Alberta government fires AIMCo board to 'reset' pension management fund

The provincial government has removed the entire board of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), saying its ballooning costs demand intervention.

In a statement Thursday afternoon, the province announced it will "reset" the focus of the government-owned pension management fund, and will be appointing a new board chair within 30 days.

The province's statement says the move comes "after years of AIMCo consistently failing to meet its mandated benchmark returns."

AIMCo CEO Evan Siddall and three other top executives are now out, Finance Minister Nate Horner said.

AIMCo manages nearly $170 billion in assets, according to its 2024 mid-year investment performance report.

It is responsible for the investments of several provincial government funds, including the Heritage Savings Trust Fund. It also acts as an investment manager for pension plans of hundreds of thousands of Alberta public sector workers: teachers, municipal police officers, academic and professional staff at universities and municipal and provincial public servants, among others.

For now, Horner has been appointed the sole director and chair for AIMCo.

"I'm doing this because I have to," he told reporters at the legislature on Thursday.

A public meeting on the Heritage Savings Trust Fund, held Wednesday evening, confirmed some of AIMCo's costs that have raised red flags for the government for some time, according to Horner.

He pointed to increasing operating costs, management fees and staffing without corresponding return on investment.

"If you're going to see costs like this, I think you would expect them to hit their benchmark," Horner said.

"When you have a body like this that's managing funds like that, you're expecting some value add, frankly. That's what they get paid the big bucks for ... and we weren't seeing that."

NDP finance critic Court Ellingson said he's alarmed to see a government minister in charge of AIMCo, even temporarily.

"It makes Albertans question the stability of this fund. It makes Albertans question whether or not that fund really is under the thumb of the premier and the finance minister," he said.