Sudhir Rajkumar

Chair
Independent

Sudhir Rajkumar has over 30 years of broad-based global investment experience, which includes leading global investment organizations, advising long-term investment institutions on building global investment operations, formulating and implementing investment policies, and hands-on experience with investing in global bond markets, private equity and project finance investments, and corporate finance and privatization advisory engagements. 

Most recently, Mr. Rajkumar served as head of the UN’s New York-based Office of Investment Management, responsible for the investment of a US$70+ billion global investment portfolio of the UN pension fund – 85% of which is actively managed in-house – invested in over 100 countries and 27 currencies, across public and private market asset classes including global equities, global fixed income, private equity, real estate, infrastructure, timber, and commodities. Prior to that, he served with the World Bank Treasury and International Finance Corporation in Washington, DC in various investment roles, including as a senior advisor to several large, multi-asset class, long-term investment institutions seeking to build global investment operations.

Mr. Rajkumar holds an MBA from University of Chicago, a M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics, a B.Sc. in Engineering from the University of Delhi, and a CFA charter. He serves on the Advisory Investment Committees of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He has previously served on the Investment Committees of the World Food Programme and of UNOPS. He also serves as Chair of the Board, and Chair of the Audit & Governance Committee, of the International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM) – a global, research-based network of around 40 pension organizations. Mr. Rajkumar is co-editor and an author of the book Governance and Investment of Public Pension Assets: Practitioners’ Perspectives published by the World Bank. 

Michelle Ostermann

Vice-Chair
Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments)

Canada

Michelle Ostermann is Senior Vice President and Global Head of Capital Markets at the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments). 

Michelle has over 28 years of experience in the global investment industry. She has held senior positions at several leading firms, including Sun Life Global Investments, where she managed a $10 billion fund-of-funds portfolio; Manulife Investments, where she headed up a $35-billion annuity product line; and British Columbia Investment Management, where she managed the client portfolios and $150 billion total fund serving consecutively as Senior Vice President, Corporate and Investor Relations, and Senior Vice President, Investment Risk, Strategy and Research. 

Before joining PSP Investments, Michelle was Managing Director at Railpen Investments in London, where she was ultimately responsible for the $50 billion railway workers pension fund. In this capacity, she oversaw the entire investment business including investment and operational activities. 

Since June 2019, Michelle has been serving as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors at the International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM), a global research-based network of pension organizations dedicated to innovative thinking about pension design and management. Prior to that, she was the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors at the Pension Investment Association of Canada (PIAC), from 2015 to 2018. 

Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Victoria and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. 

Marcie Frost

California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS)

United States

Marcie Frost joined CalPERS as Chief Executive Officer in October 2016. She is the ninth CEO and second woman to head the Pension Fund.

Ms. Frost brings more than 16 years of pension industry leadership, information services expertise, and executive management experience to her role. Before joining CalPERS, she served as executive director of the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems (DRS), where she demonstrated strong leadership and innovation, an emphasis on customer satisfaction, and team collaboration.
Prior to that Ms. Frost held leadership roles at DRS in human resources, information services, and operations. She was deputy director for the retirement system for four years before being appointed executive director.

Ms. Frost began her public service career as a benefits administrator with the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.

Susan Christoffersen

Rotman School of Management

Prof. Christoffersen joined the Rotman School as a finance professor in 2010 after spending more than a decade as a faculty member at Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University. In her role as Vice-Dean, Undergraduate & Specialized Programs at the Rotman School from 2015 to 2020, she provided the leadership and energy to both re-invent undergraduate education and build three new pre-experience specialized programs. The Master of Financial Risk Management (MFRM), Graduate Diploma in Professional Accounting (GDipPA) and Master of Management Analytics (MMA), were launched in quick succession as a key part of the Rotman School’s growth. She was also a driving force behind the redesign of the Master of Finance program (MFin) as well as the fundamental transformation of the Rotman Commerce program including a curriculum restructuring and the more than doubling of resources including space and staff dedicated to the program, in partnership with the University’s Faculty of Arts and Science.  In addition to her work as Vice-Dean, she also founded and contributed to the growth of the TD Management Data Analytics Lab, an important hub of activity for advancing the School’s research and teaching in the field of data analytics. She also served as co-academic director of the Lab.

