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Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney’s decision to throw his hat in the ring in the race to become leader of the federal Liberal party has led to a shakeup at the top of Brookfield Asset Management.

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In a statement Thursday afternoon, Brookfield said chief executive Bruce Flatt would take on the added responsibility of the chair’s role as a result of Carney’s departure.

“We are sorry to see him leave, but he does so to fulfill his deep sense of public service to Canada and we wish him all the best in his new pursuit,” Flatt said in a statement.

He said Carney has played an important role at the firm since joining in 2020, including as chair over the past couple of years. That included spearheading Broofield’s efforts in transition finance tied to climate change.

Carney’s position at Brookfield became a target of elected members of the Conservative Party of Canada, who sit in opposition to Justin Trudeau’s minority government, after he was retained as an economic adviser to the Liberal party last year. They sought to have Carney’s activities examined to see if there were conflicts, claims that picked up steam after it was reported that Brookfield had proposed a multi-billion investment fund that would be seeded by the federal government and Canada’s largest pensions.

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Carney used the launch of his leadership bid to go after Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who is leading in the polls, suggesting the longtime politician’s pitch for Canada is based on slogans and soundbites rather than solid economic policy.

Since leaving the Bank of England in 2020, Carney’s other roles have included serving as chair of U.S. financial data and media company Bloomberg LP and as a UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance.

Flatt said Thursday that Brookfield, which moved its head office to New York from Toronto in December, has a seasoned team that will continue in Carney’s absence.

“Our deep bench of experienced investment and operating professionals will continue to steer Brookfield’s world-leading transition investing activities,” Flatt said.

The head office move, which was done in concert with a corporate restructuring, was made to reflect increasingly global asset ownership and to take advantage of potential increased share trading through Brookfield’s inclusion in some U.S.market indices. 

The firm has assets under management across renewable power and transition, infrastructure, private equity, real estate and credit, and its clients around the world include public and private pension plans, endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, insurance companies and private wealth investors.

• Email: bshecter@nationalpost.com

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