Caisse de dépôt president leaving to join Power Corp.

Henri-Paul Rousseau, the man who has presided over the massive Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec since September 2002, is leaving the pension fund to join Power Corp.

Rousseau will join Power Corp. and Power Financial Corp. on Jan. 1, 2009, serving both companies as vice-chairman.

"As for me, at age 60, this is the right time to take up a new challenge in the private sector," Rousseau said in a release.

He will remain as an adviser to the Caisse's board of directors and officers for the next three months until August 31.

The Caisse is one of Canada's largest pension funds. From 2002 to 2007, depositors' net assets at the the fund doubled from $77.7 billion to $155.4 billion.

Power Corp.'s interests include Great-West Life, Investors Group, Putnam Investments, Mackenzie Financial, London Life Insurance, Canada Life Assurance and the parent company of the newspaper La Presse.

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