Claude Lamoureux will retire as president and CEO of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Teachers’) at the end of 2007.

Jim Leech, currently senior vp, Teachers’ Private Capital, has been appointed his successor, effective December 1.

Commenting on Lamoureux’s retirement, Eileen Mercier, chairwoman of Teacher’s said, “Initially a lone institutional investor voice advocating the need for improved corporate governance, he put shareholders’ rights on the front page and has kept them there, largely through the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance, which he co-founded. His contribution to the Canadian capital markets cannot be over-estimated.”

Mercier noted that the board was unanimous in its appointment of Leech.

Lamoureux is Teachers’ inaugural CEO. He was appointed by then Chairman Gerald Bouey in 1990, when the government established the new independent corporation to replace the Ontario Teachers’ Superannuation Fund. Under his leadership, the fund has grown to a well-diversified $106 billion as of year-end 2006.

An actuary by profession, Lamoureux joined Teachers’ from Metropolitan Life, where he had a successful career in their Toronto, New York and Montreal offices.

Leech joined Teachers’ in 2001 with a mandate to expand Teachers’ private investment activities globally. Since then, Teachers’ Private Capital has become one of the world’s largest private investors, with assets now exceeding $16 billion, including private equity, venture capital, infrastructure and timber. Leech also is a director at Cadillac Fairview, Teachers’ real estate subsidiary.

Leech is the former president and CEO of Unicorp Canada Corp., one of Canada’s first public merchant banks, and Union Energy Inc. He graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada with a B.Sc. (Honours Math and Physics) and holds an MBA from Queen’s University. He is a certified director, as a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Leech’s successor has not yet been appointed.