Pension Pulse

Barbara Shecter of the National Post reports  CPP Investments head says fund will consider Carney's nation-building projects if Ottawa gets the formula right: The head of CPP Investments is signalling that the $730-billion Canada Pension Plan fund is keen to invest in nation-building infrastructure and energy projects promised by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government — if the projects offer scale, stability, predictability and transparency. In a speech in Toronto on Monday, chief executive John Graham outlined a number of investments the fund already has at home, and said that if Ottawa and the provinces get the formula right for nation-building projects — aimed at reducing reliance on the United States — Canadian pensions won’t be the only ones to be lining up to invest. “When Canada offers the right opportunities, we step in. These days we are looking to invest in nation-building projects: large scale infrastructure and energy systems,” he said. “I’ve been encourage...

Amalya Dubrovsky , Karen Friar and Laura Bratton of Yahoo Finance report the Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq bounce after 3-day slide, but end week lower: US stocks gained on Friday as investors breathed a relative sigh of relief over an inflation report that came in line with expectations. Wall Street also digested new data signaling souring consumer sentiment and President Trump's fresh round of punishing tariffs . The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI ) and the S&P 500 ( ^GSPC ) rose roughly 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC ) climbed 0.4%. The gains marked a shift after three straight days of losses for the major US gauges. Still, all three major indexes ended the week lower by less than 1%. Stocks rebounded from a late-morning slump as investors contemplated the latest inflation data and the results of the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey, which found that Americans were more pessimistic about the US economy than expected in Septem...

Razak Musah Baba of IPE Real Assets reports  QuadReal commits over £2.5bn to European real estate debt expansion: Global real estate investor QuadReal Property is expanding its commercial real estate debt business in Europe, with a plan to  commit more than £2.5bn (€2.9bn) over the next three to five years. In January 2023, QuadReal took its first step into the UK real estate credit sector by acquiring a stake in Précis Capital. QuadReal, which manages a £7.5bn (€6.4bn) North American debt business, is now expanding its commercial real estate debt platform into the UK and Ireland with plans for future growth across Europe. With this latest move, the real estate arm of British Columbia Investment Management Corporation is expected to have direct control over all decision-making. QuadReal said, by the end of 2029, it expects to shift 10% to 20% of its total debt portfolio exposure to the UK and Europe. The platform will focus on direct lending in the multifami...

The Canadian Press reports  CPP Investments buying stake in Sempra Infrastructure: The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has signed a deal to buy a 13 per cent indirect equity interest in Sempra Infrastructure Partners from Sempra for about US$3 billion. Sempra Infrastructure develops, owns, and operates natural gas pipelines, power generation and liquefied natural gas export facilities in the United States and Mexico. The company also owns and operates more than 1,600 megawatts of renewable generation and a natural gas-fired power plant. CPP Investments is making the investment alongside affiliates of private equity firm KKR and an existing investor in Sempra Infrastructure. Max Biagosch, senior managing director, global head of real assets, at CPP Investments says natural gas has an important role to play in the global energy transition, and LNG infrastructure is central to meeting rising global demand and supporting long-term transition goals. The deal transaction ...