CBC News has learned Prime Minister Mark Carney has invited 100 of the world's biggest investors to a summit in Toronto this September. The conference aims to pitch organizations that control trillions of dollars in capital on investing in Canada.

The organizations include private investment firms such as Blackrock and some of the world's biggest sovereign wealth funds, including Singapore's GIC. Invitations were sent out this week, and none of the invited parties responded to CBC News before publication.

The summit is part of a broader effort to draw global investment back to Canada as the world grapples with deeper uncertainty and global volatility. Carney has been meeting with world leaders and private businesses during his trips abroad in an effort to attract more investment to Canada.

Part of the pitch is that, amid geopolitical turmoil, trade upheaval and conflict, Canada offers a reliable place to invest in ports, pipelines and infrastructure projects.

"Canada is in a really good place. Canada is cool again," said Michel Leduc, senior managing director and chief public affairs officer at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which will host the meeting.

He said the summit will pitch "Canada, Inc." to investment firms looking for a safe, reliable place to grow in an increasingly unstable world.

"We want to showcase what Canada offers to the world of global investors," he told CBC News in an exclusive interview. "It's a little bit like a large public company holding their investor day."

Hopeful signs for foreign investment

The summit comes at a crucial time for this country.

For more than a decade, investment in Canada has lagged behind its peers. Canadian business investment was weak; some of Canada's biggest pension plans were spending more money outside the country; and large investors were putting more money abroad.

More recently, however, foreign investment in Canada has shown signs of picking up.

"Foreign direct investment in Canada reached the highest level since 2007, while Canada's outward investment flows cooled in 2025," wrote Maria Solovieva from TD Economics.

Part of the drop off in investment was, at least initially, due to the collapse in global oil prices in 2015. But critics say Liberal government policies at the time made the investment climate even worse by adding multiple layers of new regulation and uncertainty.

Carney has vowed to change that. He has promised to streamline the approvals process. He launched the Major Projects Office and designated a suite of plans as being in the national interest. They range from the Contrecoeur Container Terminal Project at the Port of Montreal to the McIlvenna Bay Foran Copper Mine Project in Saskatchewan.

Small window to attract new money

But business leaders in Canada say plans, memorandums of understanding and words alone are not enough.

Goldy Hyder, the CEO of the Business Council of Canada, said a summit like this is a good opportunity to promote Canada and help fund those kinds of projects.

He said the federal government has been saying many of the right things. But Canada needs to show investors that it is a country that can do and build big things — something he said it has repeatedly failed to do in the past.

Hyder said he hopes this time is different.

"If we don't get our resources out of the ground expeditiously in an investment-friendly regulatory climate, we are going to miss this window one more time, and I don't know how lucky of a country we think we are, but we don't have the nine lives of a cat," he said.

Leduc said he hopes the conference, tentatively titled the Canada Investment Summit, will establish long-term relationships with some of the biggest names in investing.

"It's a one- or two-day event, but it's obviously more than that. We hope that it's the start of something bigger, something exciting that will catalyze and create bigger opportunities going forward over many years," he said.

Not clear which projects will be pitched

Organizers did not want to get into which specific projects will be pitched and what, if any, projects are off limits.

"If you think of the big things we offer to the world — energy superpower, sovereign AI and data centres — we have one of the best financial sectors in the world," said Leduc.

While summit organizers have not said which projects will be pitched, business leaders and analysts broadly agree on the sectors where Canada is under pressure to attract capital most urgently.

The oil and gas industry has been calling for new investment in pipelines and LNG terminals. And despite a year's worth of talk, there's still no new proponent to build an oil pipeline to the West Coast.

New housing construction hit a new low last month in spite of the government's promises to build more.

And Ottawa has promised to spend more than $80 billion in the defence sector over the next five years.

Leduc said foreign investment firms have taken notice of Canada's plans. He believes the time is right for Canada to capitalize on that interest and draw in more investment from abroad.

