ABOUT UBCIM
+ The UBC Endowment Fund
+ The UBC Staff Pension Plan
+ The UBC Working Capital Fund
PURPOSE
Pursuing excellence in investment management on behalf of the funds we manage.
VISION
To be a leading investment office
MISSION
To be a trusted and innovative partner by:
+ financially supporting UBC’s research, students and educational programs
+ providing a sustainable pension for current and former employees
+ supporting the UBC’s responsible investing goals
VALUES
FOCUSED
- We are driven to produce superior risk-adjusted returns.
- We strive to excel in the diligent selection and monitoring of our investment partners.
CLIENT-CENTRED
- We foster a culture of transparency and service excellence.
- We value clear communication and pursue meaningful interactions with our internal partners.
TRUSTED
- We seek to forge partnerships built on trust and respect with our internal partners, our investment managers and service providers.
- We collaborate with investors and organizations that share our investment objectives and values.
CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVING
- We seek to continuously adopt more agile, efficient structures and processes to enhance our competitive advantage.
- We steadily acquire additional knowledge, techniques and insights to refine our investment approach in changing market conditions and landscape.
ONE TEAM
- The asset we value above all others is our people.
- We foster diversity, equity and inclusion, ensuring everyone feels welcome and has the same opportunity to learn, contribute and realize their potential.
- We work as one team, collaborating to create a more nimble, responsive and effective organization.
UBC INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
UBC Investment Management’s Board is currently composed of up to nine directors appointed by the university’s Board of Governors. Three are UBC-related directors — senior university executives and representatives of the Board of Governors and the Staff Pension Plan Board. The other five to six independent directors are members of the business community recommended by our Board and approved by the UBC Board of Governors.
Gordon MacDougall (Chair, UBC Investment Management Board)
Gordon MacDougall is a Corporate Director. For over 30 years, until his retirement in 2014, Mr. MacDougall was Vice-Chairman and Director with Connor, Clark & Lunn (CCL) Investment Management. Since 2002, he has been a Director of the Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group Ltd.
Prior to his years with CCL, Mr. MacDougall held senior executive positions with Yorkshire Trust Company and AGF Vancouver Investment Management, Dominion Securities and Sun Life Assurance.
Mr. MacDougall is the Chair of the Board of Rogers Chocolates; Director of International Forest Products and Chair of their Corporate Governance & Nominating Committee and a Director of the Capilano Golf & Country Club. Currently, Mr. MacDougall is the Chair of the Board of UBC Investment Management and the Chair of its Investment Committee.
Mr. MacDougall’s past board experience includes Director positions on the Boards of Intrawest Corporation, Highfield Properties Ltd and Tangent Oil & Gas as well as Chair of the Vancouver Foundation.
Mr. MacDougall received a B.Comm (Finance) from Concordia University and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. Mr. MacDougall is a CFA charterholder.
Tom Bradley
Tom Bradley is the Chair and Co-founder of Steadyhand Investment Management, a boutique manager focused solely on better outcomes for individual
Canadian investors. He co-founded the firm in 2007.
Tom started his career in 1983 as an Equity Analyst at Richardson Greenshields. He spent eight years with the firm, the last three as Director of Institutional Sales. In 1991, he joined
Phillips, Hager & North as a Research Analyst and Institutional Portfolio Manager. He was appointed to the Board of Directors of PH&N in 1996 and appointed President and CEO
in 1999, a role that he held until he resigned from the firm in 2005. Tom’s education includes a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of
Manitoba (1979), an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business (1983) and 38 years in the investment trenches.
In addition to his duties at Steadyhand, Tom is a long-standing member of the Investment Committee at the Vancouver Foundation and an enthusiastic advocate for individual
investors through his blogs, bi-weekly articles in the National Post and speeches to industry groups.
Jerry Chen
Jerry Chen is the Associate Vice President, Human Resources (Communities of Expertise) at UBC. Jerry took on this role in September 2021 to provide oversight, strategic direction and leadership to his talent development & engagement, talent acquisition, total rewards, and health & wellbeing teams.
Prior to UBC, Jerry worked for Pacific Blue Cross for over four years leading the organization’s Human Resources strategy as it relates to talent acquisition, total rewards, labour relations, ability management, HR systems and analytics. He served on a number of governance committees: risk management, privacy council, pension, project prioritization, workforce management, and senior leadership. He has also worked for global and national companies, unionized workplaces and start-ups during his 20 plus year career in Human Resources.
