Egon Zehnder Called in by CAAT Pension Plan for CEO Search

September 11, 2026 – Leadership advisory firm Egon Zehnder has been selected by the board of trustees of CAAT Pension Plan to lead in its search for its next chief executive officer. This follows the departure of longtime CEO and plan manager Derek Dobson, who recently resigned.

The search will focus on leaders who can combine strategic vision with operational discipline, inspire confidence across stakeholders and build on CAAT’s strong culture and performance. The leadership transition is part of a broader governance overhaul. CAAT commissioned an independent governance review and subsequently said it was strengthening succession planning for the CEO, senior executives, and board and committee leadership, while also increasing oversight and transparency around executive compensation.

The CAAT Pension Plan is a Canadian jointly sponsored defined benefit pension plan established in 1967 to serve employees of Ontario’s college system. The plan has since expanded to more than 850 participating employers across 20 industries in the for-profit, nonprofit, and broader public sectors, serving approximately 130,000 active and retired members. Based in Toronto, CAAT manages pension assets on behalf of members and employers and reported $25.4 billion in net assets and a funded status of 124 percent as of January 1, 2026.

Egon Zehnder currently ranks as a Top 5 global executive search firm, according to Hunt Scanlon Media. With more than 500 consultants in 70 offices and 36 countries around the globe, Egon Zehnder works with public and private corporations, family-owned enterprises, and non-profit and government agencies to provide board advisory services, CEO and leadership succession planning, executive search and assessment, and leadership development solutions. Since 1964, the firm has been at the forefront of defining top leadership in the face of changing economic conditions as well as major transitions in the executive search field.

Shawna Carter, based in Toronto, leads Egon Zehnder’s financial services practice in Canada, and is a trusted advisor to clients on board and executive search, assessment, and development. Her clients include the leading public and private organizations across Canada’s financial landscape, as well as long-term asset owners around the world, given her particular interest in asset and investment management. She also co-leads the human resources practice in Canada, working across industries with CHROs and their teams on their top talent priorities.

Insider or Outsider?

Recruiters focused on finding talent for the C-suite say that at least half of all job openings are filled by internal candidates before the positions are introduced to the public job market. This may suggest that companies have relatively reliable bench strength even though leadership development is seen as stagnating at many companies. The main reason given: Companies prefer to promote from within.

For those searches that go to recruiters, with a clear mandate to look wide and deep both inside and outside a client organization, internal candidates still surface more often and get the job about 80 percent of the time.

Recruiters say clients generally like to be seen as making bold moves but in the end many remain risk averse when it comes to hiring elite executives, especially into their highly protected upper leadership ranks. They look at insiders as safer bets. Knowing this mindset going in, recruiters say they advise their clients that when they have an inside candidate who is 70 percent as strong as an outside choice to hire the insider. Fit and culture seem to be the deciding factor.

“There is a greater risk when you bring somebody in from the outside that it won’t work out,” said Kathleen Yazbak, founder of Boston-based Viewcrest Advisors, a boutique search firm focused on finding leadership talent for mission-driven and high-performing companies, social enterprises, and philanthropies.

Internal candidates know the business model, organization goals, and inside cultures, say recruiters, and oftentimes they have the requisite skills. They know the customers, clients, and co-workers. They have also established relationships with colleagues and their organization’s leaders. But, more importantly, they have already shown their potential. They can, therefore, assimilate faster and will likely be more satisfied in their new roles than outside hires.

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media

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