Pension Pulse

Benefits Canada reports, Caisse investing in cell tower builder, CPPIB in California office park : La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is teaming up with global investment manager AMP Capital Investors Ltd. to provide more than $657 million in financing to U.S. developer Tillman Infrastructure. The investment will help finance the building of new telecommunications towers across the U.S., providing new ground for carriers to cover, as well as boosting the country’s overall communications infrastructure. The agreement could eventually reach up to $1.3 billion based on future growth needs. Currently, Tillman owns and operates a portfolio of cellular towers, in addition to its construction activities . “With Tillman’s strong leadership and seasoned experts, along with our partner AMP Capital, we look forward to contributing to Tillman’s great potential. It has a competitive product that delivers coast-to-coast speed and efficiency,” said Marc Cormier, executive vice-pres...

Tae Kim of CNBC reports, Trump says stock market gains since election give him opportunity to wage a trade war : President Donald Trump said the stock market rally since his election victory gives him the opportunity to be more aggressive in his trade war with China and other countries. “This is the time. You know the expression we’re playing with the bank’s money,” he told CNBC's Joe Kernen in a “ Squawk Box ” interview aired Friday. The president has a big cushion. The S&P 500 is up 31 percent since Trump's win on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2016, through Thursday. The market's gain has slowed this year as the administration has implemented new tariffs on countries, with the benchmark index up 4.9 percent for 2018 through Thursday. Trump added the market would likely be much higher if he didn’t escalate the trade issues with China and the rest of the world . “We are being taking advantage of and I don’t like it,” he said. “I would have a higher stock market ri...

Sameer Van Alfen of Investments & Pensions Europe reports, Former APG CEO leaves University of California after one year : Eduard van Gelderen, former APG chief executive, is to leave his position as senior managing director at the $107bn (€91.4bn) investment fund of the University of California after less than a year in the role. Jagdeep Bachher, the fund’s chief investment officer, confirmed to IPE’s Dutch sister publication Pensioen Pro that Van Gelderen was to leave the university’s investment office, which runs endowment, pension and cash assets. According to Bachher, Van Gelderen has accepted a new position as chief investment officer of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, a CAD153bn (€99bn) investment manager based in Montréal, Canada. This has not been confirmed by the Canadian company . When contacted, the former APG CEO indicated he could not comment, citing his current employer’s rules that forbid him to talk to the media . Van Gelderen left APG in ...

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis put out a press release, Fund trustees face growing fiduciary pressure to divest from fossil fuels : A paper published today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis details the growing rationale for divesting from the fossil fuel industry. The paper— “The Financial Case for Fossil Fuel Divestment” —is aimed primarily at trustees of investment funds that continue to hold stakes in a sector that is freighted with risk and is not likely to perform nearly as well in the future as it has historically—regardless of whether oil prices rise or fall. Kathy Hipple, an IEEFA financial analyst and co-author of the report, said fund trustees everywhere have a pressing fiduciary duty to re-examine their investment commitments to fossil fuel holdings . “Given the sector’s lackluster rewards and daunting risks, responsible investors must ask: ‘Why are we in fossil fuels at all?’” Hipple said. “The sector is...

The Canadian Press reports, Quebec's Caisse de depot pension fund investing $250 million in Avison Young : The Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec pension fund has made a $250-million preferred equity investment in Avison Young, a commercial real estate services firm. Avison Young says the money will help fund acquisitions and hiring as part of its global expansion, while a portion will also be used to buy back shares held by Parallel49 Equity and others . The Caisse invested in a newly authorized class of non-voting preferred shares of the firm, though the terms of the transaction were not disclosed . As part of the deal, the Caisse will be entitled to choose three of the nine members of Avison Young's board of directors. Avison Young says the deal will help its international expansion as it gives it access to a wide network of expertise, deal flow and market intelligence. The pension fund says it looks forward to supporting Avison Young's growth, which...