Canada Pension Plan (CPP) has $149 million dollars invested in Wal-Mart.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) invests the CPP money.
Bridget Barnett is newly-hired for CPPIB’s “socially responsible investing”.
I talked with Bridget about Wal-Mart. The CPPIB’s investment policy sounds good. Until you learn that our (CPPIB) policy is to bring about “positive change” through “engagement” and “encouragement”. The “engagement” is with the Boards of the companies.
CPPIB does not have a policy to divest. They know about Norway’s lead on divesting in Wal-Mart, and about the documentary movie on Wal-Mart. My reading of the situation is that they are a little nervous about Canadian (CPP) investment policy as a consequence (I may be wrong).
CPPIB’s policy statement on socially responsible investing is below (excerpts).
Canada Pension Plan is our money, our Plan. We are responsible for it. A failure to speak up is a failure to shoulder any of that responsibility.
Now is the time to speak up: Norway has opened the door.
CPPIB is at arms’ length from the Government. The Government is not responsible for what CPPIB invests in. All the more reason why we have to have input.
CPP INVESTMENT BOARD, STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTABILITY
“Accountable to beneficiaries and the public We are accountable to the 16-million Canadians who contribute to or benefit from the Canada Pension Plan.”
The next email is my letter to the Board members and CEO David Denison.
There are enough of us to make a difference.
The biographies of the people on the Board and some of the Management Team are below. Some of us will know some of these people. Perhaps you would contact anyone you might know, directly? Others of us can send an email to the Board and CEO, generally. Contact info is in next email.
And please pass the word!
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CANADA PENSION PLAN INVESTMENT BOARD
CPPIB POLICY, SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTING
(ESG = environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.)
(Link no longer valid http://www.cppib.ca/how/social/index.html)
“CPP Investment Board has committed to build an engagement capability and will use its ownership positions in over 2,600 companies to encourage improved performance on and disclosure of ESG factors.
Shareholder engagement is widely recognized as an effective tool to bring about positive change, especially for investors with passive portfolios.
Going forward we will vote our proxies and support resolutions in line with our Policy on Responsible Investing.
We are also planning to work with other parties to develop solutions that support ESG factors.
We are currently investigating international accords around ESG factors that will act as platforms for engagement with the management and boards of companies and influence our proxy voting.
… In March 2006, we joined the Enhanced Analytics Initiative (EAI) – an international collaboration of asset managers that collectively manage more than $1 trillion. The Initiative aims at encouraging investment research that considers the
impact of extra-financial issues on long-term company performance.
We will continue to participate in the global dialogue around responsible investing such as the UN Working Group on principles of responsible investing. These principles were developed by a task force of 20 large institutional investors from around the world, including the CPP Investment Board, that collectively manages more than US$2 trillion. ”
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MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, CPPIB:
(Link no longer valid http://www.cppib.ca/who/meet/board.html)
We are governed by a board of 12 directors including a private sector executive who serves as our chairperson. Our legislation requires us to have sufficient directors representing the various regions of Canada, with expertise in investment, business, economics and financial management.
Gail Cook-Bennett Chairperson Appointed in October 1998. Reappointed in April 2002. Reappointed in November 2005 Economist. Previously held academic positions at University of Toronto and senior executive positions at Bennecon Ltd. and the C.D. Howe Institute, Montréal. Director of Manulife Financial Corporation and Petro-Canada. Member: investment (chair) and governance committees.
Germaine Gibara Appointed in November 2002. Reappointed in November 2005. Chartered Financial Analyst. Founding president and chief executive officer of Avvio Management Inc., a management consulting firm specializing in strategic planning and the commercialisation of technology. Previously held senior positions with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Quebec, TAL Global Asset Management Inc. and Alcan Aluminum Ltd. Director of SunLife, Lean Enterprise Institute (Boston) and Pechiney (France). Co-chair of the board of the Institute for Research on Public Policy. Former director of the Economic Council of Canada. Member: investment, human resources and compensation, ad hoc and governance committees.
Peter K. Hendrick
Appointed in October 2004. Chartered Accountant. Chartered Financial Analyst. Visual Artist. Former Executive Vice President, Investments and Chief Investment Officer of Mackenzie Financial Corporation. Former Vice President and Director of CIBC Wood Gundy Securities Inc. (now CIBC World Markets) in the Corporate Finance, Institutional Equity and Capital Markets divisions. Former Lecturer at the Graduate School of Business Administration at Harvard University in the area of management and financial accounting. Member: investment and audit committees.
Jacob Levi Appointed in October 1998. Reappointed in March 2001 and October 2004. Actuary. Partner in Eckler Partners, actuarial consultants. Serves as external actuary to public sector pension plans and the Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia. Former chairman of the workers’ compensation committee of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. Member: investment, audit and human resources and compensation committees.
William “Philip” MacDougall Appointed in October 2004. Fellow, Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, President of MacDougall Consulting. Served as deputy minister in several departments in the province of Prince Edward Island, including the Department of Finance, the Department of Industry and Commerce, the Department of Health & Social Services and was a member of the Deputy Ministers Committee on the Canada Pension Plan. Previously held an executive position at the Workers
Compensation Board of P.E.I. Member: investment and governance committees.
