In his new role with La Caisse, Merette will be expected to wear many hats
Canadian pension fund manager La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec recently announced that Edouard Merette has been appointed as Managing Director for the fund’s Asia Pacific operations.
As part of La Caisse’s global expansion, the fund manager responsible for public pensions for the province of Quebec will be opening its Asia Pacific office in Singapore before the end of the year, with Mr. Merette taking the helm for the region.
In a statement, La Caisse indicated that it expects the veteran consulting executive to “establish and maintain close relationships with players in the public and private sectors to make La Caisse a first-choice investor in the region.”
“With Mr. Merette’s vast experience and extensive network in Asia, La Caisse will be better positioned to identify the right partners and act on sound investment opportunities in these growth markets,” said Michael Sabia, President and Chief Executive Officer of La Caisse. “We are pleased that Mr. Merette, a Quebecer of international repute, has agreed to join our organization, enabling us to take an important step forward in implementing our investment strategy.”
Before joining La Caisse, he was Chief Executive Officer, Asia-Pacific, with HR consulting firm Aon Hewitt. He was a member of the global management committee of Aon Corporation’s consulting division and oversaw the offices in the region (Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand). He has lived in Singapore for the last 15 years.
The native Quebecer also had more than 20 years experience with Mercer in both Canada and Asia. Merette was a member of the human resources consulting firm’s global management committee and oversaw operations in Europe, Asia and Canada.
Merette is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and of the Chicago-based Society of Actuaries, and holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and actuarial science from Université Laval. Merette has taught risk theory at his Laval as well as at Université de Montréal.
La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is a long-term institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans. As of June 30, 2014, it held $214.7 billion in net assets. As one of Canada’s leading institutional fund managers, La Caisse invests in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate, globally.
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