo CEO, Evan Siddall.
Pension and endowment funds continue to face challenges in building long-term allocations which closely match their goals. Popular solutions such as using the asset classes lens, while being fundamental, also have their limitations, especially for unlisted assets. In this roundtable, our experts will delve into the state of play of portfolio construction approaches. In particular, we will discuss the benefits/drawbacks of using risk factor exposures for strategic asset allocation and answer: what does a risk factor-ready portfolio look like? We will gain insights related to the potential complementarity of risk factors as portfolio building blocks over a strategic investment horizon. Lastly, we will also delve into the practical considerations of introducing a factor framework and the need for articulating its benefits to all the stakeholders.
Pension and endowment funds continue to face challenges in building long-term allocations which closely match their goals. Popular solutions such as using the asset classes lens, while being fundamental, also have their limitations, especially for unlisted assets. In this roundtable, our experts will delve into the state of play of portfolio construction approaches. In particular, we will discuss the benefits/drawbacks of using risk factor exposures for strategic asset allocation and answer: what does a risk factor-ready portfolio look like? We will gain insights related to the potential complementarity of risk factors as portfolio building blocks over a strategic investment horizon. Lastly, we will also delve into the practical considerations of introducing a factor framework and the need for articulating its benefits to all the stakeholders.
Concluding Remarks for Day 1 of the 2021 AIMCo Investment Symposium with AIMCo CCSRO, Mark Prefontaine.
Concluding Remarks for Day 1 of the 2021 AIMCo Investment Symposium with AIMCo CCSRO, Mark Prefontaine.
Opening Remarks for Day 2 of the 2021 AIMCo Investment Symposium with AIMCo CIO, Dale MacMaster.
Opening Remarks for Day 2 of the 2021 AIMCo Investment Symposium with AIMCo CIO, Dale MacMaster.
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