It was the job everyone in the North American pensions industry wanted – the last person in the post had called it "the best job in Canada" upon retiring. But the choice of his successor shows just how global the market for top investment talent has become.

Since Neil Petroff stepped down as the chief investment officer of the C$155 billion ($109 billion) Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) in June 2015, the great and the good of Canadian and US institutional investment had been lining up to fill the hole.