Canada Pension Plan Investments has announced its first dedicated chief investment officer to help strengthen the organization’s investment governance with the aim of generating greater performance gains.
Edwin Cass joined CPP Investments in 2008 and has held various positions within public markets. He was also the organization's Chief Investment Strategist from 2014-2017 and was most recently Global Head of Real Assets. Cass previously held senior positions at Fortress Management Group, Deutsche Bank Canada and TD Securities.
New head of Global Real Assets program
The organization also announced the appointment of Deborah Orida to Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Real Assets, where she will be responsible for the Global Real Assets program. This takes in Energy & Resources, Infrastructure, Power & Renewables, Real Estate and Portfolio Value Creation.
Orida was most recently Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Active Equities. She joined CPP Investments in 2009 and has held senior leadership roles including Managing Director, Head of Private Equity Asia, which she led after establishing the Relationship Investments Asia portfolio from Hong Kong. Orida spent nine years at Goldman Sachs in New York and Toronto.
"Our investment governance structure has served CPP Investments well for many years. However, the fund is on a trajectory to grow to $1 trillion by 2033. The time is right in CPP Investments' evolution to create a dedicated, fit-for-purpose, Chief Investment Officer role," said Mark Machin, President & CEO, CPP Investments. "Ed is very well positioned for this role, with his considerable investment expertise, enterprise-wide knowledge and global experience. The appointment of Deborah as Global Head of Real Assets continues to demonstrate CPP Investments' deep bench strength of proven investment leaders."
