By
David G. Barry
Karen
Frank is stepping down from her role overseeing Ontario Teachers’
Pension Plan Board’s private and public equity programs – sectors that
account for a third of the pension plan’s portfolio.
Frank has served for the past two years as senior managing director, equities.
She will be leaving Ontario Teachers after December 2, said Hugh Christopher, a
spokesman with the CA$240 billion (US$176 billion) pension plan. Her plans were
not disclosed, and she did not immediately return a message from Markets Group.
Christopher said that under Frank’s leadership, “our equities business has
delivered impressive performance and further elevated a strong bench of talent.
We are well-positioned to continue our forward momentum and wish Karen the best
going forward.”
Christopher said no replacement has been named for Frank.
Prior to Ontario Teachers, Frank was CEO of Barclays Private Bank. Her
background also includes being co-head of Barclays’ European Sponsors Group in
addition to holding senior roles at Goldman Sachs, AEA Investors and Compass
Partners International. Frank was based in London. She succeeded Jane Rowe, who
joined Ontario Teachers’ as head of private equity in 2010 and expanded her
role to include public equities as well.
As
of June 30, Ontario Teachers’ equity segment was valued at CA$75.8 billion
(US$55.7 billion) and comprised 32% of the portfolio. That is down from
December 31, 2021, when it was valued at CA$82.3 billion (US$60.4 billion) and
comprised 34% of the portfolio.
The decrease was due to the value of public equities dropping from CA$27.2 billion
(US$20.2 billion) in December to CA$20.5 billion (US$15.5 billion) in June. The
private equity portfolio remained roughly the same at CA$55.3 billion (US$40.6
billion).
In 2021, 80% of the transactions done by the equities group involved direct
interests managed internally.
Frank’s departure comes just a few months after a member of the equities’
investment team, Bogdan “Bo” Cenavoic, left to join PSG as a managing director.
Cenavoic had served as head of technology, media & telecom, financial
services and healthcare.
