OPB announces CPO Peter Shena to retire in late 2023, followed by CEO Mark Fuller in late 2024

Today, we wanted to share that after more than 20 years at OPB, two of our well-respected and integral executives will be retiring.

First, Peter Shena, Executive Vice President & Chief Pension Officer will be stepping down from his role as Executive Vice President & Chief Pension Officer at the end of 2023.

Then at the end of 2024, Mark Fuller, our President & Chief Executive Officer will be retiring.

Under their vision and leadership, OPB launched an industry-leading advisory services model, and spearheaded the creation of IMCO to provide OPB with the scale and cost-effective direct access to private market investments needed to drive higher incremental returns. Also under their leadership, OPB nearly doubled the number of contributing members, built a strong culture of highly engaged employees, became a trusted advisor to our clients and stakeholders, and reached our highest member and employer satisfaction ratings. This has contributed to OPB being ranked as the #1 plan amongst our peers in Canada and 4th globally for cost-effective service from CEM, a leading pension benchmarking firm. Their commitment and leadership have positioned OPB and the PSPP very well for the future.

Mark and Peter have been working with HR and the Board over the past few years to build an effective and sound succession plan. We recognize how important this is, particularly for our senior leadership positions. We are taking a very careful and thoughtful approach to the upcoming leadership transition to ensure we continue providing excellent service to our clients and delivering on the pension promise now and into the future.

The succession plan includes a deliberate phased leadership transfer that builds in ample time for knowledge sharing and allows for some overlap to ensure leadership continuity and a smooth transition.

Our approach to recruiting these roles

Understanding how critical these roles are, OPB’s Board has been carefully planning for the leadership succession over the past few years and has created a Board Succession Working Group to guide the transition and oversee the recruitment of these two key positions. They are committed to finding leaders who will not only bring the right skills to the roles but who will continue the advancement of OPB’s thriving culture and our advisory services model.

The Board has retained executive search firm LHH Knightsbridge to assist them. With Peter preparing to step down at the end of 2023, we will be recruiting for a transitional role - President & Chief Pension Officer. The intention is that the successful candidate for this role will ultimately become OPB’s new President and CEO at the end of 2024 when our current CEO, Mark Fuller, retires. This is part of our careful and prudent approach to ensure we have a smooth leadership transfer over a period of time and that we continue to deliver operational excellence throughout the transition.

Initially, the successful candidate will work alongside Peter Shena and the Pensions group to gain a deep understanding of the PSPP, how we protect the pension promise and our advisory approach to delivering services and retirement planning support to our members. Peter has agreed to be available in 2024 to assist us with a smooth transition as well as help provide leadership continuity on critical projects.

The successful candidate will also have the opportunity to work closely with Mark Fuller, particularly during 2024, as they prepare for the transition to President & CEO. Mark and the successful candidate will focus on ensuring there is an effective knowledge transfer for all the other critical functions within the organization, including investments oversight, governance, technology, finance, and human resources and corporate services.

Prior to the candidate stepping into their new President & CEO role, they will also be engaged on the selection of the permanent CPO whom we expect to start before the end of 2024.

We are confident that this multi-phased approach will ensure a smooth and successful transition.

Our continued commitment to clients

We have taken a thoughtful and deliberate approach to this succession plan to ensure that throughout the transition and beyond, we continue to deliver excellent service, protect the pension promise and advance our strategies to continually enhance the retirement planning experience for members.

Media contact:
Michael Lockhart
Senior Manager, External Communications & Digital Experience
416-601-3906
michael.lockhart@opb.ca
www.opb.ca