Jerry serves as a member of UBC’s Staff Pension Plan Board and he serves in his community as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Burnaby Family Life.
Amanda Farrell
Amanda Farrell is the President and Chief Executive Officer at Transportation Investment Corporation (TI Corp). Amanda took on this role in December 2018 to lead the management and delivery of major infrastructure projects, including the new Pattullo Bridge, the Kicking Horse Canyon Project – Phase 4 and the Broadway Subway. Since that time, TI Corp’s portfolio has expanded to include the George Massey Crossing Project and the new Steveston Interchange, the Collections and Research Building Project, part of the Royal BC Museum Modernization Project, and the Surrey Langley SkyTrain. Prior to TI Corp, Amanda served as the President and CEO of Partnerships BC for five years.
Amanda focused the organization’s culture on client responsiveness and strengthening relationships with current and future clients in the development of major public infrastructure projects from hospitals to courthouses to transit lines. Amanda also served as Chief Project Officer on the now completed Evergreen SkyTrain Line in Vancouver during that time.
Earlier in her career, Amanda gained public policy and operational experience in the UK before moving to British Columbia. Amanda is a Board member of Family Services of the North Shore, a member of the programming committee of the BC Construction Roundtable, and a founding director of the BC Women’s Infrastructure network. Amanda was honoured by her peers as the recipient of the 2018 Women’s Infrastructure Network Outstanding Leader award.
Alison Gould
Alison Gould is currently Chief Investment Officer of the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation. The Federation has assets under management of approximately $6 billion invested in support of multiple pension and benefit plans.
Ms Gould was formerly Chief Investment Officer of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC). Ms. Gould’s former positions at ICBC were Head of Investment and Treasury (2014); Vice-President Investments, 2008-2014; Director Investments, 2003-2008. Ms. Gould received a Master of Business Administration from UBC’s Sauder School of Business and a B.Comm from Queens University.
Hyewon Kong
Hyewon Kong is Vice President of Responsible Investing at the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO), where she leads IMCO’s sustainable/responsible investing strategies.
With over 20 years of experience in both corporate and investment management in Asia, Europe and North America, Hyewon has been an ambassador of sustainable investing as an experienced portfolio manager and a subject matter expert on ESG. Since moving from the UK to Canada 6 years ago, Hyewon has been instrumental in creating broad collaborations in the Canadian financial industry to drive a sustainability agenda and has been named to Canada's 2020 Clean50 leaders.
Hyewon serves on the Environmental Finance Advisory Committee at the University of Toronto and lectures on Investing for Impact, Environmental Finance and Sustainable Investment courses.
Hyewon is a CFA charterholder and a member of the Toronto CFA society and has cofounded and co-chaired Canadian Responsible Investment Working Group to provide platforms for collaboration and engagement to address key ESG issues.
Azim Lalani
Azim Lalani was the Chief Financial Officer of American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP (TSX: HOT.un) from 2014 to 2021. During his tenure, AHIP grew its enterprise value from US$350 million to over US$1.1 billion and owned and asset managed a diversified portfolio of 78 branded hotels across the United States. Azim led the finance group and was responsible for managing financial reporting, tax, treasury, corporate finance and risk management activities.
Azim has over 25 years of financial experience and has held senior management roles in several public and private real estate companies.
Azim was appointed to the UBC Board of Governors in 2019 and is currently Chair of the Finance Committee and was previously Chair of the Audit Committee. Azim is also a Director of UBC Investment Management. and serves on their Audit Committee and Governance and HR Committee.
A Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) and a Chartered Business Valuator (CBV), Azim graduated from The University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1992.
Yale Loh
Yale has been the Treasurer at the University of British Columbia since joining the university in March 2019. In this role he is responsible for providing financial analysis to support strategic initiatives and capital projects for all UBC campuses and locations, and ensuring UBC has sufficient financial liquidity through strong cash and debt management practices. He is also responsible for leading strategic financial planning, tax, leases and licences, and revenue accounting. In his role, Yale oversees all of UBC’s financial assets, including UBC’s $2 billion endowment pool, and is heavily involved with UBCs efforts to evolve and further strengthen our responsible investing framework for the $2 billion endowment fund. Yale has over 30 years of capital markets and corporate experience. He joined UBC from Aritzia, where he served as Treasurer and previously held senior roles with Finning International, Capital Power Corporation, and BC Hydro.
