Quebec’s Caisse de Depot Hires Diplomat to Run Overseas Unit

(Bloomberg) -- Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec named Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Marc-André Blanchard, to lead a group that will run its international investments.

As head of CDPQ Global, Blanchard will oversee the fund’s three main regional hubs outside of Canada: U.S./Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Anita George, a Caisse executive vice-president, will be the group’s deputy head, the investment manager said in a statement Friday.

Caisse de depot, which manages C$340 billion ($254 billion) in net assets, had about one-third of its portfolio exposed to the U.S., one-third to Canada and one-third to the rest of the world at the end of 2019. It’s integrating its international activities into a single unit at a time of rising tensions between China and Western countries over an array of issues from trade rules to intellectual property. Blanchard has been ambassador to the UN since 2016.

“Moving toward a more integrated structure is the natural next step in our evolution,” said Chief Executive Officer Charles Emond. Blanchard will begin in his new role on Sept. 8 and report to Emond. Canada has named Bob Rae, the former premier of Ontario, to replace him at the UN.

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