Helen M. Meyer Appointed in October 1998. Reappointed in March 2001 and October 2004. Financial executive. President of Meyer Corporate Valuations Ltd. Served in senior corporate finance positions with Merrill Lynch Canada, Morgan Bank of Canada and Dominion Securities Limited. Governor of the Cundill Funds. Former commissioner with the Ontario Securities
Commission. Member: investment, audit and human resources and compensation committees.
Dale G. Parker Appointed in October 1998. Reappointed in May 2002 Corporate director. Former CEO of the British Columbia Financial Institutions Commission, Bank of British Columbia, and Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia. Director of Industrial Alliance Pacific Insurance and Financial Services, and Growth Works Ltd. Active in charitable and non-profit organizations. Member: investment, audit, human resources and compensation and ad hoc committees.
M. Joseph Regan Appointed in October 1998. Reappointed in May 2002 Bank executive (retired). Spent 40 years with Royal Bank of Canada, ultimately as senior executive vice president for strategic initiatives. Former chair of the Pension Commission of Ontario. Served as director of the Canada Pension Plan Advisory Board and the Ontario Pension Board. Director of Bank of Tokyo – Mitsubishi (Canada). Member: investment and governance committees.
Mary Ritchie Appointed in October 1998. Reappointed in March 2001 and October 2004. Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants. A senior member of Arnold Consulting Group Ltd., management consultants, Edmonton. Director of EPCOR Utilities, Alberta Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation, and Alberta Performing Arts Stabilization Fund. Member of the CICA Accounting Standards Oversight Council. Member: investment and audit (chair) committees.
Helen Sinclair Appointed in March 2001. Reappointed in October 2004 Financial executive. Founding chief executive officer of BankWorks Trading Inc., an electronic commerce and training company serving the financial sector. Formerly, president of the Canadian Bankers Association, and senior vice-president of Scotiabank. Director of TD Bank Financial group, McCain Capital Corporation, Superbuild Corporation and Transat A.T. Inc. Member of the Ontario Securities Act Advisory Committee and active in the United Way of Greater Toronto. Member: investment and governance (chair) committees.
Ronald E. Smith Appointed in November 2002. Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nova Scotia. Recently retired senior vice president and chief financial officer of Emera, Inc., a Halifax-based energy company. Former chief financial officer of Aliant Telecom Inc. and its predecessor, Maritime Telephone & Telegraph Inc. Director of Bangor Hydro Electric Company and CrossOff Inc. Serves as vice chair of the board of governors of Acadia University. Former national president of the Canadian Association for Community Living. Member: investment, human resources and compensation (chair) and ad hoc committees.
David Walker Appointed in October 1998. Reappointed in May 2002 Business executive. President of West-Can Consultants Ltd. Former professor of political science at the University of Winnipeg, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg North-Centre, and parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Finance. Chief federal representative for federal, provincial and territorial consultations on the Canada Pension Plan. Chairman of Acsion Industries Inc. Director of St. Boniface Hospital and Manitoba Theatre Centre. Member: investment, ad hoc (chair) and governance committees.
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SOME OF THE MANAGEMENT AND STAFF, CPPIB (Link no longer valid http://www.cppib.ca/who/meet/management.html)
David Denison President and Chief Executive Officer
David was appointed to his position in January 2005. As the president and CEO of the CPP Investment Board, David is responsible for leading the organization and its investment activities.
David brings 24 years of experience in the financial services sector to his role, including senior postings in the investment, consulting and mutual fund businesses in Canada the U.S. and Europe. His previous firms have included Merrill Lynch, S.G. Warburg Canada, Midland Walwyn and Mercer Consulting. He joined Fidelity Investments Canada in 1995 as the company’s Chief Operations Officer and was later named President. David spent the years from 2000 to 2003 as President of Fidelity Investments Institutional Brokerage Group in Boston before resuming his duties as President of the Canadian company, a position he held until his appointment to the CPP Investment Board.
A native of Gander, Newfoundland, David was raised in Montreal. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto with undergraduate degrees in mathematics and education. Following six years as an educator, Mr. Denison earned his Chartered Accountant designation and began his business career.
Myra Libenson Chief Operations Officer
Myra is responsible for finance and operations at the CPP Investment Board.
Prior to joining the CPP Investment Board in June 2006, Myra served as vice president finance, Europe for Great-West Lifeco Inc. She held several positions during her 10-year tenure with Canada Life and Great-West Lifeco, and several roles within The Bank of Montreal, O&Y Enterprises and Ernst & Young. Myra is a seasoned senior executive with more than 20 years of finance and operations experience. Myra is a Chartered Accountant and earned a BA from Vassar College (New York) and an MBA from the University of Toronto.
John H. Butler Vice President – General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
John brings a wealth of legal and business experience to his position as Vice President – General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. He spent 22 years with Torys LLP (and its predecessor firm), most of that time as partner, and served as the firm’s Chief Financial and Administrative Officer. While with Torys, he was seconded to executive positions with Royal Trustco, Bramalea Limited, Brookfield Development Corporation and First City Capital Markets. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President, Corporate Development for Barrick Gold Corporation. John was appointed Vice President – General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in October 2003.
