The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec announces appointments in risk management and legal affairs

Michael Sabia, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, is pleased to announce the following appointments in Risk Management and Legal Affairs & Secretariat:

Risk Management

Mr. Claude Bergeron was appointed Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Bergeron is already a member of the Caisse team and had served as Executive Vice President, Legal Affairs & Secretariat and Acting Chief Risk Officer. He will continue to sit on the Caisse’s Executive Committee.

“Risk management is the highest priority for the Caisse,” said Mr. Sabia. “We are very pleased with what Mr. Bergeron has done in his position on an interim basis for already 15 months. His team has implemented a new risk management plan in a much shorter-than-expected time. Now that we have these systems and best practices in place, we can take the next steps in our strategy and continue to develop a Caisse culture of calculated, well-controlled risk for any investment activity. Sound risk management is based primarily on common sense, a strength that Mr. Bergeron has demonstrated throughout his career and one of the reasons why he was chosen after an international recruitment process.”

Mr. Bergeron joined the Caisse in 1988 and was promoted to Vice President in 1993 and Executive Vice President, Legal Affairs & Assistant Secretary in 2005.

Mr. Bergeron holds a Law degree from the Université de Montréal and a Business Administration diploma from HEC Montréal. He also studied accounting at Université du Québec à Montréal. In addition, he completed an international MBA-FSI program, specializing in financial services and insurance, co-administered by two renowned universities: Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School in Belgium and University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

Mr. Bergeron received the Canadian General Counsel of the Year Award in spring 2009. He received the Commerce-ZSA Québec Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.

Mr. André Brodeur was appointed Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief Risk Officer. Previously, Mr. Brodeur was a partner at the Montreal office of consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where he worked since 2000. He also held positions at the National Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces.

“Mr. Brodeur has recognized expertise in risk management in several industries,” said Mr. Sabia. “He has also worked extensively internationally.”

Mr. Brodeur has completed post-doctoral studies in Physics at Harvard University. He also holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Université Laval, an M.A.Sc in the same field from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Engineering from Royal Military College. He is the author of several publications on risk management.

André Brodeur will lead our teams responsible for overall leadership, investment policies, management styles, monitoring and operational risk.

Mr. Marc-André Lewis was named Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief Risk Officer. He has been a member of the Caisse since 2009 and has served as Senior Vice President, Fixed Income Risk Management. He also served as Executive Vice President, Fixed Income at Natcan Portfolio Management and Manager, Derivatives at the National Bank of Canada.

“Mr. Lewis has already made a significant contribution to improving the Caisse’s risk management and we expect him to continue in this vein,” said Mr. Sabia.

Mr. Lewis holds a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris and an M.A. from the Université de Montréal and a Bachelor in Mathematics-Physics from the same university.

Mr. Lewis will be primarily responsible for all the teams that perform the monitoring activities of VaR (value at risk) market, credit, liquidity risk, counterparty and stress tests.

The two Deputy Chief Risk Officers and risk management experts for each Caisse portfolio will report to Claude Bergeron.

Legal Affairs & Secretariat

Ms. Marie Giguère was appointed as Executive Vice President, Legal Affairs & Secretariat. She will sit on the Caisse’s Executive Committee.

“Ms. Giguère has many years of experience in commercial and corporate law as well as mergers and acquisitions, namely for law firm Fasken Martineau and multinational Molson. Her post at the Montreal Exchange also provided her with an even greater understanding of financial products. Ms. Giguère’s professional skills and leadership make her the ideal person to oversee the Caisse’s legal activities,” said Mr. Sabia.

Ms. Giguère also worked at Otéra Capital, a subsidiary of the Caisse. As an infrastructure and private equity consultant from 2005 to 2008, she has become familiar with the Caisse’s activities.

Ms. Giguère has been a member of the Barreau du Québec and holds a Law degree from McGill University. In 2005, she received the Commerce-ZSA Québec Lifetime Achievement Award.

ABOUT THE CAISSE DE DÉPÔT ET PLACEMENT DU QUÉBEC
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is a financial institution that manages funds primarily for public and private pension and insurance plans. As at December 31, 2009, it held $131.6 billion in net assets. As one of Canada’s leading institutional fund managers, the Caisse invests in major financial markets, private equity and real estate. For more information: www.cdpq.com.