Significant headwinds in the commercial real estate sector have impacted the number of transactions seen in 2023, leading institutional investors to pursue diversification at home and abroad. The totals for acquisition dispositions of office assets in 2023 were “extremely low” compared to the previous year, says Lewis Gascoigne, an investment consulting principal at Eckler Ltd., […]
A renewed call for increased domestic investments by Canadian pension plans isn’t surprising amid an ongoing discussion around the role of investment organizations in supporting the economy, says Malcolm Hamilton, a senior fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute. “I think it’s very natural for Canadian businesses . . . [that] focus on the Canadian economy, not […]
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is gaining a minority stake in a new financial entity resulting from a merger between Fairstone Bank of Canada and Home Trust Company. The new group will have a national branch and broker network to offer residential and commercial mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, retail financing, auto financing, digital lending […]
The Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System returned 4.6 per cent in 2023, or $5.6 billion, in investment income in 2023, according to its latest year-end report. It found as of Dec. 31, 2023, the plan’s net assets stood at $128.6 billion, up from $124.2 billion in 2022. It also reported a funded status of 97 per […]
Three of Canada’s largest pension plans are among the top 10 pension funds that generated the largest compound annualized returns between 2013 and 2022, according to a report by data platform Global SWF. The report, which measured the compound annual growth rate of pension funds’ single-year investment returns between fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2022, found […]
The Ontario government’s new investment organization could incentivize institutional investors to take a closer look at infrastructure opportunities in the province, says Iftikhar Ahmed, a wealth solutions partner at Aon. “We work with a large number of pension plans and other institutional investors who would be keen to participate in infrastructure development in the province.” […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is investing in Vooban, a Quebec-based supplier of applied artificial intelligence services. The investment will aid Vooban’s growth through expansion plans in Ontario and the U.S, according to a press release, which noted the company currently has 135 employees, but is planning to expand by 30 per cent. The […]
In recent years, adaptive reuse strategies — which transform an existing structure to allow it to serve a new purpose — have become popular in the real estate portfolios of Canada’s largest public sector defined benefit pension plans. Indeed, repurposing old buildings can provide stronger returns to institutional investors than ground-up developments, but only in […]
Over the last year, the number of large Canadian pension funds with commitments to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 rose from two funds to nine, representing $1.8 trillion — or 81 per cent — of total pension fund assets evaluated, according to a new report by Corporate Knights. The report also found four of the […]
Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate arm of the Caisse de dépot et placement du Québec, has partnered with U.S. firm GID to create an investment platform targeting industrial assets. GID Industrial’s primary focus will be on acquiring, developing and managing infill industrial product in growing markets across the U.S., with an emphasis on locations close […]