Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board has appointed Romeo Leemrijse to lead its equities department, choosing an executive with a 16-year track record within the investor’s own ranks.
Mr. Leemrijse will take over as executive managing director, equities on Jan. 1, leading investments in private and public equities. He will be based in Toronto and report to chief investment officer Ziad Hindo.
He succeeds Karen Frank, the former equities head who was based in London, England, and who left Teachers last month. She joined Teachers two years ago from a career in private banking at Barclays Bank PLC and investment banking at Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Equities accounted for $78.5-billion, or about 32 per cent, of Teachers’ $242.5-billion in net assets as of June 30. The lion’s share of that is in private equity, which accounted for $55.3-billion in assets. Equities assets were down from $82.3-billion at the end of 2021.
Most recently, Mr. Leemrijse has overseen direct investing in North America as global group sector head, private capital. He joined Teachers in 2006.
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James Bradshaw