Her research focuses on mutual funds and the role of financial institutions in capital markets. She has published in top finance journals and been cited in The New York Times, Bloomberg News, and The Wall Street Journal. She has received numerous honours for her work, including research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and research awards from the Bank of Canada, Swiss Finance Institute, and Q-Group among others.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Queen’s University and a master’s degree from the University of British Columbia and earned her PhD in finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Bernard Morency

Independent

Canada

Mr. Morency is a member of ICPM Board of Directors. He is a Senior Fellow of the CD Howe and Global Risk Institute. He is also an Adjunct Professor at HEC, Montréal where he collaborates with the Retirement and Savings Institute.

He was with La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec from December 2007 to June 2017 where he was Executive Vice-President, Depositors, Strategy and Chief Operations Officer. He sat on the Executive and the Investment and Risk Committees. He oversaw relations between La Caisse and its depositors, including their strategic asset allocation, and managed the development and implementation of the Institution’s three years strategic plan.

Prior to this, Mr. Morency worked at Mercer for over 30 years. He occupied a variety of leadership roles including Global Retirement Practice Leader, EVP responsible for Mercer’s Retirement, Benefits, Investment and Outsourcing businesses worldwide and President of Mercer Health & Benefits. He was a member of Mercer’s global executive teams.

Mr. Morency currently serves on the Board of Directors of Desjardins General Insurance Group. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and chairs the Institute’s Public Statements Committee. He also served as a member of the Expert committee on the future of the Québec retirement system and was closely involved with the legislative changes that followed.

David Russell

Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS)

United Kingdom

David Russell co-heads the Responsible Investment Team of USS Investment Management, the fund manager for Universities Superannuation Scheme, where he has worked since 2001. USS is one of the largest pension funds in the United Kingdom, with assets in excess of approximately £50 billion and over 330,000 members. USS has a Responsible Investment (RI) team of six and a RI strategy which focuses on integrating extra financial factors into its investment processes across asset classes, and on engaging with public equities and other assets where these issues pose a risk to the fund’s investments.

David is a former Board member of the PRI Association and is an advisor to the Board of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), which USS set up in 2001. He is also a member of the FTSE Environmental Markets Advisory Committee, and on the PRI Private Equity Advisory Committee. David has previously worked as an Environmental Manager for a UK retail company, and was for five years a University lecturer in Environmental Management. He has a Masters Degree in Environmental Impact Assessment.

Laurence Booth

Rotman School of Management

Canada

Laurence Booth holds the CIT chair in structured finance at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. His major research interests are in corporate finance and asset management. He has published over seventy articles in academic journals, including the Journal of Finance and the JFQA as well as major textbooks for McGraw Hill, International Business (with Alan Rugman and Don Lecraw) and John Wiley and Sons Introduction to Corporate Finance 4th edition (with Sean Cleary and Ian Rakita) and Corporate Finance (with Sean Cleary and Pamela Drake Peterson). Professor Booth is on the editorial board of four academic journals and in 2003 was awarded the Financial Post’s Leader in Management Education Award. He regularly wins awards for teaching excellence and is sought out by the media for commentary. He has appeared as an expert financial witness in civil cases as well as before the Ontario Securities Commission, the National Energy Board, the CRTC, and most of the major regulatory tribunals in Canada.

Jeroen F. J. de Munnik

PGGM

Netherlands

Jeroen de Munnik joined PGGM as Chief of Institutional Business in 2013 and is a member of PGGM’s Executive Committee. He is responsible for managing clients. In addition, he is responsible for advice with respect to investment management and with respect to pensions.

Prior to PGGM, Dr. de Munnik spent almost 20 years at Aegon (1993 to 2012) where he held various positions in asset management and operations. He ultimately became responsible for Aegon’s entire pension business.

