PRI board asset owner election candidates: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec’s Marie Giguère

Name: Marie Giguère
Title: Executive Vice-President, Legal Affairs and Secretariat
Signatory organisation: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ)
Signatory organisation seconding your candidacy: PSP investments

CANDIDATE STATEMENT
It is a pleasure to submit my candidacy as a PRI Board member.
I have held the position of Executive Vice-President of CDPQ for nearly 5 years. Rooted in a North American context, CDPQ has always attached great importance to governance, making it a leader in the field and a forerunner in responsible investment. CDPQ adopted a policy on the exercise of voting rights in 1994. It votes annually at over 4,600 shareholder meetings. It adopted its RI policy in 2004 and applies it to all its assets. CDPQ is among the first signatories of PRI: it was present for the launch on the New York Stock Exchange, attended by Kofi Annan.
The PRI Board wishes its members to have a variety of relevant expertise. Governance is certainly one of the areas of expertise sought.
I have long experience in governance in various investment fields. Together with my training as a lawyer, my role as a corporate General Secretary and my current functions, which cause me to reflect on and raise ESG issues in many everyday situations, this makes me a candidate who can contribute the expertise required for this Board.
During my career, I have advised and represented issuers, investors and brokers in regulatory matters and within the context of public offerings, takeover bids, mergers, private equity, real estate, infrastructure and due diligence. I participated in the restructuring of Canadian exchanges. Governance, and more broadly ESG issues, is a subject common to all of these environments. I have played leadership roles favouring the adoption of good governance practices.
Therefore, I have been able to study these issues from several points of view – those of market regulator, publicly-traded companies and institutional investors.
On RI issues, we often work with our peers. My team and I are involved in discussion groups with them, and these collaborations have given me an in-depth knowledge of the North American reality.
When I joined CDPQ, I wanted to strengthen CDPQ’s role as an RI leader. Our team is now very active with investment groups to ensure the integration of ESG risks into analyses, while optimizing engagement and voting activities.
With your support, I undertake to advance RI practices among traditional institutional investors, which is my main motivation for joining this Board.BIOGRAPHY
CAISSE DE DÉPÔT ET PLACEMENT DU QUÉBEC Executive Vice-President, Legal Affairs and Secretariat
OTÉRA CAPITAL (subsidiary – CDPQ) Vice-President, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary
CAISSE DE DÉPÔT ET PLACEMENT DU QUÉBEC
Consultant working on the infrastructure and private equity portfolios
MOLSON INC.
Senior Vice-President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary
MONTRÉAL EXCHANGE
Senior Vice-President, Corporate Affairs and General Secretary
Fasken Martineau Partner
Lawyer

ACADEMIC TRAINING
Québec Bar
Bachelor of Civil Law McGill University
Bachelor’s degree in Hispanic Literature Université de Montréal
TEACHING
Securities Law, Master of Laws program Université de Montréal
Securities Law, McGill University
Ethics, regulation and standards of conduct in finance Bachelor’s program, HEC

SOME ACHIEVEMENTS

• Restructured the responsible investment team – sector-based specialization (CDPQ)
• Set up the structure and governance of CDPQ’s new real estate subsidiary (Otéra Capital)
• Negotiated the Molson merger with Adolph Coors Company in 2004 (Molson Inc.).
• Responsible for governance at the Montréal Exchange and participated actively in the
  Canadian Exchanges Restructuring team in 1999.

AWARDS

• Commerce-ZSA career excellence award under the category “Movers and shakers, forthright and fair” 2005;
• Advocatus Emeritus of the Quebec Bar – 2007;
• James Robb Award, 2008 – for her exceptional work as a volunteer in the McGill University
  community.
• Lexpert Zenith Award celebrating leading women lawyers – 2013
• Directors Roundtable leading global honor for General Counsel – 2013.