In what is becoming a rather disturbing trend, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has announced the departure of another executive after a lengthy sick leave.
Executive vice-president and chief financial officer Ghislain Parent has “departed,” according to a terse press release, which added that the search for his replacement has been under way for some time. Caisse CEO Michael Sabia will fill in for Parent in the meantime, which likely won’t be too difficult since he has been doing so since October.
Parent is following in the footsteps of the fund manager’s former chief risk officer Susan Kudzman and former CEO Richard Guay, both of whom took extended sick leaves before announcing their departures.
In a Globe and Mail report a former senior Caisse executive suggests that Parent was spending at least some of his sick leave seeking employment elsewhere. And Kudzman’s letter of resignation outlined how she was pursuing “other professional opportunities,” indicating that perhaps she was feeling better.
So, apart from the apparent ability of Caisse execs to take indefinite sick leave—which may or may not include interviews with other organizations—the main question seems to be: what’s going on at the fund manager?
They’ve lost at least three senior staff since Sabia controversially took over a year ago. And while its performance seems to be headed in the right direction (10% return on investments in 2009 compared with the $39.8 billion loss for 2008), it seems that other areas—such as HR—might need some attention.
Sabia obviously needs to start somewhere, and getting his financial house in order is a priority. But surely the bleeding of senior people must be cause for consternation. Perhaps small changes in certain areas to increase accountability?
Personally, I’d begin with the policies surrounding sick notes.
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