John earned his LLM and LLB degrees from Osgoode Hall, York University, and received his BA in business administration (Gold Medalist), from Wilfrid Laurier University. He was called to the Ontario Bar (Silver Medalist) in 1979.
Ian Dale Vice President – Communications and Stakeholder Relations Ian joined the CPP Investment Board in January 2003.
Prior to joining, Ian spent six years in the telecommunications industry, first as Vice-President, Public Relations for AT&T Corporation in Canada and subsequently as Vice-President, Corporate Communications at AT&T Canada.
Before that, he was Director, Corporate Communications at CIBC. He also worked at the CBC as a producer on network current affairs programs in television and radio
He holds an MA in journalism from the University of Western Ontario and is a graduate of the University of Toronto.
John H. Ilkiw Vice President – Portfolio Design and Risk Management .
John is responsible for research to support the development of investment policies and value-added strategies including risk management.
John has over 30 years of experience in the pension field acquired through his work in Canada, the U.K. and the United States. Prior to joining the CPP Investment Board in August 2005, John was Director of Research and Strategy for the Russell Investment Group at its head office in Tacoma, Washington.
He has also held several other senior positions with the Group’s global consulting practices and their U.K. and Canadian operations. Prior to joining Russell, he worked at William M. Mercer Limited in Toronto and Ontario Ministry of Treasury and Economics.
John earned his BA from York University and his MA (economics) at the University of Toronto. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has written extensively on strategic investment policies for pension funds.
Donald M. Raymond Vice President – Public Market Investments
Donald was appointed to his current position in September 2001. He is responsible for developing and implementing the CPP Investment Board’s strategy in public and regulated over-the-counter markets (which includes stocks and bonds), whether implemented internally or by partnering with external managers.
Prior to joining the CPP Investment Board, Donald was vice president in Goldman Sachs’ Investment Management Division in New York. He began his investment career in 1991 as a research analyst in the fixed-income derivatives department of Burns Fry, a predecessor of BMO Nesbitt Burns. He joined Goldman Sachs’ Toronto office as a fixed-income strategist before moving to the Quantitative Strategies group in New York with responsibility for global equity and fixed-income portfolios.
Prior to developing an interest in finance, Donald worked for Schlumberger in the oilfields of Asia and trained as a pilot in the Canadian Armed Forces. He holds a PhD. in engineering from Queen’s University, specializing in nonlinear systems and information theory and is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder.
Mark Wiseman Vice-President – Private Investments
Mark is responsible for leading private equity and infrastructure investments in the CPP portfolio.
Prior to joining the CPP Investment Board in June 2005, Mark led the private equity fund and co-investment program at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
He was also vice president at the private equity firm Harrowston Inc. and spent several years as a corporate lawyer with Sullivan & Cromwell, practicing in New York and Paris.
Mark holds his MBA and law degrees from the University of Toronto and was a Fulbright Scholar at Yale University where he earned his masters degree in law.
André Bourbonnais Director – Principal Investing
André is responsible for leading the private equity principal investing activities in the Private Investments department.
Prior to joining the CPP Investment Board, André was an executive with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, where he managed a $2 billion private investments portfolio in the telecommunications, media and entertainment sectors. He has more than 20 years of experience in investment transactions and has held senior positions in law and corporate development in several sectors.
André is a lawyer and earned an LLM from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an LLL from the University of Ottawa.
Daniel Chiu Director – Capital Markets
Daniel joined the CPP Investment Board in January 2002 as Manager – Public Market Investments and was promoted to Director in June 2004. He is responsible for the execution of internal trading and short-term public marketinvestment strategies.
Prior to joining the CPP Investment Board, Daniel was director, fixed income and credit derivatives, debt capital markets with CIBC World Markets; director, multi-asset class derivatives marketing with CIBC Wood Gundy Financial Products; eurobond and credit products trader with TD Securities (U.K.); associate, global sales and trading with the Toronto Dominion Bank; and an analyst with Southam Inc.
He holds an MBA and a BA (business administration) from the University of Western Ontario. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder.
Thomas Eigl Director – Investment Research
Tom is responsible for investment research to guide the strategic asset allocation decisions at the total portfolio level.
Prior to joining the CPP Investment Board, Tom held senior positions at Ontario Power Generation and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Earlier in his career, Tom spent four years with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board in a number of investment roles. Tom joined the CPP Investment Board as Manager – Research and Risk in March 2004 and was promoted to Director in May 2005.
Tom earned his B. Comm. from McMaster University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder.
Dannielle Ullrich Director – Enterprise Solutions
Dannielle is responsible for leading significant cross-functional business initiatives.
Dannielle is an investment operations professional with 15 years experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining the CPP Investment Board in January 2005, Dannielle spent three years at Canada Life Assurance Co. as an Assistant Vice President in the Investment Division. Her work experience includes positions at MacKenzie Financial Corporation, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
Dannielle is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder and a Certified General Accountant.