The summit is set to be held in Toronto in mid-September. Invitations under Carney's name have been sent out. It's being co-hosted by the country's two biggest pension plans, CPPIB and PSP, in collaboration with Invest in Canada, an agency that promotes foreign direct investment in Canada.

But inviting participants to a meeting is a far cry from actually getting money invested in specific projects. As of publication, CBC News had not confirmed which, if any, of the invitees planned to attend.

Kathryn Mannie and David Baxter of the Canadian Press also report Carney announces new summit in Toronto aimed at driving $1 trillion in investment:

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a new “Canada Investment Summit” that will invite investors, CEOs and business leaders to Toronto this fall.

The Prime Minister’s Office said in a media release the aim of the summit is to unleash $1 trillion in investment over the next five years to advance nation-building projects.

This comes after a globetrotting year for the prime minister, where he’s held several meetings with international investors and businesses in an effort to gin up interest in putting money into the Canadian economy.

Carney touted Canada’s strengths as an energy producer with a highly-educated workforce, saying Canada has what the world wants.

The goal of the summit is to grow businesses, unlock job opportunities and build a stronger economy, according to the release.

This comes after a decade of declining international investment in Canada.

A recent report from RBC says that last year was Canada’s first to attract more than $100 billion in foreign direct investment since 2015.

More than $1 trillion in foreign investment exited the Canadian economy between 2015 and 2024, what the report calls the “largest capital exodus in Canadian history.”

However, RBC projects Canada could attract upwards of $1.8 billion over the next decade if advancements are made in key industries. This includes building new pipelines and liquefied natural gas terminals, expanding nuclear, hydro and renewable power and growing as a critical mineral supplier.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business issued a report this week pointing to a struggling small business sector in Canada. The CFIB says this is the sixth consecutive quarter they’ve tracked more small businesses closing than opening.

The Prime Minister’s Office says the summit will be hosted on Sept. 14 and 15 in partnership with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board.

The announcement comes as Canada faces ongoing economic disruptions due to the Iran war spiking gas prices and tariffs imposed by the U.S.

I would also recommend you read this RBC report, Capital Gains: How Canada can unlock the $1.8 trillion it needs for growth. Here are the key findings:

Canada is back on the radar of global investors. Last year, foreign direct investment in Canada reached nearly $100 billion, the highest level since 2015.

Global capital flows are shifting significantly. Geopolitical disruptions, most recently the conflict in Iran, are leading major investors and companies to rebalance their portfolios.

A $1.8 trillion investment opportunity over the next 10 years could make Canada the G7’s growth leader. RBC Thought Leadership’s research and analysis indicates that there is an immense opportunity in six export-oriented, R&D-intensive, and strategically significant industries:

• Oil and Gas: $705 billion. New oil pipelines and LNG terminals could elevate Canada to energy superpower status, diversifying trade, providing energy security to allies, and fostering carbon capture and sequestration technologies.
• Oil and Gas: $705 billion. New oil pipelines and LNG terminals could elevate Canada to energy superpower status, diversifying trade, providing energy security to allies, and fostering carbon capture and sequestration technologies.
• Agriculture and Food Processing: $205 billion. Enhanced support for R&D could unleash a multi-decade, export-led growth cycle that strengthens domestic food sovereignty and enables food security to allied countries.
• Metals and Minerals: $200 billion. With NATO partners eyeing alternatives to a China-dominant critical mineral supply chain, Canada could hedge this concentration risk, power the West’s energy transition, and strengthen defence and advanced manufacturing supply chains.
• Defence: $19 billion. Canada plans to nearly triple defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, which could generate $100 billion for Canadian companies and transform Canada from a defence equipment importer into a contributor to allied military capabilities, particularly in emerging areas like Arctic surveillance and space-based defence systems.
• Space: $12 billion. Canada’s economic ambitions should extend out of this world. Investments in the space industry would advance the country’s excellence in satellite communications, space robotics, earth observation, and aerospace engineering, creating new opportunities in defence, high-tech and advanced manufacturing.

