AIMCo

Website: aimco.ca

Head office address (Canada): 10250 101 Street NW, Suite 1600, Edmonton, AB T5J 3P4

Year established: 2008

Ownership structure: Crown corporation, Province of Alberta

Target market/client profile: Alberta-based institutional funds

Number of professional staff: around 700

Canadian office locations: Edmonton (head office), Calgary, Toronto

AIMCo is a provincial Crown corporation based in Alberta with its head office in Edmonton. It manages pension, endowment, insurance, and government funds for Alberta-based clients across public and private markets worldwide. The corporation reported $194.7 billion in AUM as at December 31, 2025.

History of AIMCo

Provincial legislation established the Alberta Investment Management Corporation on January 1, 2008. Before that, the Ministry of Finance oversaw those investments directly. The new organization operated at arm’s length from government, with a mandate to grow provincial assets over the long term.

Early growth and a widening reach

From its early years, AIMCo built a portfolio that covered public and private markets across multiple countries. Its client base grew alongside Alberta’s expanding public sector pension and fund obligations.

In 2017, the corporation moved deeper into renewable energy. It partnered with The AES Corporation to acquire sPower. At the time, sPower was the largest independent utility-scale solar developer in the United States. Each party took roughly a 50 percent equity stake, and the deal closed at around US$1.6 billion.

In 2019, the provincial government passed legislation targeting the Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund (ATRF). Under that law, ATRF was required to transfer its investment management to AIMCo. That decision became a source of ongoing dispute in the years that followed.

A costly setback and what followed

The spring of 2020 brought the organization’s most difficult period. An in-house volatility trading program called VOLTS lost $2.1 billion when markets crashed and then rallied sharply in early 2020. AIMCo shut the program down and acknowledged the result fell short of expectations.

An internal review, backed by outside consultants, found the firm lacked sufficient risk controls. Several senior figures left in the months that followed. CEO Kevin Uebelein, who had led AIMCo since 2015, departed by mid-2021.

The ATRF dispute also reached a resolution that year. The Alberta Teachers’ Association had filed a legal challenge over how AIMCo managed those pension assets.

In September 2021, both sides reached an agreement that returned investment decision authority to ATRF. Evan Siddall, who had previously led the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, took over as CEO in July 2021.

AIMCo’s governance reset

In November 2024, the Alberta government replaced AIMCo’s leadership team and board of directors. Ray Gilmour, previously Alberta’s deputy minister of Executive Council, stepped in as interim CEO. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper joined as board chair on November 20, 2024.

AIMCo’s 2024 Balanced Fund returned 12.6 percent and total assets reached $179.6 billion by year-end. That result came 0.8 percentage points below the benchmark. Benefits and Pensions Monitor (BPM) confirmed Gilmour’s permanent appointment as CEO in December 2025, after more than a year in the interim role.

AIMCo products and services

Alberta Investment Management Corporation manages institutional capital across five core investment areas:

Fixed income

  • investment grade corporate credit: bonds from established issuers
  • private placements: non-public debt instruments
  • mortgages: commercial real estate lending
  • private debt and loans: structured non-public lending
  • money market: short-term liquid fixed income

Public equities

  • Canadian equity: domestic publicly traded stocks
  • global equity: stocks across 45-plus countries
  • internal active strategies: quantitative and fundamental approaches
  • external strategies: long-only equity and hedge funds

Real estate

  • Canadian direct investments: office, retail, industrial, residential
  • international investments: UK, Europe, US, and Mexico
  • joint ventures: co-ownership with operating partners
  • externally managed funds: niche real estate opportunities

Infrastructure and renewable resources

  • utilities: regulated essential service assets
  • energy and power: generation, transmission, and distribution
  • transportation: toll roads, airports, and seaports
  • renewable resources: clean energy and resource holdings

Private equity

  • fund investments: stakes in leading PE firms
  • directs and co-investments: equity deals alongside fund partners

AIMCo manages these assets on behalf of its clients rather than investing its own capital. The corporation says ESG integration helps manage risk and improve long-term returns across its portfolios.

Leadership and governance

Ray Gilmour serves as AIMCo’s CEO, with a background in provincial government rather than asset management. He spent over five years as Alberta’s Deputy Minister of Executive Council. Gilmour holds an MBA, a CPA, and an ICD.D designation.

Gilmour’s executive team at AIMCo includes the following senior officers:

  • Justin Lord as chief investment officer
  • Paul Langill as CFO
  • Cecilia Menghini as chief risk officer
  • Peter Teti as senior executive managing director and global head of private assets
  • Kelly Featherstone as chief client relations officer
  • John Walsh as chief legal officer and chief compliance officer

The Right Honourable Stephen J. Harper chairs AIMCo’s board of directors. Harper served as Canada’s Prime Minister from 2006 to 2015 before moving to business and advisory roles. Other directors include:

  • Bob Dhillon
  • Ursula Holmsten
  • Jim Keohane
  • Jin-Young Kim
  • Sandra Lau

BPM reported on Lau’s June 2025 board appointment, as the corporation continued its governance overhaul under Harper. She brings over 25 years of investment and risk management experience, most of it earned at the firm.

Client base and market focus

AIMCo manages assets for more than 30 institutional clients, all based in Alberta. Key plans include:

  • Local Authorities Pension Plan
  • Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund
  • Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund

The corporation manages assets for roughly 375,000 active and retired members across those funds.

A global investment reach

AIMCo invests those assets globally, with about 38 percent of the total portfolio in the US. That US allocation spans multiple asset classes, from public equities to private equity. The corporation also holds positions in the UK, Europe, and other international markets.

In April 2026, AIMCo’s CIO outlined the firm’s global investment strategy. It covered the firm’s positioning in private credit and its approach to US market exposure.

Awards, recognition, and industry involvement

Our Elite Women 2024 feature included former AIMCo chief people officer Krista Pell. The corporation also earned an excellence awardee distinction at the 2024 Canadian HR Awards in the finance and insurance category. Both add to the firm’s record as a top employer in Alberta, a distinction it has held for 12 consecutive years.

The corporation also runs an employee-led initiative called the AIMCo Foundation for Financial Education. It funds financial literacy programs for non-profit groups and post-secondary finance education across Alberta. The foundation is one way the organization gives back to the Alberta communities its clients serve.

The latest AIMCo news

Maple 8 signs $10 billion infrastructure MoU with Australian super funds

Funds projected to manage $13.9 trillion in fiduciary capital by 2040

AIMCo CIO bets on private credit despite benchmark miss

Pension manager holds 38% of assets in US as CIO leans into private credit

Pension manager posts 7.6% balanced fund return, misses benchmark

AIMCo assets climb to $194.7bn as balanced and total funds miss benchmarks

Calgary fintech raises $68.5 million to launch debut securitization with AIMCo, Northleaf

Neo Financial described the structure as a first of its kind for a Canadian fintech

Canada’s pension giants face a climate report card they can’t ignore

Shift report says Canadian pensions hold $93 billion in fossil assets as climate risks climb

AIMCo names new CEO

Ray Gilmour takes helm at AIMCO amid questions over costs, independence and long-term strategy

'The biggest threat to our future': Alberta union urges protection of CPP

'Where we see this government going with this is just very frightening,' says CUPE Alberta president

Public sector union fights Alberta push to quit CPP

Campaign warns provincial plan could cut benefits and unsettle pension governance

Government blocks future pension claims tied to pension fund’s 2020 losses

New bill expands Alberta’s powers to address misleading market disclosures

Ousted AIMCo chief joins BMO as capital markets vice-chair

Evan Siddall resurfaces at Bay Street as the sector reckons with governance costs