Former Gaz Metro (TSX:GZM.UN) head Robert Tessier was appointed chairman of the troubled Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec on Thursday and said his first task will be to help find a president and CEO of the pension-fund manager.
"I think it's important to have a captain at the wheel," Tessier said at a news conference flanked by Quebec Finance Minister Monique Jerome-Forget.
And Tessier, who served as chief executive and later as chairman of Gaz Metro, the largest natural gas distributor in Quebec, said he doesn't plan on wasting much time.
"It's a question not of days, but not of months either."
An international firm has been entrusted with submitting a list of possible candidates for the top job. The Caisse will then make a recommendation to the government, which will have the final say.
Tessier was tight-lipped when asked whether veteran investment industry executive Luc Bertrand would be a good choice.
TMX Group Inc. (TSX:X) announced Thursday that Bertrand, who headed the Montreal Exchange before its takeover last year by the former TSX Group, will step down effective June 30 as deputy chief executive officer of TMX Group and president and CEO of subsidiary Montreal Exchange Inc.
"You must understand that this kind of recruitment process is highly confidential," Tessier said.
Later, he added that Bertrand is "certainly someone of high quality. I don't know the details of his career."
Tessier defended the beleaguered Caisse as an "excellent institution" but acknowledged "mistakes were made" in 2008 as the value of its assets tumbled by 25 per cent -- or $39.8 billion.
About $22 billion of the fall were paper losses that could regain value once the markets recover. The Toronto stock market has lost nearly half its value since last June's record high and could take a few years to recover that lost ground, depending on the pace of the recovery in the world economy and the price of commodities.
The rest of the Caisse's red ink last year come from losses realized on the sale of investments and $8.9 billion from hedging its foreign real estate and equity holdings.
Tessier, a former chairman of Groupe MIL and Alstom Canada, will replace Pierre Brunet, who is leaving the Caisse after five years.
"I have a deep conviction that I can make a difference at the Caisse at a time when the institution is going through a period that is not easy." Tessier said.
Jerome-Forget said she was happy that Tessier, a former deputy minister in the Natural Resources Department, had accepted the job.
"I am delighted that Mr. Tessier, a worthy individual who brings to the position his vast experience and impressive achievements, has agreed to accept this challenge against the current backdrop," she said.