Canada is emerging from an unprecedented capital recession. The renewed interest comes after a decade of weak business investment, stalling productivity, and stagnating living standards. Between 2015 and 2024, more than $1 trillion of investment exited Canada—the largest capital exodus in Canadian history. For every dollar of inward FDI, two dollars exited.

To unlock investment, Canada needs a new capital formation framework. The non-financial corporate sector is sitting on more than $1 trillion in cash on its balance sheet. Its deployment could crowd in additional pools of capital: institutional, risk, foreign, and state capital. Our proposed capital formation framework includes four pillars, each targeting an incremental layer in the capital stack:

• A brownfield to greenfield asset recycling program
• Scale-enabling procurement
• Reforms to the corporate income tax and foreign investment regimes
• Leveraging of state capital

Canada’s new playbook must include Indigenous economic partnership, which not only helps to secure project approvals, but can accelerate project timelines. Partnerships work best when they are embedded early and aligned with community needs. 

Alright, it's Friday and I typically discuss markets today, but this is big news, and I promise to end off with some market comments at the end of my post.

So, big news, CPP Investments and PSP Investments will be hosting the first-ever Canada Investment Summit in mid-September.

Big investors will come, listen, but will they walk away convinced that Canada is a great place to invest in? 

That, my dear readers, remains to be seen.  

I'm not one to mince my words.

RBC Economics was polite to state, "Canada is emerging from an unprecedented capital recession."

Unprecedented is an understatement; it's been a disaster ever since Justin Trudeau's Liberals took power over a decade ago, slapped on a mountain of regulations, and killed all domestic resource projects.

Foreign investment plunged and there were zero resource projects under Trudeau's reign.

Now it's up to Mark Carney and his close-knit entourage of experts to clean up the mess they inherited, and while they're saying all the right things, so far, I haven't seen a lot of action. 

The honeymoon is over. Words can only take you so far. Carney's Liberals need to deliver on new major projects. Period.

I personally want to see airports, ports, highways and other major infrastructure being privatized or risks being slashed to attract foreign and domestic investors. 

We are at a point in Canada where if we do not do this, we are in deep, deep trouble (never mind what the IMF claims about our relatively strong fiscal position).

Buying off civil servants who want to retire early is easy. Attracting foreign capital is a lot harder. 

If we don't fix the regulatory framework and entice foreign investors with great projects to invest in, they will not invest in our country.

It's that simple. And all the conferences in the world will not change this. Words and presentations alone will not change their propensity to invest in Canada. 

Capiche? There is a ton of work to be done, and there are many hurdles to overcome before we attract one dime of foreign investment.  

At least Carney surrounded himself with competent people, which is more than I can say about Trudeau.

By the way, you can watch CPP Investments' Chief Public Affairs Officer, Michel Leduc, testify in front of the Standing Committee of Finance here.

Take the time to listen to Michel's comments and answers. He explains assets and liabilities of CPP, the role of CPP Investments to invest globally over the long run. He also discusses governance and what made the organization successful over time.

He also explains the concentration risk of Canada and why they need to invest globally but still invest significant amounts in Canada given their size.

Alright, take the time to watch it here (you can change from French to English on the bottom left corner, just click on the language and choose the one you want).

Let me quickly shift my focus to markets. 

Here is the major story today: oil drops, stocks soar to wrap up a wild week. 

The S&P 500 notched its first close above 7,100, and the Nasdaq posted longest win streak since 1992.

Everything except energy stocks was on fire today after Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz “completely open” on the heels of a ceasefire announcement between Israel and Lebanon.

But late Friday, there remains considerable confusion as a video shows ships turning away from the Strait of Hormuz as confusion persists over whether sea lane is really open.

We shall see where this goes next week but many investors are exasperated with the yo-yo market. 