In addition to being a member of the Board of Directors at UBC Investment Management, Yale is also a member of the Board of Directors of the UBC Staff Pension Plan. Yale currently serves his community as a member of the finance Committee of the Board at West Point Grey Academy. He was previously a member of the United Way of the Lower Mainland Campaign Cabinet and a member of the Board of Directors of the Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver Foundation.
Yale is a commerce graduate from UBC and earned an Masters in Business Administration from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Yale also holds his Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Professional Accountant designations.
Rakesh Saraf
Rakesh Saraf is a senior private equity and infrastructure investments professional. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce(1986) from the University of Chennai, India; a Master of Management Studies(1998) from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, University of Mumbai, India; a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA, 2003) designation; and is an ICD.D Charterholder since 2008.
He has over 30 years’ experience in investment management, governance, strategy, growth, audit/risk management and HR/compensation. Draws from a diverse set of experiences rooted in hands-on principal investing across multiple strategies, industries and numerous direct equity situations. General management techniques are grounded by strong quantitative analytical investment skills. International experience in all facets of investment management, spanning both Private and Public Market investments.
He was a Senior executive at Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund Board and Alberta Investment Management Corp., where he represented both organizations at the Board of Directors of investee companies that included RTL-Westcan, Klemke Mining Corporation, and NCSG Ltd, and was a Director of the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.
He is currently a Board member of BeneSys, Inc., a provider of Taft-Hartley Trust Fund Administration and Information Technology services; Skyline Renewable LLC, an independent wind power producer; and POI Business Interiors a Workspace Interiors and Office Furniture Company.
He also serves his community as Member, Board of Governors and Senator at University of Alberta and, serves on the Investment Committee of Edmonton Community
Foundation.
UBC INVESTMENT
MANAGEMENT TEAM
UBC Investment Management’s team brings rich investment management experience and diverse backgrounds and skills sets to the funds we manage. All staff take ownership of the funds we manage, while applying individual functional expertise when and where appropriate. We have built a close-knit, team-based culture within the organization that promotes best in class investment thinking and practices.
Dawn Jia, CFA
President & Chief Executive Officer
Dawn Jia, CFA
As President and CEO of UBC Investment Management, Dawn is responsible for the overall investment activities and monitoring of the funds we manage. She also oversees UBC Investment Management operations and provides strategic and operating objectives to the organization. Prior to joining UBC Investment Management, Dawn was a Senior Portfolio Manager at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). At CPPIB, Dawn and her team were responsible for ensuring that the total portfolio delivered on its overall mandate, by rebalancing it to the desired systematic exposures.
Before Dawn joined CPPIB in 2013, she was Vice President and Head of Active Equity for North America at State Street Global Advisors. Previously, she was an equity portfolio manager at Barclays Global Investors and a quantitative strategist at CIBC World Markets.
Dawn is a Board member of Vancouver Foundation and chairs the Investment Committee. She also serves on the Board of Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (CCGG). Dawn is a founding member of the Advisory Board of Western University’s Master of Financial Economics program and served on the Investment Committee of the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA). Dawn received her MBA from the Ivey Business School and an MS in Engineering from Tianjin University in China. She is also a CFA charterholder.
Yasir Mallick, CPA, CA, CAIA, CFA
Senior Portfolio Manager
Yasir Mallick, CPA, CA, CAIA, CFA
Yasir Mallick joined UBC Investment Management in 2020 and plays a lead role in sourcing, monitoring, and evaluating external managers across both public and private markets. His investment management responsibilities include direct oversight of the equity program and absolute return program within UBC Investment Management. In addition to manager selection, monitoring, and portfolio construction, Yasir leads and supports various strategic projects including governance, corporate strategy, investment framework, risk and design and implementation of investment related processes and procedures.
Yasir brings over 15 years of investment and risk related experience having worked at PwC, KPMG, Ontario Power Generation and University of Toronto Asset Management. Yasir holds both a Bachelor of Commerce and a Masters of Finance from the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CA, CPA) and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designations (CAIA).
