Dust off your resume: CPPIB's hiring

One of the most coveted jobs in the North American private equity landscape is available, and I regret not having passed the news along earlier. It’s apparently no secret that the CPP Investment Board is looking for a new head of Funds and Secondaires, which was reported by Private Equity Online back in late April:

Head of funds and secondaries at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board John Breen will step down on 30 June “to pursue another avenue in private equity”, a pension spokesperson confirmed. CPPIB senior vice president Andre Bourbonnais is leading the search for Breen’s replacement.

Breen joined CPPIB in 2006, prior to which he was a founder of private equity firm MWI & Partners and a managing director of the global private equity division of Merrill Lynch. He also was a founding managing partner of the captive private equity fund, CIBC Wood Gund Capital.

The time and attention of Mr. Breen was highly sought after by every fund manager in the world, large and small, and not just because of his cheery demeanour: he also handled a $30 billion chequebook. With ~130 different existing funds, the job must have a grueling travel schedule. As much as you’ll get invited to play on the finest golf courses in the world, the job’s a bit of a workout right now.

The portfolio’s massive concentration in the mega buyout sector (see prior post “CPPIB’s 25% Private Equity concentration” Feb 21-10) appears to have generated poor results so far, with many in the industry believing the CPPIB has generated a zero internal rate of return over the past ten years. And that’s before the pain of the losses on the programs’ exposure to U.S. dollars (see prior post “CPPIB’s $29 billion PE program largest naked currency bet in Canadian history” March 31-11). For the record, that was the CPPIB board’s call according to the recent annual report.

I’m sure the job’s perks are great, but with two leaders in the space of eight years, the chair looks to have a higher beta than one might expect. And you’ll have to deal with a portfolio that’s waist deep in tough vintage mega buyout.

That said, you should send in your resume. The DTM treats the organization with kid gloves, and you’ll have the chance to change CPPIB’s current policy of not directly backing Canada’s best venture fund managers (see prior post “US$234B CalPERS backs several Canadian fund managers” June 28-11).

MRM