The program
$601M CAD
Assets under management as of December 31st, 2025
11
Selected managers
12
Institutional Investors
27
Managers mandated since Program inception
215%
Employee growth within current firms
The QEMP grants impactful investment mandates to new firms and offers a mentorship framework.
Unique in Canada, this program enables institutional investors to access alpha diversifying investment strategies while investing locally.
Traditional class
The asset allocation is dictated by investment opportunities and the level of conviction of the traditional investment committee towards the different strategies in the portfolio, which are composed of equity and fixed income mandates.
The objective of the Traditional program is to generate excess return relative to the benchmark that is composed of the weighted sum of the benchmarks of the underlying strategies based on the target weight of each strategy.
Alternative class
The Alternative program is diversified through a variety of complementary hedge fund strategies. The program aims to generate an absolute return with a volatility target between 5% and 7%, while having a limited correlation to traditional asset classes.
Quebec Emerging Manager Program (QEMP)
In 2016, Innocap and Finance Montréal launched the QEMP.
This program was developed in connection with the Finance Montréal’s Entrepreneurship Work Group, in collaboration with established portfolio management firms in Quebec, under the leadership of Vital Proulx and Stéphane Corriveau.
Objectives
Support the ecosystem
Encourage best practices
Promote local managers
Benefits
• In depth due diligence and a rigorous manager selection and monitoring process
• Institutional structure and independent governance supported by the expertise of renowned industry professionals
• Delegation of operational, legal, compliance, and risk control functions to Innocap, allowing investors’ internal teams to focus on investment management
• Access to attractive risk return opportunities with enhanced transparency
• Privileged relationships with managers and contribution to the growth of emerging Québec investment strategies
- Obtain significant mandates while avoiding dilution of their company’s capital;
- Benefit from an institutional structure and support to ensure the sustainability of their firm;
- Allow managers to focus on portfolio management fonctions;
- Receive support and recognition from the financial community.
The investor participates directly in the social component of the ESG:
- Investing in a sustainable Quebec economy and the success of tomorrow’s great managers;
- Job creation and local economic impacts;
- Retain and attract talent.
Institutional governance
Emerging managers benefit from a disciplined governance structure leveraging the expertise of the industry’s great builders, established and qualified players.
Composed of industry leaders, QEMP’s advisory board’s mission is to provide guidance on manager selection and composition of the asset allocation policy. QEMP is proud to count on the support of the following renowned market contributors:
Advisory Committee
- Guy Beaulieu, PBI
- Michel Charron, Aon
- Sam Clemente, Eckler
- Stéphane Corriveau, AlphaFixe
- Jean-Pierre Talon, Mercer
- Charles Lemay, external expert, Walter GAM
- Mathieu Lessard, Normandin Beaudry
- Jean-Philippe Thiffault, WTW
- Pierre-Luc Lamothe, SAI Actuarial Services
- Jean Bergeron, TELUS Health
Members of the Traditional Committee
- Stéphane Corriveau, external expert (AlphaFixe), as Chairman of the Committee
- Marc-André Faix, designated investor (Fonds de solidarité FTQ)
- Marc-Christopher Lavoie, external expert (DGIA)
- Claude Lockhead, external expert (Fiera Capital) and member of the Board of Directors
- Paul-Eric Naud, designated investor (La Caisse)
- Christian Nols, designated investor (Banque Nationale)
- Emrick Trottier, designated investor (Régime de rentes du Mouvement Desjardins)
- Luc Verville, designated investor (Fondaction) and member of the Board of Directors
Members of the Alternative Committee
- Errico Cocchi, designated investor (Caisse commune de la Ville de Montréal)
- Brian Cyr, external expert (Claridge Inc.)
- Jimmy Fortin, external expert (DGIA)
- Charles Lemay, external expert (Walter GAM), as Chairman of the Committee
- Nicolas Lefebvre-Laumonier, designated investor (La Caisse)
- Luc Verville, designated investor (Fondaction)
- Catherine Lévesque-Roussel, designated investor (Caisse de retraite d’Hydro-Québec)
Members of the board of directors
- Odrée Ducharme, Senior Director, Strategy and Execution, Investment Funds and External Management (La Caisse) as Chairman of the board
- Claude Lockhead, Senior Advisor (Fiera Capital) as Director
- Christel Maignant, Senior Portfolio Manager, Selection and Monitoring of External Managers (Desjardins Global Asset Management) as Administrator
- Sébastien Rhéaume, Senior Director (AlphaFixe), as Treasurer
- Luc Verville, Head of Investments, Public Markets (Fondaction) as director
- Isabel Trépanier, Director, Sustainability and Impact Solutions
- Sylvain Boulé, President and CEO at Montrusco Bolton
Founding members
The QEMP would like to thank the founding members who largely contributed to the inception of the program, providing emerging portfolio managers their opportunity to shine.
- Jacques Bourgeois, HEC Montreal
- Robert Brunelle, Hexavest Inc.
- Mario Delisle, Aon Hewitt
- Mario Lavallée, University of Sherbrooke
- Pierre Parent, Normandin Beaudry
- Louise Charette, Consultant
- Jean-François Bernier, Directeur général, Interactive Brokers
- Robert Auger, consultant en gestion d’actifs
- Vital Proulx, Hexavest Inc. and responsible for the QEMP within the Entrepreneurship project of Finance Montréal
Institutional investors are notably composed of pension plans, insurance companies, endowments and other financial institutions. Currently, these Canadian allocators have the opportunity to invest in one or both programs. In addition, they will soon be able to design their own allocation by individually selecting any number of the underlying asset managers.
Innocap is the global leader in dedicated managed account platforms, providing institutional investors with a superior way to structure, access, and oversee their investments. With over US$100 billion on the platform, Innocap enables investors to benefit from customized investment strategies, enhanced transparency, greater control over their assets, and significant excess alpha compared to their alternative portfolios. Powered by its talent, processes, and purpose-built technology, Innocap is transforming how institutional investors access their alternative investments.
In order to assume the role of administrator, banker, auditor, external legal counsel and broker, renowned partners have been retained. QEMP benefits from the support of the following service providers:
- BMO
- Apex Fund Services
- CIBC
- PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP
- JP Morgan
- Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
- Société Générale
- Banque de Nouvelle-Écosse
- Newedge
- Northern Trust
Responsible investment is part of the mission, values and practices of PGEQ.
- All our managers are signatories to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI).
- Voluntary participation in the Montreal Carbon Pledge.
- Mentoring collaboration with local universities in Finance.
- Integration of ESG factors in fundamental research reports and improvement of screening processes based on ESG criteria.
- ESG and impact strategies, as well as B Corp certification for certain QEMP managers
- Initiative with Æquo for shareholder engagement