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CCCA_V4No1_Profiles-FIN.qxd:CCCA_V1No1_Profile-FIN.qxd 2/3/10 11:49 AM Page 16 Profile C laude Bergeron is a man accustomed to surprises. adapt to fluid and changing situations, says Jean Marc Huot, a friend and partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP in Montreal. Caisse In 1989, months after he had started a new job as senior legal adviser to the Caisse de dépôt et de place- chairmen are political nominations in Quebec. “All those he ment du Québec, his wife gave birth to twins. Two worked for saw him as a trusted adviser,” says Huot.“When you years later, the happy couple had another set. meet Claude,you quickly realize that he is a man of great integri- “I went from being a bachelor to having five kids in two ty with strong judgment and without a big ego. He reads people years,” Bergeron says with a hearty and genial laugh. (His wife and situations so well, and understands the role he has to play.” has a child from a previous marriage.) Even so,when he decided to pursue an international MBA in “It probably slowed my career for a while, but it certainly financial services and insurance, all the while keeping his day gave me a different perspective on life.” job, Bergeron could not have predicted the convergence of Claude Bergeron, the top lawyer for one of Canada’s largest pension funds, is a steady hand in turbulent times. In the eye of In truth, Bergeron’s career would hardly lack in professional crises the Caisse would face. “Things were pretty quiet at the challenges.Over the next 22 years,he proved to be a quick study time,” he recalls.“I was halfway through my MBA when every- at the Caisse, and a calm presence through its sometimes-tumul- thing happened at once.” tuous history. Like all institutional investors, the Caisse suffered major loss- Leading up to his appointment last year as executive vice-presi- es — more than $40-billion — during the 2007-2008 global dent of legal affairs,Bergeron played an instrumental role in nego- financial crisis due to the collapse in the asset-backed commer- tiating the largest debt restructuring in Canadian financial history. cial paper (ABCP) market, as well as an aggressive hedging and It was a fitting climax for Bergeron who had hesitated as a young futures strategy, which backfired. man between pursuing studies in law or finance and economics. Fearing a disorderly liquidation of the ABCP market, the Bergeron’s early ambivalence reveals part of what drives him Caisse spearheaded a committee of investors, overseen by — an appetite for complexity.He opted for law believing,right- Toronto lawyer Purdy Crawford of Osler Hoskin & Harcourt ly or wrongly, that it would be more challenging. Among the LLP, to craft an agreement aimed at converting the ABCP into youngest in his year to be admitted to the Barreau du Québec, longer-term notes. A tense year of negotiations would pass he soon landed a job working litigation files for the province’s before the committee would complete the restructuring. revenue ministry. By age 25, he was heading a team of seven. Midway through the negotiations in May 2008, then-CEO When he left in 1988, his group had grown to 40. Henri-Paul Rousseau stunned everyone by leaving the Caisse to After nearly a decade toiling in the service of the ministry, join the Power Corporation of Canada. Then another unex- Bergeron decided it was time for a change. A career move to pected plot twist: After just four months in the job, and six the world of business and investment felt like the right thing to weeks after taking medical leave, Rousseau’s successor, Richard do.“Law does not stand alone:It is embedded in the governance Guay,stepped down. Bergeron,already struggling at the time to of a society,and at the Caisse you’re reminded of that every day.” complete his MBA, suddenly found himself the point man for He joined the Caisse when Jean Campeau was chairman and the Caisse on the committee. general manager. He would serve six different heads, including “Nobody was fully in charge of the file, and suddenly I was at Jean-Claude Scraire, the tandem of Jean-Claude Delorme and the centre of a storm — in the middle of a liquidity crisis which Guy Savard,and Paul-Henri Rousseau.Each“left his mark,”says first turned into a financial crisis and then an economic crisis.” Bergeron.“I had the chance to grow with all of them.” His toughest call came in November 2008.The committee had Bergeron’s longevity at the Caisse is a testament to his ability to managed to agree with foreign banks to a preliminary deal,which 16 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association SPRING 2010