⚠️THIS IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE:

The Nasdaq 100 index has gone from oversold to OVERBOUGHT levels in just 2 weeks, measured by the Relative Strength Index (RSI).

This comes as the Nasdaq 100 has recorded 12 consecutive green sessions, the longest streak in 13 YEARS.

This is the… pic.twitter.com/Lg71Nftboz

— Global Markets Investor (@GlobalMktObserv) April 17, 2026

The S&P 500's recovery rally is now the fastest since 1982. pic.twitter.com/nGitzH0IUa

— Hedgeye (@Hedgeye) April 17, 2026

Clearly, algos are running this market, jumping on everything Trump says or posts on his social media platform.

Alright, let me wrap it up quickly with the top-performing US large-cap stocks this week (full list here):

I wouldn't chase any of them here but definitely keep an eye on them.

Next week, we get big tech earnings reports. It will be interesting to see the reaction following earnings.

Below, Investment Committee debate how to position your portfolio after Iran's Foreign Minister declared the Strait of Hormuz will remain open during the ceasefire.

Also, Morgan Stanley's Katerina Simonetti joins 'Fast Money' to talk the state of the market, hurdles for the rally, and what she is looking at for both the near and long-term.

Third, Bob McNally, president and founder of Rapidan Energy Group, said that despite oil market optimism, he believes the Strait of Hormuz will close once again unless the US and Iran make major progress on a deal over the weekend. McNally said that his estimate is that it will take at least 3 to 4 months for the oil market and supply traffic to revert back to pre-war levels once there is a deal and that there are some oil fields that may be permanently closed.

Fourth, Natasha Hall, associate fellow at Chatham House, said that despite positive reaction to the announcements from the US and Iran, the ceasefire is very fragile and there are many complex details still to be worked out. Hall said that there are potential 'spoilers' that could emerge in negotiations as Iran considers nuclear restrictions and its newfound economic power via the Strait of Hormuz.

Lastly, Jim Bianco discusses the persistence of a "permanent risk premium" in financial markets, driven by geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran, even if a temporary ceasefire holds with Lisa Abramowicz and Annmarie Hordern.

ILOS Projects (ILOS) has secured an additional €450m credit facility from infrastructure investor EIG and Canadian investor La Caisse.

ILOS Projects said the increased commitment builds on deployment under the initial €250m tranche provided by EIG to support the firm’s target of developing and operating more than 2GW of solar and battery storage capacity across Europe by 2028.

Rob Johnson, managing director at EIG, and president and CIO of EIG credit management, said: “ILOS has built a platform with a clear focus on disciplined development and execution across key European power markets.

“The upsizing of this facility reflects the progress the team has made deploying capital under the initial tranche and our continued confidence in ILOS’s strategy, asset base and management team.”

Jérôme Marquis, managing director and head of private credit at La Caisse, said: “This transaction reflects our confidence in the quality of ILOS’s platform and aligns with our focus on high‑quality renewable power assets across Europe.

“By supporting the expansion of solar capacity amid rising energy demand, we are directing capital toward essential infrastructure, alongside partners with a strong track record.”

Sascha Klos, chief commercial officer at ILOS, said: “ILOS has delivered significant growth since inception, and this facility increase is a testament to the strength of our platform and strategy.

“We are proud to extend our relationship with EIG while welcoming La Caisse as a new partner as we continue to scale our portfolio and strengthen our position as a leading European independent power producer platform.”

AXA IM Alts, which is now part of BNP Paribas Asset Management Alts, acquired a 60% interest in ILOS Projects last year to support the firm’s target of expanding its pan-European IPP platform.

Mona Dohle of Net Zero Investor also reports EIG and La Caisse double down on solar investments:

EIG and Canadian pension fund La Caisse have increased their investments in a pan-European independent power producer specialising in solar energy.

La Caisse and EIG have committed €450m in financing to ILOS Projects, a BNP Paribas backed power producer specialising in the development, construction and operation of European photovoltaic projects.

