Pension Pulse

Jacob Serebrin of the Montreal Gazette reports the Caisse posts 9.4% return for 2024, sees economic uncertainty ahead: The CEO of Quebec’s public pension fund manager said he is counting on its diverse portfolio to help it navigate increasing economic uncertainty as he announced investment returns of nearly $40 billion in 2024. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec reported a 9.4-per-cent return on its investments in 2024 on Wednesday, which it credited to surging tech stocks in the United States but which was held back by losses in its real-estate portfolio.  While the return was up from the 7.2-per-cent return the CDPQ posted in 2023, it lagged the fund manager’s benchmark portfolio — a similar basket of investments it uses to measure performance — which had a return of 11.8 per cent. Charles Emond, the president and CEO of the CDPQ, said that while he expects turbulence and volatility in the near future, the past five years have also been marked by instabili...

Nicolas Van Praet of the Globe and Mail reports pension giant Caisse strikes deal to acquire Innergex Renewable Energy: Canadian pension fund giant Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has struck a deal to buy Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. INE-T , aiming to take one of the country’s clean energy leaders under its wing and propel its growth. The Caisse will pay $13.75 per common share in cash, a premium of 58 per cent to the closing price Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the two organizations said in a joint statement Tuesday. The offer values the equity of the Longueuil, Que.-based company at about $2.8-billion. “It’s a renewable champion, and we intend to push this forward,” said Emmanuel Jaclot, executive vice-president and head of infrastructure at the Caisse. A long-term vision under private ownership, bolstered by better access to capital, will help the company seize growth opportunities, he said. With the deal, the Caisse is adding to its roster of renewable en...

Benefits Canada reports OMERS returns 8.3%, grows net assets to $138.2BN in 2024: The Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System is reporting a return of 8.3 per cent as at Dec. 31, 2024. The investment organization surpassed its 7.5 per cent benchmark for 2024 by achieving $10.6 billion in investment returns during the year. Its net assets grew from $128.6 billion in 2023 to $138.2 billion at the end of 2024. The investment organization’s latest financial report found that over the past 10 years, the OMERS has averaged an annual investment return of 7.1 per cent increasing the value of the plan by $70.5 billion. The double-digit investment return for the OMERS was credited to the performance of public equities (18.8 per cent) and private credit (12.6 per cent) with private equities (9.5 per cent), infrastructure (8.8 per cent), public credit (six per cent) and government bonds (one per cent) rounding out the year-end result. Real estate (negative 4.9 per ce...