Pension Pulse

Ian Bickis of The Canadian Press reports CPP Investments earned 8 per cent in latest fiscal year, net assets rose to $632 billion: Canada's biggest pension fund earned an eight per cent return last year, but significantly underperformed the 19.9 per cent return of its reference portfolio.   The lower return for the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in its fiscal year ending March 31 can be explained in part by higher volatility in the stock-focused benchmark portfolio compared with the diversified, long-term return focus for the pension fund, chief executive John Graham said on Wednesday. The reference portfolio, made of 85 per cent global equity and 15 per cent Canadian bonds, benefited last year from stock price surges in the seven largest U.S. tech stocks (known as the Magnificent Seven), while the pension fund has a much broader portfolio that is also invested in infrastructure, real estate, private equities and credit.  "Against a very simple, nai...

James Bradshaw of the Globe and Mail reports that OMERS is writing off its take in troubled British utility Thames Water: The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) has written off its entire investment in troubled British utility Thames Water, walking away from a stake once valued at well over $1-billion. Thames Water has been struggling under the weight of more than £18-billion ($31-billion) of debt that has become more expensive with high interest rates. In late March, its shareholders – of which OMERS is the largest – refused to inject more money into the beleaguered company, casting doubt on its viability. Before Friday’s write-off, an OMERS subsidiary that holds a roughly one-fifth stake in Thames Water, OMERS Farmoor Singapore PTE Ltd., had filed annual financial statements that show it marked down the value of its assets from £700-million ($1.2-billion) at the end of 2022 to £321-million ($461-million) at the end of last year. The financial filing ...