John Graham
Biography
John Graham was appointed President & CEO of CPP Investments in February 2021 and is responsible for leading its critical mission: to help ensure millions of Canadians have a strong foundation of financial security in retirement. The CPP Fund has over C$630 billion in assets under management, and is projected to reach C$3.6 trillion by 2050.
Graham joined CPP Investments in 2008 starting in the Total Portfolio Management group (now Total Fund Management) before moving into Private Investments. Graham assumed leadership of Principal Credit Investments in 2015 as Managing Director and Global Head of the group. In 2018, he was appointed Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Credit Investments, where he was responsible for leading Credit Investments globally. Under his leadership, the credit investments department has grown its exposure in key emerging markets and continuously scaled activities along the entire credit spectrum. Graham’s experience at CPP Investments has spanned the globe, having worked in their Toronto, London and Hong Kong offices. Graham is a champion for innovation and inclusion across CPP Investments. He has been instrumental in efforts to bring technology and data closer to the investment process across the Fund. Under Graham’s leadership, the Credit Investments group grew to over 43% female – up from 30% when he took the helm. Graham also acts as the Fund’s champion in its commitment to the BlackNorth pledge and sits on the board of FCLTGlobal, a non-profit organization that develops research and tools that encourage long-term investing, of which CPP Investments is a founding member.
Graham holds a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Western Ontario and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Before joining CPP Investments, Graham spent nine years at Xerox Innovation Group in research and strategy roles as a research scientist focused on chemistry and nanotechnology. He is a CFA charter holder, is the inventor on 36 patents and has published 16 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Graham joined the Board of Trustees at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in June 2024.