The Ledger
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Puffer: AIMCo invests in high-carbon assets to transition them to green
“We have the flexibility to take on assets that may have a carbon footprint that today doesn't look great in order to be strong stewards of capital to ensure that technology is applied appropriately in those areas to take them from gray to greener.”
Puffer: Pension plans' 50-50 currency hedge approach makes no sense
“Often, pension plans have ended up in the so-called no regrets, fifty-fifty hedge half approach, which really doesn't make sense.”
Puffer: Stagflation from policy error is among the toughest portfolio environments
“In terms of the markets themselves, I'm worrying about the risk that the policymakers don't get this right, and that we end up in a stagflationary environment. That's a serious risk. And it's very difficult to steer a portfolio to be really resilient against t…”
Puffer: Evaluating external managers is as much about talent management as strategy
“The fundamental piece of assessing external managers is as much the talent and alignment of interest and how they manage talent as it is about the actual strategies and investment process.”
Puffer: Large Canadian pensions have minimal home bias in return-seeking assets
“We don't have much of a home bias anymore in the large Canadian pension plans. Canada is, call it, three point something percent of GDP globally, and our portfolios now are closer to reflecting that in our return-seeking assets.”
Puffer: Canadian Pension Compensation Is Close to Private Asset Managers
“I would say the pension space doesn't quite pay at the same level as some of those areas, but it's not too far off.”
Puffer: Asset-liability management principles remain identical across all fund sizes
“Well, pension plan, whether it's three billion or twenty billion or one hundred and sixty billion, where I am today, the principles of asset liability management for the pension plan clients here at AIMCO, they're all the same.”
Puffer: AIMCo prefers performance fees over fixed fees for managers
“We don't mind paying performance fees. We like them better than fixed fees. So that alignment of interest is a powerful tool for us with our external managers.”
Puffer: AIMCo avoids venture capital due to scale and focus
“We don't have much activity in venture capital. That area has just not been a focus for ANCO in a big way, and our scale is not sufficiently large that we really need to reach into that space at this time.”
Puffer: AIMCo manages 17 distinct clients without controlling asset mix decisions
“And at AIMCO, we don't control the strategic asset mix decision. We are not one pool of capital, like Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and others here in Canada. We are more like BCI in British Columbia and the Caisse de Dépoux in Quebec, where we have multiple c…”
AIMCo expects four-to-one direct investment ratio from private credit partners
“We still work with partners, but we also expect something like a four to one ratio of direct investment opportunities. For every dollar that we're putting with a partner.”
Puffer: AIMCo is splitting alpha and beta in public equities
“In the public markets, primarily internally managed, but in our equity book, for example, we've recently taken an approach of being clearer about the strategies that we have in place for our clients that are separating out alpha and beta more clearly. So we ha…”
Puffer: AIMCo's New York office focuses on growing direct private debt
“In private debt and loan, we have a strategy to grow, and that's really the impetus behind our New York office. Is expanding our investments in private debt and loan and increasing the proportion of direct investment there.”
AIMCo hires former GIC executive to head Singapore office
“So, for example, in Singapore, we've got a new head of Singapore starting in a couple of weeks who's coming to us from GIC”
AIMCo accesses high-risk markets via strong rule-of-law exporters
“And being careful about gaining exposure to certain higher risk markets indirectly through jurisdictions where the rule of law is strong and perhaps where the companies that we're investing in may be exporters to regions that are a little more challenging to i…”
Puffer: AIMCo has ~175 investment professionals and is opening Singapore, NYC offices
“I went from having 45 or so investment professionals at CN to now I have about 175, and we're located across the globe. We have offices in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, and London, and we're opening offices in New York and Singapore.”
Puffer: Infrastructure is AIMCo's most global, direct private asset class
“Of the private asset classes, infrastructure is the most global and has a very high proportion of direct investments.”
Marlene Puffer: Fixed income investing forces focus on downside risk
“Coming up through the fixed income side is interesting because it combines the macro view where it's all the macro forces that influence interest rates with the credit view where it's very micro forces that influence credit quality. It's where macro and micro …”