Building the Total Portfolio at Ontario Teachers – Stephen McLennan (EP.518)

Stephen McLennan is the Co-Chief Investment Officer of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, where he oversees asset allocation for the $300 billion fund responsible for the retirement security of 346,000 teachers. Stephen joined OTPP in 2003 and worked across credit, natural resources, infrastructure, and Total Fund Management, before splitting the CIO seat with Gillian Brown in 2024 — a dual-CIO structure that is unique among Canada's largest pension funds.

Our conversation traces that path and discusses OTPP's total portfolio strategy, including the balance of top-down asset allocation with bottom-up investing, role of active management, liquidity, leverage, and internal and external management. We cover where private equity, credit, infrastructure, hedge funds, and inflation-sensitive assets earn their place in the portfolio, how AI-driven concentration risk factors into portfolio resilience, and the evolution of the Canadian model, with both enduring edges and eroding competitive advantages.

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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)