Carney names Bridgewater’s Karen Karniol-Tambour first CEO of $25B Canada Strong Fund

Prime Minister Mark Carney has picked Karen Karniol-Tambour, co-chief investment officer at U.S. hedge fund giant Bridgewater Associates, to run Canada’s first national sovereign wealth fund.

The Prime Minister’s Office announced on Monday that Karniol-Tambour will be the first chief executive of the Canada Strong Fund, which starts with an initial capital commitment of $25 billion. She joined Bridgewater in 2006. Carney’s office describes her as a Canadian citizen and says she has appeared on Barron’s list of the 100 most influential women in U.S. finance for the last seven years.

The fund is meant to invest in major Canadian projects and companies on commercial terms, so that Canadians share in the returns. It will work through two streams: co-investing alongside federal bodies that are already backing projects, and making its own strategic investments in other Canadian projects and companies.

The government says the fund will be professionally managed at arm’s length, with its own board. Budget 2026 said Ottawa intends to pass legislation making it a standalone Crown corporation. Until then it will be a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canada Development Investment Corporation.

What it means for you

The fund’s most unusual feature is a retail product. Canada Strong Notes will be sold through participating financial institutions, and the government says they will protect buyers’ principal while letting them benefit from the fund’s performance. The announcement did not give a launch date, a minimum investment or which institutions will sell them.

“The Canada Strong Fund will put Canadian capital to work in the projects and companies building our country’s future,” Carney said in the statement.

Source: Prime Minister’s Office. With files from The Canadian Press.

Photo: Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with media in Ottawa on Nov. 5, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld