The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec were ranked No. 3 and No. 8, respectively, among the top 10 global institutional investors with the highest total deal values in 2024, according to a new report by data platform Global SWF.

Last year, the CPPIB invested US$21.1 billion while the Caisse allocated $7.8 billion. The Mubadala Investment Company, a state-owned investor backed by the government of Abu Dhabi, ranked No. 1, deploying US$29.2 billion across 52 deals, said the report, while Singapore-based GIC Private Ltd. ranked No. 2 with $26.6 worth of investments.

The top 10 also included Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund ($19.9 billion), the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority ($17.2 billion), the Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company PJSC ($11.2 billion), Netherlands pension investment company APG ($9.1 billion), the Temasek Holdings Ltd. ($6.7 billion) and the Qatar Investment Authority ($4.5 billion).

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Investments by public pension funds increased by two per cent last year with $80.5 billion deployed across 227 transactions, while sovereign wealth funds invested $136.1 billion across 358 deals, a seven per cent increase from 2023. Assets under management held by global public pension funds reached $25 trillion in 2024, an increase from $24 trillion in 2023, while sovereign wealth funds surpassed $13 trillion in AUM.

The report found Canadian public pension funds, alongside their Australian and Singaporean counterparts, increased their investments throughout last year but remained below their peaks from the 2021/22 cycle.

It also noted both public pension funds and sovereign wealth funds increased allocations to real assets in 2024 while investments in health care, industrials and consumer sectors declined in deal value and volume. Technology saw a recovery period despite broader challenges in the venture capital space.

“The world remains in a fragile state, with enduring and arising conflicts affecting both developed and emerging markets,” said Diego Lopez, founder and managing director at Global SWF, in the report. “Yet, financial markets have shown remarkable resilience, reaching record highs.”

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