Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec returned 9.1 per cent in 2015 as international equities, boosted with a decline within the Canadian currency, offset negative returns at home.
Net investment income at Canada’s second-largest pension fund manager was $20.1 billion in 2015 versus $23.8 billion a year earlier, according to a statement issued Wednesday. Net assets rose to $248 billion as of Dec. 31 from $225.9 billion after 2014, the Caisse said.
Results beat the five.4 percent average increase of Canadian pension funds, as estimated inside a January report by RBC Investor Services. Over four years, the Caisse said its weighted average annual return was 10.9 percent – topping the ten percent average return of their own benchmark.
Under Ceo Michael Sabia, who took control of in ’09, the Caisse has been increasing investments abroad while steadily boosting its contact with less liquid assets such as property to enhance diversification. Today, almost 54 per cent from the fund manager’s exposure is outside Canada, with “inflation-sensitive” investments for example property or infrastructure comprising about 17 percent of net assets.
“While not immunizing our portfolio against market movements, our strategy makes it more resilient in turbulent times,” Sabia said within the statement.
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Stocks Outperform
Equities were the best performing asset class for that Caisse this past year, returning 11 percent typically. U.S. publicly traded stocks advanced 19 percent while private-equity assets returned 8.4 per cent, according to the statement. The Caisse’s $22.4-billion Canadian stock portfolio declined 3.9 percent, less than the 11 per cent decline from the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index.
Results overall benefited from about a 15 percent decline in the Canadian dollar against its U.S. counterpart.
With net assets of $282.6 billion at year-end, the Canada Type of pension Investment Board is the country’s largest pension fund manager.
