CPPIB Infrastructure Chief Is Out, Adding to Turnover

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s head of infrastructure Cressida Hogg is departing the C$337 billion ($269 billion) fund, and CPPIB has named her successor, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed. 

Hogg, based in London, will be replaced by CPPIB’s head of fundamental equities Scott Lawrence, as first reported by the Globe and Mail, a national Canadian newspaper. The pension fund declined to comment on Hogg’s exit.

Her departure follows CPPIB chief executive officer Mark Machin’s February announcement of “planned renewal of senior management.” Lawrence has worked at the pension fund’s investment arm since 2005, when he joined the private assets group as a senior principal for infrastructure. He rose to head of relationship investments from 2009 to 2016, building a team of 35 professionals managing C$10 billion, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

Following Hogg’s departure, Lawrence will take over a portfolio valued at C$25 billion at the end of 2017, fund figures in CPPIB's latest financial results statement show.

Major holdings include a 29 percent stake in Arco Norte, a Mexican toll road purchased in 2016 for C$745 million; about one-third of Associated British Ports, an operator of 21 U.K. ports bought in 2015 for £1.62 billion ($2.32 billion); and Broadcast Australia, which owns and runs transmission infrastructure across the country. 

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CPPIB's chief operating officer Nick Zelenczuk and global public markets chief Eric Wetlaufer will leave the leave the pension fund on May 31, according to the February announcement. Graeme Eadie stepped down as head of real assets at the end of last month.   

“Through this renewal, we are able to benefit from appointing some new leaders who will inject fresh perspectives, experiences, and ideas to the organization just as we look ahead to an exciting future,” Machin said in the CPPIB statement released February 5.