General Counsel - Asset Owners

Patrice is Senior Managing Director, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at CPP Investments, where she serves on the senior management team and leads the global legal, compliance and corporate secretarial functions and provides oversight to the internal assurance and advisory function.

She is a seasoned business lawyer and trusted advisor with deep experience in transactions, regulation, corporate governance and providing strategic counsel.

Patrice was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by WXN in 2019 and was recognized by Chambers & Partners as one of the most influential General Counsel in Canada. In 2022, Patrice received a “Legend in Law Award” by the US-based Burton Award Program recognizing her outstanding reputation in the legal profession and a demonstrated track record of addressing complex matters of national or global significance.

Patrice is currently serving on the Board of Trustees of Queen’s University, is a member of the Advisory Council to the Dean of Queen’s University Law School and sits on the Board of Directors for the CDL Rapid Screening Consortium. She holds the ICD.D designation.

Heather L. Traeger serves as the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for the Teacher Retirement System of Texas – one of the largest public pension plans in the country with 1.9 million members and retirees and approximately $200 billion in trust assets.

Prior to joining TRS, she was a partner in the Financial Services Practice at O’Melveny & Myers LLP; served as Associate Counsel at the Investment Company Institute; and worked for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as Counsel to two Commissioners and Senior Counsel in the Division of Market Regulation.

Ms. Traeger serves on the board of the National Society of Compliance Professionals (NSCP) and the Association of Securities and Exchange Commission Alumni (ASECA). She is co-chair of the NSCP’s Regulatory Advisory Committee and serves on the FINRA National Adjudicatory Council. She also serves on the board of Make-A-Wish Central and South Texas.

Emma is Senior Forum Director and Financial Services Lead at Cambridge Executive Connections (CEC), a subsidiary of Cambridge Forums, Inc. Naturally curious and a lifelong learner, Emma has developed and managed a variety of meetings in both the profit and non-profit sectors. Before joining Cambridge, Emma was Assistant Vice President, Global Marketing at State Street in Canada, where she spent close to two decades of her career, offering her a great depth of knowledge and understanding of the financial and investment sectors. In Emma’s current role, she leads CEC’s Financial Services portfolio, including programs for institutional investors, banking, private funds, risk, and governance professionals.