Invesco Ltd. has name Heather Hunter as its new head of Canadian equities for Invesco’s institutional business in Canada.

“This move provides us with a tremendous opportunity to strengthen our existing institutional presence in Canada, as institutional clients in this market are increasingly looking at a wider array of investment strategies,” said Martin L. Flanagan, president and CEO of Invesco. “By further broadening the institutional-grade investment capabilities available in the Canadian marketplace, Invesco can provide greater value while building our share of the fourth-largest institutional market in the world.”

In her new role, Hunter will report to Kirk Holland, CEO of Invesco Global Strategies, and will focus on building Invesco’s Canadian equities capabilities in the defined-benefit and defined-contribution pension channels in Canada. With 68 investment professionals, the Invesco Global Strategies team currently manages approximately US$30 billion for clients worldwide, with capabilities that include fundamental equity, quantitative equity and asset allocation strategies. Invesco Global Strategies is a division of Invesco Worldwide Institutional, which, as of March 31, manages approximately US$198.4 billion for clients.

Hunter’s career in investment management spans more than 30 years. She began her investment career at Confederation Life Insurance Co. in 1976. Prior to joining Invesco Trimark in 1999, she was a vice president at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, where she was responsible for building the equities investment platform and transforming the investment portfolio to include equities. She is a member of the CFO Task Force for the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. She earned an MBA from the University of Western Ontario and a BA in Economics from McGill University; additionally, she holds the chartered financial analyst designation.

Supported by a local team of analysts, Hunter manages approximately $2 billion in assets and will remain based in Toronto. The team will continue to manage Trimark Select Canadian Growth Fund, Trimark Canadian Equity Private Pool and Trimark Canadian Focus Class for retail investors. The team will also continue to manage Canadian equity and balanced pools for institutional clients.

The funds will be renamed on June 30, though their investment objectives and strategies will not change as the team will continue to manage the funds with the same investment philosophy and process.

The Trimark Select Canadian Growth Fund will become the nvesco Select Canadian Equity Fund, the Trimark Canadian Equity Private Pool becomes the Invesco Canadian Equity Private Pool and Trimark Canadian Focus Class shifts its name to Invesco Canadian Focus Class.