Ontario Teachers appoints Danish investment vet as CIO: Reuters

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, one of Canada’s biggest investors, has appointed veteran Danish investment professional Bjarne Graven Larsen as its new chief investment officer (CIO) and executive vice president.

Graven Larsen, 52, is a former CIO and executive board member of ATP, Denmark’s biggest pension plan and the fourth largest in Europe. He was most recently chief financial officer at holding company Novo A/S, majority shareholder in Danish insulin maker Novo Nordisk.

Ontario Teachers’, which is Canada’s third biggest public pension fund, said on Monday that Graven Larsen would report to its Chief Executive Ron Mock and be based in Toronto. He will take up the position on February 1st.

“With his investment expertise, global experience, forward thinking on risk management and, importantly, hands-on work within a total return framework, Bjarne is uniquely positioned to be our chief investment officer,” Mock said in a statement.

Ontario Teachers’ and peers like the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec have been among the world’s most active deal-makers in recent years, with major bets on real estate, natural resources and infrastructure.

Ontario Teachers’ managed net assets worth $154.5 billion Canadian dollars at the end of 2014.

Graven Larsen will succeed Neil Petroff, who retired in June 2015.

(Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Frances Kerry)

(This story has been edited by Kirk Falconer, editor of PE Hub Canada)

Photo of Bjarne Graven Larsen courtesy of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan