A former workers' compensation CFO and a former OPTrust chief executive take seats running 2029, filled as existing director terms expire
Order in Council 311/2026, signed by the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta on September 3, appointed Ron Helmhold and Hugh O'Reilly to the board of directors of Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) for terms ending September 2, 2029.
AIMCo confirmed both appointments in its own announcement, which states that all directors are appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council and are fully independent of management.
AIMCo board chair Stephen Harper welcomed Helmhold and O'Reilly in the announcement.
A "strong and effective Board is essential to supporting AIMCo's mandate," Harper said, and the two appointees will help the organization serve its clients and stakeholders.
Per AIMCo, Helmhold was chief financial officer of the Workers' Compensation Board - Alberta from 2006 to 2026, overseeing a $15bn investment portfolio and leading the organization's finance, risk management and investment operations.
His LinkedIn profile lists him as an external investment committee member of the Universities Academic Pension Plan since October 2021 and as a board member and chair of the finance and audit committee at Claystone Waste Ltd since November 2020.
Helmhold said in the AIMCo announcement that he will bring "a client perspective shaped by more than 20 years with the Workers' Compensation Board - Alberta."
He said he plans to contribute on behalf of AIMCo's clients.
O'Reilly served as president and chief executive officer of OPTrust from 2014 to 2019, overseeing growth in plan assets from $16bn to more than $20bn, AIMCo said, adding that he brings legal, governance and public sector experience from senior roles in private practice and within the Ontario government.
The Globe and Mail reported that he was OPTrust's outside counsel and a former partner at Torys LLP when the plan chose him as chief executive in December 2014, and that OPTrust credited him on his departure with introducing OPTrust Select, which the plan's news release called "the first new defined benefit plan in Ontario in a generation."
O'Reilly said in the same announcement that he will contribute "experience in pension leadership, governance and long-term investment strategy."
He said AIMCo acts on behalf of its clients and beneficiaries.
Southern Alberta Newspapers reported that the same set of orders covered five other board terms.
- Stephen Harper, reappointed and re-designated chair from November 20, 2027 to November 19, 2028
- Jason Montemurro, reappointed until March 12, 2028
- James Keohane, reappointed until May 26, 2028
- Navjeet Singh Dhillon, reappointed until February 28, 2029
- Sandra Lau, appointed from June 4, 2028 to June 3, 2029
Each appointment takes effect as the existing term expires, according to the publication.
Harper took the chair's role on November 20, 2024, AIMCo's governance page states, weeks after the Alberta government removed the corporation's entire 10-member board, its chief executive officer and three other executives on November 7 of that year, a step the province called a necessary reset, CBC News reported.
Montemurro, Dhillon, and Keohane were among the dismissed directors returned to the reconstituted board, per the Globe and Mail.
AIMCo managed more than $210.7bn in assets as at June 30, investing on behalf of pension, endowment, insurance, and government funds in the Province of Alberta.
