AIMCo Names Dan Teper Global Head of Real Estate, Filling a Seat Open Since Late 2024
On 23 September 2026, Alberta Investment Management Corporation announced that Dan Teper will join as Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Real Estate, based in Calgary. Teper most recently led global real estate activities at the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, and before that worked at Brookfield. He brings more than 20 years across institutional real estate investment, capital markets and advisory work, on sovereign, public market and private capital platforms.
The role covers the whole real estate platform: capital allocation, portfolio construction and optimization, strategic planning, and oversight of the real estate investment teams across regions. Chief Investment Officer Justin Lord described Teper as a proven real estate investor who has operated at scale. AIMCo did not disclose a start date.
How this compares with the last two years
The appointment closes a long gap. Paul Mouchakkaa, the previous global head of real estate, left in late 2024. David Scudellari oversaw real estate after that until his own departure in February 2025, and Peter Teti has since led private assets. For close to two years, AIMCo's real estate book has been run without a dedicated global head. That matters to GPs because manager selection and re-up decisions tend to slow when a seat sits empty and pick up once a permanent leader has set a plan.
It also stands out against the other senior LP moves FundLinx has tracked in the past eight days. Of the six senior investment leadership changes logged since 21 September, including the Teacher Retirement System of Texas CIO retirement and the OMERS Ventures promotion, this is the only one (17% by count) at an asset class head level in real estate, and the only external hire from a sovereign wealth fund. The other five were either internal promotions or hires from a university or health system investment office, or a CIO retirement. Real estate GPs have seen allocator appetite return in pockets this month, as we covered when CalSTRS put close to $4.9 billion into real estate in the first half.
The LP behind the seat
AIMCo is the Alberta government's investment manager. It reported C$210.7 billion of assets under management at 30 June 2026, up from C$194.7 billion at the end of 2025, after a 7.2% net return for its balanced fund in the first half. Public equities drove most of that gain. The asset mix at mid-year was 38% public equities, 31% money market and fixed income and 31% private markets, with more than 40% of assets invested in Canada.
Real estate was about C$22.6 billion at the end of 2025, or roughly 11.6% of the C$194.7 billion AUM at that date. The CIO has said the Canadian real estate portfolio is larger than the global one, that the focus is on income and inflation protection, and that AIMCo expects to be active in real estate over the coming quarters and years. That puts AIMCo on the short list of large Canadian pension and public investment funds that real estate GPs track each year.
What GPs should do now
The most realistic fit is an income-oriented strategy: core-plus, value-add or real estate credit, in residential, industrial or logistics, with a clear inflation-linkage story. Given a book of roughly C$22.6 billion with a stated Canadian tilt, non-Canadian managers should expect the bar to be highest for global allocations, where the new head's sovereign fund experience will shape the lens. Ticket sizes for a plan this large are usually meaningful, but AIMCo has not disclosed typical commitment sizes, so GPs should not assume a figure. They should instead ask what minimum and maximum the new plan sets.
Timing favors managers who are already known to the team. A new global head will usually review the manager roster and pacing in the first two to three quarters, and incumbents with a clean track record and transparent reporting will be first in the queue. GPs outside the portfolio should build relationships now with the real estate investment staff who will brief Teper, and should come with a one-page view of how their strategy fits an income and inflation mandate. Shared LPs from the Abu Dhabi and Brookfield networks can help, and our guide to staying warm with LPs between raises covers how to keep that door open without a live fund to sell.
For managers already in the AIMCo portfolio, the priority is a short, factual update on performance, leverage and the next fund's timing before the new head's first strategy review. For everyone else, the hire is a reason to prepare, not a reason to pitch next week.
What to watch next
Watch for Teper's start date and any change to AIMCo's real estate pacing when it reports full-year 2026 results. FundLinx members can track which Canadian LPs are adding real estate managers this quarter.
FundLinx Intelligence | FundLinx.ai