The province says the move comes 'after years of AIMCo consistently failing to meet its mandated benchmark returns.' For now, Finance Minister Nate Horner has been appointed the sole director and chair for AIMCo.

The provincial government of Alberta, Canada, has terminated the entire board of the C$168.9 billion ($124.5 billion) Alberta Investment Management Corp., Edmonton, citing underperformance issues and rising costs.

This is also the third board to be fired in its entirety by the UCP government, following Smith’s firing of the Alberta Health Services board in 2022 and the firing of the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity board last year.

The Alberta government on Thursday dismissed the CEO and board at the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), citing displeasure with increasingly high costs and reliance on third parties.

Alberta Investment Management Corp.’s entire board was sacked by the provincial government, which said the money manager has increased compensation and staff but hasn’t produced acceptable returns.

The news release said Alberta’s government plans to appoint a new board chair within 30 days. In the interim, Horner has been appointed the sole director and chair for AIMCo. All previous board member appointments have been “rescinded” and a new board is to be established after a permanent chair is named, according to the release.

Court Ellingson, Alberta NDP shadow minister for finance, issued a statement in response, calling the move “UCP incompetence.” “In an unprecedented move, the UCP fired the entire board and the CEO, and made their own politician—not an investment expert—the sole person in charge of over $170 billion of these Albertans’ pensions,” said Ellingson.