The former president of Canada’s largest pension fund has joined Singapore VC

The former president of the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board has joined a working group in Singapore, for the first time since he left the fund when he decided to travel to the Middle East to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, which has devastated the country.

Mark Machin, who resignation as head of the $ 356bn fund in February, he will join the Serendipity Capital group on August 1st.

Serendipity, a major retailer founded in 2020, provides funding for financial services, expertise and weather forecasting companies and has filed a lawsuit in the US to raise $ 250m from Spac directly to Asia.

“All travel must end,” he wrote in an email to staff at CPPIB and reviewed by Financial Times. “It is said that it is better to travel than to arrive. And we have done very well. Machin’s time in the race expired last Tuesday.

Machin flew alone to the United Arab Emirates to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in February, a time of intense travel in Canada. The visit sparked outrage, including criticism of Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s finance minister. “Canadians rely on CPPIB and hope it will be done well,” he said at the time.

Canada’s largest pension fund has raised an average annual income of 11% since Machin took over the reins five years ago, raising total assets from $ 280bn to about $ 500bn.

The relocation of the Asian economist follows almost a decade of working in various positions at CPPIB and marks a return to the area where he spent most of his career.

Machin was trained as a doctor before joining Goldman Sachs, working for several years at a bank in Asia, where he became the financial leader and second Asian former in Japan.

He moved from Goldman in 2012 to CPPIB, which oversees the Canadian Pension Plan, a pension fund for more than 20m.

Machin will act as executive director at Serendipity and “help drive the company’s operations and management”, said Robert Jesudason, chief executive officer.

Serendipity has invested in companies including UK-based Cambridge Quantum Computing in the UK, which has formed a partnership with Honeywell’s computer business, US conglomerate, as well as a climate change consulting firm and a Pollination-making company.

“Obviously [Machin] brings a lot of attention to financial management, and understands what is going on in these companies, “says Jesudason, adding that Machin” brings back relationships and ideas to Asia Pacific “.

Singapore has made huge sums of money to establish itself as a Southeast Asian technology and origin, which will attract more and more people. The city has a population of over 200 “capitalism”, according to the government, and is the largest earner in Southeast Asia.

Advertisers have poured S $ 5.5bn ($ 4.1bn) from Singapore in 2020, almost three times the amount they had set aside five years ago.

Additional reports of Stefania Palma in Singapore