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A sign in the office of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan on Wednesday, June 12, 2013.Matthew Sherwood/The Globe and Mail

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan has sold a 20-per-cent stake in proxy advisory firm Glass, Lewis and Co. to Alberta Investment Management Corp.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"While we remain committed to maintaining a long-term stake in the company, we believe diversifying the firm's ownership with like-minded investors will bring valuable new perspectives to the next stages of Glass Lewis' development," said Wayne Kozun, senior vice-president of public equities at Teachers'.

Teachers' acquired Glass Lewis in 2007 for $46-million (U.S.) from Chinese company Xinhua Finance Ltd. of Shanghai.

"Teachers' stewardship of Glass Lewis over the past six years has been key to the success of our global expansion strategy," said Glass Lewis chief executive Katherine Rabin.

"We are very pleased about the diversification of ownership and the additional insight that AIMCo will contribute as we continue to bring to market important, independent engagement-support solutions."

AIMCo invests on behalf of 27 pension, endowment and government funds in Alberta, including the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund.

"As an institutional investor responsible for the assets of 27 clients, upholding strong corporate governance is critical to our ability to add value; and Glass Lewis plays an important role in ensuring that integrity exists in the market for all investors," AIMCo chief executive Leo de Bever said.

Teachers' invests the pension fund assets and administers the pensions of 303,000 active and retired teachers in Ontario.

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