The expanded credit facility builds on an initial €250 million tranche provided by EIG and represents a significant vote of confidence in ILOS's platform quality and execution capabilities. The investment will support the development and operation of more than 2 GW of solar and battery storage capacity across Europe by 2028.

"This investment is consistent with EIG's approach seeking to support scalable renewable energy platforms that are well positioned to meet Europe's growing demand for reliable power infrastructure," said Rob Johnson, Managing Director of EIG and President & CIO, EIG Credit Management.

For La Caisse, the transaction aligns with the institution's strategic focus on high-quality renewable power assets. "This transaction reflects our confidence in the quality of ILOS' platform and aligns with our focus on high-quality renewable power assets across Europe," said Jérôme Marquis, Managing Director and Head of Private Credit, La Caisse. "By supporting the expansion of solar capacity amid rising energy demand, we are directing capital toward essential infrastructure, alongside partners with a strong track record."

The flexible capital facility is designed to support both construction equity and acquisitions of ready-to-build assets in ILOS's core markets, including Ireland, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany. A&O Shearman served as legal advisor and Akereos Capital as structurer and exclusive debt advisor to ILOS, while Milbank acted as legal advisor to EIG and La Caisse. 

Hassan Butt of PFI also reports ILOS upsizes credit facility to €450m:

BNPP AM Alts-backed European independent power producer ILOS has upsized its structured credit facility with US-based institutional investor EIG and Canadian investment group La Caisse to €450m to develop 2GW of solar and BESS across Europe by 2028.

The upsized facility represents a €200m increase from the original tranche and will provide flexible capital for construction equity and acquisitions. ILOS said it is targeting core markets, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the UK.

The €450m holdco financing includes perimeter assets, which range from pre-ready-to-build, RTB and operational. It was said to be fully committed while revenues across the platform were backed by a contracted strategy, an Akereos representative told PFI.

AXA IM Alts, which became part of BNPP AM Alts in July, acquired a 60% stake in London-based ILOS in April last year. BNPP AM Alts has over €300bn of assets under management.

EIG has committed over €53bn to the energy sector across 425 projects or companies spanning 44 countries. La Caisse, formerly CDPQ, has over €320bn in net assets.

Akereos Capital acted as structurer and exclusive debt adviser to ILOS, while A&O Shearman was legal adviser. Milbank was legal adviser to EIG and La Caisse. 

Earlier today, La Caisse issued a press release stating that it and EIG helped ILOS upsize its credit facility to €450 million:

ILOS Projects (“ILOS”), a Pan-European Independent Power Producer (IPP) supported by BNP Paribas Asset Management Alts (BNPP AM Alts), today announced the successful upsizing of its structured credit facility with EIG, a leading institutional investor in the global energy and infrastructure sectors, and La Caisse, a global investment group, for a total of €450 million.

The increased commitment builds on deployment under the initial €250 million tranche provided by EIG and reflects continued investor support for ILOS’s platform, portfolio quality, and execution capabilities. The expanded facility will support ILOS’ plans to develop and operate more than 2 GW of solar and battery storage capacity across Europe by 2028.

Intended to provide flexible capital for construction equity and the acquisition of ready-to-build assets, the facility is expected to enable ILOS to advance its growth as a Pan-European IPP. ILOS will continue to focus on core markets, including Ireland, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany.

“ILOS has delivered significant growth since inception, and this facility increase is a testament to the strength of our platform and strategy,” said Sascha Klos, Chief Commercial Officer at ILOS. “We are proud to extend our relationship with EIG while welcoming La Caisse as a new partner as we continue to scale our portfolio and strengthen our position as a leading European IPP.”

“ILOS has built a platform with a clear focus on disciplined development and execution across key European power markets,” said Rob Johnson, Managing Director of EIG and President & CIO, EIG Credit Management.“The upsizing of this facility reflects the progress the team has made deploying capital under the initial tranche and our continued confidence in ILOS’ strategy, asset base, and management team. This investment is consistent with EIG’s approach seeking to support scalable renewable energy platforms that we believe are well positioned to meet Europe’s growing demand for reliable power infrastructure.”

