NEWS

Former UN Joint Staff Pension Fund CIO Joins PSP Investments

By David G. Barry

Herman Bril, the former chief investment officer and head of the investment management division for the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF), has a new role.


Bril, according to his LinkedIn profile, is now a managing director and head of responsible investment for the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, one of Canada’s largest pension funds

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Bril comes to PSP Investments after one year at Arabesque Asset Management, where he was CEO. Based in London, Arabesque is an independent, global asset management firm utilizing artificial intelligence and sustainability research. Bril joined Arabesque after leaving the UNJSPF in June 2021.
Bril spent five years as CIO at the UNJSPF. According to the most recently available annual report, UNJSPF at the end of 2020 had assets under management of $81.5 billion. The fund has more than 134,000 participants and more than 80,000 beneficiaries.


Prior to taking on the CIO role with UNJSPF, Bril was managing director and group CFO for Cardano, a London-based risk and investment specialist that provides fiduciary and investment advisory services to pension schemes.


Bril’s arrival at PSP comes on the heels of the pension fund’s naming Deborah K. Orida as its new president and CEO. She succeeds Neil Cunningham, who earlier this year announced his intent to retire in March 2023. When Orida starts her new role on Sept. 1, Cunningham will become vice chair and special advisor to the president and CEO. PSP has CA$230.5 billion ($178.5 billion) under management.


For the fiscal year ended March 31, PSP Investments posted a 10.9% return and grew assets under management by 12.7%. Based in Ottawa, PSP was established in 1999 and manages and invests capital transferred to it by the Government of Canada for the pension plans of the federal Public Service, the Canadian Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Reserve Force. It has its principal business office in Montreal and offices in New York, London and Hong Kong.