Stephen Harper to oversee Alberta’s $160B investment board, AIMCo

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Former prime minister Stephen Harper has been tapped to lead the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), the Crown corporation that manages public pensions and public investments in Alberta.

“I believe it is a meaningful act of public service to my adopted home province of the last 46 years. I also feel uniquely positioned to help the organization improve its governance,” said Harper in the news release announcing his appointment. 

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Earlier this month, Alberta’s United Conservative government fired AIMCo’s board and appointed Finance Minister Nate Horner as an interim director and chair of the board and longtime public servant Ray Gilmour as interim CEO.

On Wednesday, the provincial government announced Harper, who served as prime minister between 2004 and 2015, would become chairman of the board. Though Harper has no direct experience with pension fund management, Horner, in the press release announcing Harper’s appointment, pointed to his “strong track record as a steward of tax dollars.”

The provincial government also appointed several other members to the AIMCo board. Navjeet Singh Dhillon, who previously served as a board member and is the head of real estate company Mainstreet Equity Corp., is back. So, too, is Jim Keohane, a pension veteran and former CEO of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, and Jason Montemurro, founder and CEO of Montemurro Industries Inc. Between 2017 and 2019, Montemurro was a partner with Azimuth Capital Management, where Harper is also a partner.

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“(Harper’s) appointment, and that of the rest of the board, are a strong step forward in giving all Albertans confidence in the long-term sustainability and success of AIMCo,” said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, in a statement.

Harper will be doing the work pro bono, the government said.

Earlier this year, Smith launched an ambitious plan to grow the Heritage Savings Trust Fund — the province’s sovereign wealth fund — to $250 billion. The fund was first established by former premier Peter Lougheed in 1976 to “save for the future, to strengthen or diversify the economy, and to improve the quality of life of Albertans.” It currently sits at around $23.4 billion. The fund is one of the major components of the $161-billion that AIMCo manages and invests.

When the board was fired, the provincial government argued there had been significant growth in costs “without a corresponding return on investment.”

Between 2019 and 2023, AIMCo’s third-party management fees increased by 96 per cent, the number of employees increased by 29 per cent and salary and benefit costs increased by 71 per cent, the government said in a news release.

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Since its inception in 2007, AIMCo has operated independently of the Alberta government. Now, the provincial government will have a permanent representative on the board, in the form of Kate White, the deputy minister of finance.

Horner’s spot on the board has been rescinded.

After Harper left politics in 2015, he went on to a career in the private sector. He published a book, Right Here, Right Now, on political leadership. He also founded Harper & Associates, a global consultancy, and is chairman of the International Democracy Union, a global alliance of centre-right political parties, including Australia’s Liberal Party, Israel’s Likud party and Britain’s Conservative Party.

Gilmour, the interim CEO, no longer works for the government of Alberta, but remains interim CEO of AIMCo, the province confirmed.

National Post, with additional reporting by Financial Post 

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