“This transaction reflects our confidence in the quality of ILOS’ platform and aligns with our focus on high quality renewable power assets across Europe,” added Jérôme Marquis, Managing Director and Head of Private Credit, La Caisse.“By supporting the expansion of solar capacity amid rising energy demand, we are directing capital toward essential infrastructure, alongside partners with a strong track record.”

A&O Shearman served as legal advisor and Akereos Capital as structurer and exclusive debt advisor to ILOS, while Milbank acted as legal advisor to EIG and La Caisse.

About ILOS

ILOS is an emerging Independent Power Producer (IPP) dedicated to accelerating the transition towards a low-carbon energy system through the development, construction, and operation of photovoltaic projects across Europe. As a strategic platform of BNP Paribas Asset Management Alts, a global leader in alternative investments with €300 billion of assets under management, and Europe’s leading alternatives asset manager with a strong track record in infrastructure investment and a 60% majority shareholder in ILOS, the company benefits from long-term capital, deep sector expertise, and a disciplined investment approach.

About EIG

EIG is a leading institutional investor in the global energy and infrastructure sectors with $25.4 billion assets under management as of December 31, 2025. EIG specializes in private investments in energy and energy-related infrastructure on a global basis. During its 43-year history, EIG has committed over $53.4 billion to the energy sector through 425 projects or companies in 44 countries on six continents. EIG’s clients include many of the leading pension plans, insurance companies, endowments, foundations and sovereign wealth funds in the U.S., Asia and Europe. EIG is headquartered in Washington, D.C. with offices in Houston, London, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong and Seoul. For additional information, please visit EIG’s website at www.eigpartners.com.

About La Caisse

At La Caisse, formerly CDPQ, we have invested for 60 years with a dual mandate: generate optimal long-term returns for our 48 depositors, who represent over 6 million Quebecers, and contribute to Québec’s economic development.

As a global investment group, we’re active in the major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private credit. As at December 31, 2025, La Caisse’s net assets totalled $517 billion. For more information, visit lacaisse.com or consult our LinkedIn or Instagram pages.

This announcement shouldn't surprise anyone but let's go through it together.

First, ILOS is ramping up its operations in Europe very nicely.

Rob Johnson, Managing Director of EIG and President & CIO, EIG Credit Management states this:

“ILOS has built a platform with a clear focus on disciplined development and execution across key European power markets. The upsizing of this facility reflects the progress the team has made deploying capital under the initial tranche and our continued confidence in ILOS’ strategy, asset base, and management team. This investment is consistent with EIG’s approach seeking to support scalable renewable energy platforms that we believe are well positioned to meet Europe’s growing demand for reliable power infrastructure.” 

That initial tranche was  €250 million and was deployed relatively quickly, so EIG went back to la Caisse and asked them if they wanted to re-up, which they did.

As far as La Caisse is concerned, these are the type of private credit deals it really likes, co-investing alongside a top strategic partner in renewable infrastructure platform in Europe that is growing very nicely.  

As Jérôme Marquis, Managing Director and Head of Private Credit, La Caisse states:

“This transaction reflects our confidence in the quality of ILOS’ platform and aligns with our focus on high quality renewable power assets across Europe. By supporting the expansion of solar capacity amid rising energy demand, we are directing capital toward essential infrastructure, alongside partners with a strong track record.” 

Europe desperately needs energy, all sources of energy, and the focus there has been on renewable energy.

The environment for renewable energy has cooled in the US under the Trump administration, but in Europe, it remains vibrant.

And ILOS and other platforms similar to it are part to help European countries meet their growing need for energy.

So, all this to say no institutional investor should be surprised ILOS is upsizing its credit facility to €450m and that its source of capital is once again EIG and La Caisse.

Moreover, if this second tranche goes well, I wouldn't be surprised if a third one will follow.

