Canadian fund manager AIMCo looks to replace retiring CEO

CALGARY, Alberta, April 25 (Reuters) - Alberta Investment Management Corp, one of Canada's largest pension funds, said on Friday that it has begun searching for a replacement for Chief Executive Officer Leo de Bever, who is retiring.

AIMCo, which manages about C$70 billion ($63.5 billion) of government and retirement funds from Alberta public servants, said it will take as long as necessary to replace de Bever, who has been CEO since April 2008.

De Bever will stay on the job until his successor is found.

"A critical part of the CEO's job is to effectively pass the torch to the next generation of leadership," de Bever said in a statement. "I am confident that AIMCo is very well positioned for continued success."

Prior to his appointment at AIMCo, de Bever had been chief investment officer at Victorian Funds Management Corporation, which managed Australian public sector pension funds. He has also served as executive vice president at Manulife Financial Corp and as a senior vice president at the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

($1 = 1.1030 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Scott Haggett; Editing by Tom Brown)