The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP) is seeking a new permanent chief investment officer.

Ottawa-based PSP announced Wednesday that the pension fund manager and Eduard van Gelderen have “mutually agreed” that he will leave organization in October. But he immediately stepped away from his day-to-day duties

He had served as a senior vice-president and CIO for six years. Alexandre Roy, a PSP senior managing director who heads total fund management, has been appointed interim CEO.

No reason was given for van Gelderen’s departure. He was appointed CIO in 2018 after joining PSP from the University of California, where he was a senior managing director in the CIO’s office.

He has also served as CEO of the Dutch financial services firm APG Asset Management and deputy CIO of ING Investment Management. 

“I want to express my sincere gratitude to Eduard for his significant contributions to PSP over the years ,” said Deborah Orida, PSP’s president and CEO. “Eduard’s commitment to building diverse and inclusive teams has made us a stronger organization.

“His sponsorship and support of PSP’s anti-racism, culture, and religion affinity group will leave a lasting legacy. His contributions have been instrumental in our growth, and we wish him the very best in his future endeavours.”

During his tenure, PSP bettered the internal benchmark that it uses to measure investment performance, according to the Globe and Mail. PSP’s average annual return over the past five years was 7.9%, while the benchmark generated a 5.3% gain

The Globe and Mail reported that PSP announced internally Wednesday Patrick Samson will leave his post as global head of real assets investments on January 1. He will remain in the role until then, and PSP has not named a successor yet.

PSP announced that senior vice-president and chief financial and risk officer Jean-François Bureau intends to retire. He will remain in his C-suite post until December 31. From January 1 until March 31, 2025, he will serve as a senior advisor to the president and CEO and continue to serve as CFO of Canada Growth Fund Investment Management until its financial statements for the fiscal year ending in December 2024 are approved.

PSP plans to name a successor for Bureau before he departs.

The PSP investment portfolio holds about $265 billion worth of assets, including commercial real estate, infrastructure and credit investments. The organization invests on behalf of the Canadian Forces, RCMP and Reserve Force pension plans.

Photo: CNW Group/PSP