Mark Wiseman (born 1970)[1] is a Canadian businessman and financier. He is currently the chair of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation.[2] He was formerly a manager at BlackRock. Prior to 2016, Wiseman was President and CEO of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).

Mark Wiseman
Born1970 (age 53–54)
EducationQueen's University (BA)
University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management (MBA)
University of Toronto - Faculty of Law (LLB)
Yale University (LLM)
TitleBusinessman

Early life and education edit

Wiseman was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario and raised in Burlington by his mother, a physiotherapist, and his father, a plumber and pipe fitter who headed a division of a construction company. He has one sister, who is a veterinarian. He earned a bachelor's degree from Queen's University as well as a law degree and an MBA from the University of Toronto. He obtained a Master of Laws degree from Yale University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He is Jewish.[3][4]

Career edit

 
Wiseman with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Early in his career, Wiseman was an officer with Harrowston, a publicly traded Canadian merchant bank and a lawyer with Sullivan & Cromwell, practicing in New York and Paris. He also was a law clerk to Madam Justice Beverley McLachlin at the Supreme Court of Canada.[5] Then, Wiseman was responsible for the private equity fund and co-investment program at the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. Wiseman then joined the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) as a Senior VP in 2005. Wiseman became the President and CEO of CPPIB in 2012.[6]

From 2016 to 2019, Wiseman was a Senior Managing Director at BlackRock, Global Head of Active Equities, Chairman of its alternatives business, and Chairman of BlackRock's Global Investment Committee. He was also on BlackRock's Global Executive Committee. On December 5, 2019, Wiseman was fired from his position at BlackRock following a failure to report a consensual relationship with a subordinate[7] employee under his reporting line.[8] in violation of the company's relationship at work policy.[9] Wiseman stated in an internal memo "I engaged in a consensual relationship with one of our colleagues without reporting it. I regret my mistake and I accept responsibility for my actions."[8]

Wiseman advised various businesses, most recently joining Lazard as a part-time Senior Advisor. He is also a Senior Advisor to Boston Consulting Group and Hillhouse Capital.[10]

He is a co-founder and Chair of the Century Initiative, a lobbying group focused on increasing Canada's population to 100 million by 2100.[11][12]

Wiseman is the Co-Founder and former Chairman of FCLTGlobal (formerly Focusing Capital on the Long Term), an organization that encourages longer-term approaches in business and investing, which was set up by BlackRock, CPPIB, Dow, McKinsey & Company and Tata in 2016.[13]

In June 2020, Wiseman was named the new chair of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation.[2]

Personal life edit

For more than 20 years, Wiseman had a common-law relationship with Marcia Moffat, who he met on his first day at University of Toronto. Moffat is the current Country Head of Canada for BlackRock, and joined the firm a year before Wiseman. They have two sons.[4][14][15]

References edit

  1. ^ Wigglesworth, Robbin (9 September 2018). "Mark Wiseman: 'If you're unwilling to evolve you're likely to get eaten'". FT. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  2. ^ a b Rieger, Sarah (20 June 2020). "Former head of CPP, who was ousted from BlackRock, named chair of AIMCo". CBC News.
  3. ^ "Mark Wiseman | University of Toronto Faculty of Law". www.law.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  4. ^ a b Perkins, Tara (1 February 2013). "CPPIB's Mark Wiseman: A creature of habit with a taste for the new". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Two sons. "It's like having two wolverines at home." His partner of more than 20 years is Marcia Moffat, who until recently was vice-president of home equity financing at Royal Bank of Canada. They met on his first day at the University of Toronto. "I am, I think, the world's greatest Jewish Christmas tree cutter," he says.
  5. ^ Canada, Asia Pacific Foundation of. "Mark Wiseman". Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  6. ^ Shecter, Barbara (2012-02-28). "David Denison stepping down as head of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board". Financial Post. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  7. ^ Khan, Yusuf (9 December 2019). "A top BlackRock exec was fired for having a relationship with a subordinate". Business Insider.
  8. ^ a b Lim, Dawn. "BlackRock's Mark Wiseman Terminated for Failing to Disclose Personal Relationship". Wall Street Journal. A contender for the top job at BlackRock Inc. was ousted from the money-management giant for failing to disclose a relationship with an employee under his reporting line
  9. ^ Mirabella, Alan (5 December 2019). "BlackRock's Wiseman In His Own Words: 'I Regret My Mistake'". Bloomberg.com.
  10. ^ "Former BlackRock director Mark Wiseman lands new adviser role with Hillhouse Capital Group". The Logic. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  11. ^ "Influential Liberal advisers want Canadian population to triple by 2100". Global News. October 23, 2016.
  12. ^ "Team - Century Initiative". Century Initiative. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
  13. ^ "Mark Wiseman". FCLTGlobal. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  14. ^ Butcher, Sarah (6 December 2019). "BlackRock didn't sack Mark Wiseman for consensual sex". efinancialcareers.com. Wiseman's wife of 23 years, with whom he has two children, also works at BlackRock. And she was there first. Marcia Moffat is the sort of successful woman with a background in neuroscience and a career in asset management who doesn't take her husband's name. Moffat joined BlackRock in the summer of 2015 to head BlackRock's Canadian business. Her spouse joined a year later.
  15. ^ Hay, Laura (April 20, 2022). "Aspire, explore, and take action". KPMG Blog. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
Business positions
Preceded by CEO of CPP Investment Board
June 30, 2012-June 2016
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compensat $
Succeeded by