Canada-based pension fund manager, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, whose net assets under management were $131.6 billion in December, has announced senior management changes within its risk and legal teams.

Among the appointments, the company has promoted its top legal officer, Claude Bergeron, to the position of executive vice president and chief risk officer, effective immediately. Bergeron, who will continue to serve on the executive committee, had already been working as acting chief risk officer for the past 15 months. He served as senior vice president, legal affairs and assistant secretary, from 2005 until June of 2009, when he became executive vice president, legal affairs and secretariat. He first joined the Caisse as senior legal adviser in 1988 after working in high level posts with the Quebec revenue department.

The company also appointed André Brodeur senior vice president and deputy chief risk officer. Previously, Brodeur was a partner at the Montreal office of consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where he worked since 2000. He also held positions at the National Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces. Brodeur will lead our teams responsible for overall leadership, investment policies, management styles, monitoring and operational risk.

Also named as a senior vice president and deputy chief risk officer was Marc-André Lewis. He has been a member of the Caisse since 2009 and has served as senior vice president of fixed income risk management. He also served as executive vice president of fixed income at Natcan Portfolio Management; and as manager of derivatives at the National Bank of Canada. Lewis will be primarily responsible for all the teams that perform the monitoring activities of value at risk market, credit, liquidity risk, counter-party and stress tests.

Both Brodeur and Lewis will report to Bergeron.

Legal Affairs

Assuming the roles of executive vice president, legal affairs and secretariat will be Marie Giguère. She will sit on the Caisse's Executive Committee.

As an infrastructure and private equity consultant from 2005 to 2008, she has become familiar with the Caisse's activities. Giguère practiced commercial and corporate law at Fasken Martineau for 21 years before becoming senior vice president, corporate affairs, and general secretary of the Montreal Exchange. She joined Molson as senior vice president, chief legal officer and secretary in 1999, leaving Molson’s in April 2005 after its merger with Coors. From 2005 to 2008 she worked at Otéra Capital, a subsidiary of the Caisse, as an infrastructure and private equity consultant.