Dr. de Munnik spoke at ICPM’s Toronto Discussion Forum in June 2018. He is a member of the Supervisory Council and Chair of the Audit Committee at Isala Clinics in Zwolle, the Netherlands.

He holds a PhD in Econometrics from Erasmus University, Rotterdam.

Chris Hitchen

Independent

United Kingdom

Chris was recently the CEO of the Railways Pension Trustee Company and its operating subsidiaries, RPMI and Railpen Investments. He sits on the Board of the Investor Forum and is a Director of the Pensions Quality Mark. From 2010-2015 Chris was a Trustee Member of NEST and was the first Chair of its Investment Committee. He is a former Chairman of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association and of its Investment Council. Chris is an Actuary, with 30 years’ experience in pensions and investments. In 2015, Chris was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the CFA Society of the UK (FSIP).

Fernando Larrain

Asociación de AFP (AAFP)

Chile

Fernando Larrain is currently General Manager of the Chilean trade union organization AAFP, where he is responsible for the design, implementation, and evaluation of AAFP’s strategy. Prior to this, he was a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank, UNICEF, and the Organization of American States on issues of state modernization, corruption, public management and political economy. Mr. Larrain has a diverse government background, holding several advisory roles to various Chilean Ministers and the President.

Mr. Larrain sits on a number of boards. He was a founding member and board director for the Chilean Society of Public Policies, a scientific corporation whose mission is to improve the quality of public policies; as well as the Fundación Trabajoen la Calle, a non-governmental organization pioneering social development work for marginalized urban communities. He was named an Eisenhower Fellow in 2015 and One of Chile’s 100 Leaders in 2013. He has authored several publications.

Mr. Larrain holds a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from Princeton University, a Certificate in Policy and Governance from Duke University/Graduate Institute of International Studies, as well as a Bachelors of Economics and Business Administration from Pontificia Universidad Catolicade Chile. After eight years as a full time professor, he remains a visiting Scholar at three universities (UAI Chile, ESEN El Salvador, and IDE Ecuador).

Céline van Asselt

APG Asset Management

Netherlands

Céline van Asselt is a member of the Executive Board of APG Asset Management. Ms. Van Asselt joined APG Asset Management as Chief Finance & Risk Officer in September 2011. Ms. Van Asselt brings more than 20 years of asset management industry leadership, risk management expertise, and executive management experience to her role. Before joining APG Asset Management, she served as deputy director of ASR insurance company where she demonstrated strong leadership in customer driven business development, regulatory change programs and humanization of the company. Prior to that Ms. Van Asselt held leadership roles at MeesPierson and ASR in client risk asset management, asset allocation, financial and operational risk management. Ms. Van Asselt is a member of the Supervisory Board of Menzis Healthcare Insurance, member of the Supervisory Board of Unigarant. As an Advisor to the Board of Commonland Ms. Van Asselt aims to transform degraded landscapes into thriving ecosystems.

Stewart Brentnall

New South Wales Treasury Corporation

Australia

Stewart Brentnall joined TCorp as its first Chief Investment Officer in March 2017. The position was created following a merger between TCorp and two other NSW funds (State Super and iCare, formerly NSW WorkCover). He oversees asset allocation and manager selection. In this position, Mr Brentnall is responsible for running an aggregate portfolio of $110bn, representing defined benefit pension assets, insurance reserves, an infrastructure recycling assets and an intergenerational sovereign wealth fund.  Mr Brentnall has led the evolution of TCorp’s investment model to a Total Portfolio Approach.

From 2010-2017, Mr. Brentnall was Chief Investment Officer for ANZ, one of the large Australian banks. In 2009, ANZ bought out its joint venture with ING to strengthen its position in wealth management. He was brought in to oversee the transition, and to design and implement its asset management strategy.

Mr. Brentnall was previously Head of Investment Solutions at BT Financial Group, a newly created business unit to manage external funds. He also held various leadership roles in asset management at Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), Goldman Sachs and Schroders. He began his career as an auditor with Deloitte.