Key Takeaways
- • Leadership Transition: Lori Hall-Kimm has departed HOOPP's global private equity role, with Mark Cormier and Roman Gula, both managing directors within the team, assuming interim co-head responsibilities to manage succession planning.
- • Portfolio Scale: HOOPP's private equity portfolio has grown to C$24.2 billion (approximately $21 billion USD), managed by a team of over 20 investment professionals under the departing leadership structure.
- • Interim Leadership Structure: Mark Cormier and Roman Gula's appointment as interim co-heads reflects HOOPP's approach to maintaining operational continuity while executing a formal search for a permanent global private equity head.
- • Strategic Positioning: The Canadian pension plan ($88 billion AUM) continues emphasizing international diversification, with particular focus on UK and European markets for private equity, infrastructure, and property investments amid evolving tariff and economic environments.
Summary
Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), Canada's $123 billion (C$88 billion USD equivalent) pension system, is navigating a leadership transition in its global private equity division following the departure of Lori Hall-Kimm. Mark Cormier and Roman Gula, both managing directors within HOOPP's private equity team, have stepped into interim co-head roles to lead the strategy during the succession process.
Hall-Kimm, who joined HOOPP in 2022 and held the position of Head of Global Private Equity, managed a substantially grown portfolio that expanded to C$24.2 billion under her tenure. During her leadership, she oversaw a team exceeding 20 investment professionals and navigated several significant transactions while establishing HOOPP's venture capital strategy and opening the pension fund's inaugural international office in London. Her departure marks a strategic inflection point for one of Canada's largest institutional asset allocators in the private markets space.
The interim co-head structure places Cormier and Gula at the helm while HOOPP executes a permanent search for the role. This leadership configuration allows the pension plan to maintain investment momentum across its diversified private capital mandate, which encompasses private equity, private debt, and venture capital commitments. The team's experience and established decision-making frameworks position HOOPP to sustain portfolio performance during the transition.
HOOPP's private equity strategy continues to emphasize geographic diversification and liquidity management. The pension fund has signaled particular interest in UK and European markets for private equity, infrastructure, and property investments, viewing these regions as attractive amid global trade uncertainties and tariff tensions. This international focus, anchored by the London office establishment under Hall-Kimm's stewardship, reflects HOOPP's strategic pivot toward markets perceived as offering compelling risk-adjusted returns relative to North American alternatives.
Hall-Kimm, who joined HOOPP in 2022 and held the position of Head of Global Private Equity, managed a substantially grown portfolio that expanded to C$24.2 billion under her tenure. During her leadership, she oversaw a team exceeding 20 investment professionals and navigated several significant transactions while establishing HOOPP's venture capital strategy and opening the pension fund's inaugural international office in London. Her departure marks a strategic inflection point for one of Canada's largest institutional asset allocators in the private markets space.
The interim co-head structure places Cormier and Gula at the helm while HOOPP executes a permanent search for the role. This leadership configuration allows the pension plan to maintain investment momentum across its diversified private capital mandate, which encompasses private equity, private debt, and venture capital commitments. The team's experience and established decision-making frameworks position HOOPP to sustain portfolio performance during the transition.
HOOPP's private equity strategy continues to emphasize geographic diversification and liquidity management. The pension fund has signaled particular interest in UK and European markets for private equity, infrastructure, and property investments, viewing these regions as attractive amid global trade uncertainties and tariff tensions. This international focus, anchored by the London office establishment under Hall-Kimm's stewardship, reflects HOOPP's strategic pivot toward markets perceived as offering compelling risk-adjusted returns relative to North American alternatives.
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