Varun Agrawal, CFA
Director
Varun Agrawal, CFA
Varun Agrawal brings over 12 years of experience to the UBC Investment Management team. Previously, Varun was an Associate Director at the Johns Hopkins University Investment Office where he played a key role in building out the office’s risk management capabilities focused on portfolio analysis. Before joining Johns Hopkins, Varun was a Vice President at Harvard Management Company as a lead on analytics design and monitoring hedge fund investments. Specifically, he was instrumental in developing and implementing best practices in risk-factor investing.
Varun earned his Bachelor of Engineering with the highest honors from Punjab Engineering College where he was awarded the University Silver Medal for academic excellence in addition to a merit-based scholarship. He later earned a MS in Operations Research from Columbia University in New York. Varun is a CFA charterholder.
Sharon Siu, CFA, CAIA
Associate Director
Sharon Siu, CFA, CAIA
Sharon joined UBC Investment Management in 2007. She is currently responsible for real assets and private debt research, manager selection, and monitoring for real assets and private debt investments. During her tenure, she has held different responsibilities at the organization and worked on various asset class investments and projects.
Prior to joining UBC Investment Management in 2007, Sharon worked at CBRE, a global commercial real estate brokerage firm, performing property valuations and assisting in the marketing of multi-family properties and land properties. Sharon holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with majors in finance and accounting from Simon Fraser University. She is also a CFA charterholder and CAIA charterholder.
Graham Sheppard, CFA
Associate Director
Graham Sheppard, CFA
Graham holds several key responsibilities at UBC Investment Management, chief among them being a primary relationship contact for our internal partners to ensure their priorities are well understood and being supported as well as leading our responsible investing priorities.
Within the investment team, Graham oversees total portfolio asset allocation, including rebalancing and cash management activities, total portfolio strategy research and investment policy development, and leads oversight of public fixed income investments.
Prior to joining UBC Investment Management, Graham was a Portfolio Manager within the Investments Division of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC), managing the group’s macroeconomic, financial market, and fixed income research efforts for the company’s $20 billion insurance fund and $1.2 billion pension plan for management employees. Prior to joining ICBC, Graham was an Analyst at ERA Research, a boutique investment research firm specializing in equity and high yield investment opportunities in the global Forest Products sector.
Graham is a CFA charterholder and a proud alumnus of the UBC Thunderbirds.
Josh Kruse, CFA, CAIA
Senior Investment Analyst
Josh Kruse, CFA, CAIA
Josh joined UBC Investment Management in 2019, focusing on investment research, portfolio modelling and data analytics. He is currently responsible for manager selection, due diligence, and monitoring for private equity, credit and real assets portfolios.
Prior to joining UBC Investment Management, Josh worked as a Senior Analyst for four years at Bloomberg LP in London, England where he focused on alternative asset classes. He also has prior experience at Mackenzie Investments in Toronto. Josh received a Bachelor of Arts Economics from McGill University and an M.Sc. in Finance from Durham University. He is a CFA charterholder and CAIA charterholder.
Jenny Lin, CPA, CMA
Manager, Operations
Jenny Lin, CPA, CMA
Jenny Lin joined UBC Investment Management in 2019 where she is responsible for custodian relationship management and oversight of cash management and oversight of corporate and investment accounting as well as liaising with various UBC departments. Prior to joining UBC Investment Management, Jenny was an Investment Analyst with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC). In her 10 years at ICBC, she worked in multiple areas including middle and back office, compliance, investment accounting and cash management.
Jenny is a CPA, CMA and received her B. Comm from Queen’s University. As part of her interest in continuous education, she also obtained her Risk Management Certificate from the Insurance Institute of Canada.
Jasper Deasey
Junior Investment Analyst
Jasper Deasey
Jasper is a recent graduate of the UBC Sauder School of Business, earning a combined major in Business and Computer Science. He joined the team in 2022 after interning the previous summer, and now focusses on portfolio risk. In his free time, he can be found studying for his CFA designation, building software projects and enjoying BC’s outdoors.
GOVERNANCE
UBC has overall responsibility for managing the university’s investment portfolios and Staff Pension Plan. The university’s Board of Governors appoints UBC Investment Management’s Board of Directors, which in turn delegates our President and Chief Executive Officer to oversee the day-to-day administration and investment of the funds. In our investment activities, we are granted specific responsibilities and powers within a clearly defined governance and organizational structure:
