Marlene Puffer is the CIO of Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), where she oversees $160 billion on behalf of 17 pensions, endowments, insurance and government funds in the province of Alberta, Canada. AIMCo is one of the “Maple 8” Canadian pension managers that together oversee $2 trillion in assets and are innovators in institutional portfolio management.

Our conversation covers Marlene’s path to pension management from roots in academia and fixed income, her first CIO role at the Canadian National corporate pension fund, and transition to AIMCo earlier this year. We discuss AIMCo’s asset-liability matching investment strategy, global team, internal and external management, compensation, external manager selection, opportunities and risks, and the unique qualities of Canadian pensions.