Alberta government fires AIMCo board citing rising costs, poor performance [Video]

Alberta’s finance minister has sacked the chief executive officer and entire board of directors of Alberta Investment Management Corp., the Crown corporation that manages pension and other funds for the province and handles more than $160 billion in assets.

Finance Minister Nate Horner said in a statement Thursday that the changes at AIMCo are due to rising management fees coupled with a consistent failure to meet mandated benchmark returns.

The decision takes effect immediately and Horner will be sole director and chair for AIMCo until a new chair is appointed within 30 days, with a new board established after that.

Horner told reporters that he’s been watching AIMCo closely, and determined changes weren’t going to happen without a “major reset.”

The pension fund manager’s chief executive officer, Evan Siddall, was also fired Thursday, as were three other senior executives, Horner said.

Siddall had been in the role since the summer of …