The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Charles Emond had just moved into the chief executive officer's suite at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec in early 2020 when the bottom fell out of, well, everything. The Globe's Konrad Yakabuski writes that within days, a worldwide pandemic ended more than a decade of relative calm in financial markets, only to be followed by a destabilizing new era of inflation, high interest rates, war and deglobalization. That Mr. Emond managed to steer the $434-billion pension fund manager through such turbulence without too many unforced errors helps explain why Quebec Premier François Legault this month appointed him to a second five-year term. Mr. Emond's reappointment will give him more time to fix nagging problems, including the train wreck at French rail giant Alstom, which counts the Caisse as its biggest shareholder, as it struggles to integrate Bombardier Transportation. The Caisse's 17.5-per-cent share of Alstom has plummeted in value by 75 per cent to barely $1.1-billion since the Paris-based company bought Bombardier's rail unit in 2021. The stock rout at Alstom led the Caisse's $80-billion private equity holdings to a meagre 1-per-cent gain in 2023.