By Anirban Sen and Prakhar Srivastava
Nov 9 (Reuters) – Karen Karniol-Tambour will leave Bridgewater Associates after two decades to become the inaugural CEO of the Canada Strong Fund, said Nir Bar Dea, chief of the US-based hedge fund manager, in a statement to Reuters on Monday.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also announced her appointment to lead the sovereign wealth fund, bringing her Wall Street investment expertise to one of his key economic initiatives.
Carney had launched the Canada Strong Fund in April with an initial endowment of C$25 billion to invest in major Canadian projects and companies.
Under Karniol-Tambour’s leadership, the fund will be professionally managed, operating at arm’s length from the government, with its own board of directors, according to a statement from Carney’s office.
Budget 2026 had outlined plans to establish the Canada Strong Fund as an independent Crown corporation. In the interim, it will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canada Development Investment Corporation — the government’s financial and commercial adviser.
Resource-rich countries, particularly those with large oil and gas reserves, often establish state-owned funds to manage excess revenue, investing the money in domestic and international markets and projects.
The Canada Strong Fund will also offer retail investment products, giving Canadians access to investment opportunities traditionally available mainly to institutional investors.
“As a proud Canadian, this is an opportunity for Karen to serve her country and take on the important work of public service,” Bar Dea said.
Karniol-Tambour had joined Bridgewater in 2006. She became co-chief investment officer for sustainability in 2021 and was appointed Bridgewater’s co-chief investment officer in 2023.
Bridgewater, which currently manages about $102 billion of assets, has in recent years bet on new strategies, including a fund that uses AI to make investment decisions.
($1 = 1.4101 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru and Anirban Sen in New York; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
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