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The former head of the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board is joining a Singapore-based venture capital group. This is his first position after leaving the fund after deciding to fly to the Middle East to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, which caused strong national opposition.
Mark Machin, who resignation As the CEO of the $356 billion fund in February, he will join Serendipity Capital’s board of directors on August 1.
Serendipity is a venture capital group established in 2020 that invests in financial services, technology and climate-focused companies, and has applied in the United States to raise up to US$250 million from Asia-focused Spac.
“All journeys must end,” he wrote in an email to CPPIB staff and was seen by the Financial Times. “Some people say that travel is better than arrival. And our trip went smoothly.” Ma Qin’s term in the fund officially ended last Tuesday.
In February of this year, Machin traveled to the United Arab Emirates to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in his personal capacity. This was a period when Canada imposed strict travel controls. The trip caused outrage, including the condemnation of Canadian Finance Minister Christia Freeland. “Canadians trust CPPIB and hope it can reach a higher standard,” she said at the time.
Since Machin took the helm five years ago, Canada’s largest pension fund has had an average annual return of 11%, pushing total assets from $280 billion to nearly $500 billion.
The financier moved to Asia after serving in various roles in CPPIB for nearly a decade, which marked his return to the region where he had spent most of his career.
Machin was trained as a doctor before joining Goldman Sachs. He spent most of the twenty years at Bank of Asia, where he became the head of investment banking and the vice chairman of Asia (except Japan).
He left Goldman Sachs in 2012 to go to CPPIB, which manages investments in the Canada Pension Plan, which is the backbone of the country’s retirement system and has more than 20 million contributors.
Chief Executive Robert Jesudason stated that Machin will serve as a non-executive director of Serendipity and “help advance the company’s strategy and governance.”
Serendipity invests in companies including Cambridge Quantum Computing in the UK, which will soon establish a joint venture with the quantum computing business of Honeywell, a US conglomerate, and Pollination, a climate change consulting and investment company.
“Clearly [Machin] Bringing a wealth of investment management experience, he understands the trends in the industry,” Jesudason said, adding that Machin also “brought deep relationships and vision to the Asia-Pacific region.”
Singapore has invested heavily in positioning itself as a technology and entrepreneurial center in Southeast Asia, attracting more and more investors. According to the government, this city-state has “more than 200 venture capitalists”, accounting for the majority of venture capital in Southeast Asia.
In 2020, investors invested S$5.5 billion (US$4.1 billion) in Singapore start-ups, almost three times the amount invested five years ago.
Additional reporting by Stefania Palma in Singapore
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