On September 8, 2021, Alberta Teacher Retirement Fund Board (ATRF) announced that it had reached agreement with the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) on the terms of an Investment Management Agreement (IMA) that will protect the best interests of ATRF's Pension Plans over the long term.
The agreement ensures that the board of ATRF maintains full control over the strategic investment policy for the Pension Plans' assets and that AIMCo must implement that policy. It further governs how AIMCo will fulfill its responsibility in implementing that policy. The agreement provides meaningful accountability measures, and a commitment to collaboration and transparency regarding how the Pension Plans ' assets are managed.
ATRF negotiated with AIMCo throughout much of 2020 to establish the terms of an IMA. ATRF and AIMCo were not able to agree to certain key terms that ATRF felt were necessary to protect its role, responsibilities, and the interests of its plans prior to the legislated deadline.
On January 4, 2021, ATRF was informed that the Minister of Finance had issued a Ministerial Order (MO) establishing the terms and conditions of the relationship between ATRF and AIMCo. The MO was to remain in force until it was replaced by an IMA that was the product of mutual negotiations. With the IMA now in place, the MO issued by the Minister of Finance is no longer in force.
Having an IMA in place will allow ATRF and AIMCo to work together more effectively on the orderly transfer of the remaining assets in the coming months to meet the legislated deadline of December 31, 2021.
Gowling WLG acted for ATRF in connection with negotiation of the IMA, with a team that included Myron Dzulynsky, Daniel Hayhurst and Olivia Lifman.