LILLEY: Carney’s sovereign wealth fund pick is more global than Canadian
· Toronto Sun
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Mark Carney’s choice to head up Canada’s sovereign wealth fund is a Democrat donor and Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum. Karen Karniol-Tambour, a resident of the affluent town of Norwalk, Ct., and currently the co-chief investment officer of an American hedge fund, will soon head up the Canada Strong Fund .
The Canada Strong Fund is the name given to the $25-billion sovereign wealth fund being set up by the Carney government entirely with debt.
Not exactly a sovereign wealth fund when you need to borrow every penny.
And what of the optics of bringing in an American transplant to run a sovereign wealth fund? Ms. Karniol-Tambour is described in the news release issued by Carney’s office as a Canadian citizen, and they describe her as returning to Canada.
The trouble is, there is no public information that she ever lived in Canada, was educated in Canada, or worked here.
A profile of Karniol-Tambour by Forbes describes her as “born in Israel and grew up mostly in the seaside town of Netanya, with a two-year detour in the U.S.” There is no mention of Canada in any of her profiles, no mention of work or study in Canada on her LinkedIn page.
Returning to where?
Her father, Yoram Tambour, has been a professor of aerospace at Technion in Haifa since 1995 but has been working at the school since 1982. Her mother, Rachel Karniol, was born in Israel, raised in Canada, and studied at the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo before beginning her career as a professor of psychology at Tel Aviv University.
Her mother would explain how Karniol-Tambour has Canadian citizenship, but there is still no clear connection that would indicate that she is returning to Canada.
Karniol-Tambour entered Princeton University at the age of 17. After studying there, she started work immediately at Bridgewater Associates, described as one of the world’s largest hedge funds. Her LinkedIn profile showcases a number of associations, charitable and otherwise.
In addition to being a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum, Karniol-Tambour has served on the boards of the Truman Center for National Policy, the Atlantic Council and Seeds of Peace. She sits on the investment committee of Robin Hood, an organization set up to fight poverty in New York City, and she is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Between 2016 and 2024, Karniol-Tambour donated roughly $20,000 to campaigns for numerous Democratic politicians, including Pete Buttigieg, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.
A familiar Carney pattern
Her Democratic connections put her in good company in Carney circles. The chief operating officer in Carney’s PMO is Maia Johnson, a former campaign worker and donor for top Democrats before also moving into the finance world.
Karniol-Tambour has an impressive résumé and a stellar career. Saying that she is returning to a Canada that she’s never really lived in is a stretch.
She is, like Carney and many of those in his circle, part of the group that Stephen Harper referred to as the “anywheres.” In his book Right Here, Right Now , Harper described the disconnect between those rooted to a place and the anywheres who were part of the global laptop class, the kind of people who show up at the World Economic Forum.
$25 billion on the table
Well now, Karniol-Tambour has a very big job before her. She has to take that $25 billion worth of borrowed money and do something with it to improve Canada’s fortunes.
She will be asked to do this on behalf of a risk-averse country while reporting to politicians who love to pick winners and losers, using money that belongs to the people to advance their pet projects.
If Karniol-Tambour thought the cutthroat world of hedge funds in and around New York was a tough place to work, she ain’t seen nothin’ yet.