La Caisse has stated it wants to double its allocation to private credit over the next four years and these are the type of deals that will help it attain its target.

And needless to say, these are also the type of deals that fit well into their sustainable investing activities, which I discussed here last week. 

Below, Soleire Renewable Holdings Ltd., founded in 2014, has partnered with ILOS Energy, a pioneering German company founded in 2018 that has become an independent power producer focused on solar PV projects across Europe. 

The partnership of Soleire Renewables and ILOS Energy combined has over 100 employees and up to 70 subcontractors for the development phase, increasing to several hundred during the construction phase. 

Listen carefully, very impressive platform with an incredible pipeline looking to meet the growing needs of data centers and other corporate and public projects like the grid. 

The OMERS pension plan is looking to add at least $10-billion in new investments in Canada to its portfolio over the next five years, as chief executive Blake Hutcheson says a push to attract more capital to Canadian projects is starting to show results.

The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System has about 18 per cent of its $145-billion portfolio invested in Canada – about $26-billion. Over the next five years, Mr. Hutcheson aims to increase that share to 25 per cent, he said in an interview.

The investing teams at OMERS are kicking the tires and putting in bids on more assets, especially in infrastructure and real estate, he said. And the fund – the seventh-largest of Canada’s eight biggest pension investors – is gaining confidence that there will be deals worth making in defence as well as in growth capital for Canadian startups.

“What’s really changed is the conditions that are being created are much better,” Mr. Hutcheson said. “There’s more in the window.”

Among its existing Canadian investments, OMERS has a major stake in nuclear energy provider Bruce Power, and it owns land registry provider Teranet. Its real estate portfolio includes prominent malls such as the Yorkdale Shopping Centre and hotels such as the Fairmont Banff Springs. The plan also indirectly has a 5-per-cent stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Raptors and other sports franchises.

But roughly three-quarters of the $2.6-trillion that Canada’s largest pension funds collectively manage is invested abroad, and governments have urged them to do more at home. The plans’ CEOs have said they are open to boosting their Canadian investment but, at times, they have been defensive – including Mr. Hutcheson.

To protect their independence, they reminded politicians that the plans’ mandates require them to seek out the best returns for their members anywhere in the world, without taking undue risks. And some of those CEOs have said there are still too few big-ticket investment opportunities up for grabs in Canada.

That hasn’t changed. But Mr. Hutcheson is the first CEO of a major Canadian pension fund to set a specific target that would meaningfully boost the overall share of his plan’s portfolio invested in Canada, marking an important change in tone.

“In recent months, my whole posture has changed, and we are very open to a lot more in Canada,” he said.

At all three levels of government, Mr. Hutcheson said the approach from policy makers has shifted from “expectation without opportunity to one of partnership with real opportunity.”

OMERS has tweaked the models it uses to allocate its assets around the world, making the models more favourable to Canada. And the plan’s leaders have signalled to its board of directors that the conditions are ripe to put more capital to work in Canada.

The additional $10-billion of investment that OMERS is promising would be over and above what it already owns. If the plan borrows money to boost the size of new investments in infrastructure or real estate, that could add up to “$20-billion of firepower” that OMERS can, “under the right conditions, deploy here,” Mr. Hutcheson said.

Ottawa has had regular contact with pension-fund leaders about how to make Canada a more attractive place to invest. The government launched the Major Projects Office to co-ordinate faster approvals for priority projects. And Prime Minister Mark Carney and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne have led high-profile trips abroad, with business leaders in tow, to promote Canada as a destination for foreign capital.

“We are in the room, and I’ve personally been in the room more in the last six months than I have been in the last six years,” Mr. Hutcheson said.

But some business leaders have privately expressed anxiety that all the talk and enthusiasm has yet to produce a significant increase in transactions or shovels in the ground.

There is some truth to that, Mr. Hutcheson said, but activity has noticeably picked up in several sectors – especially in real estate.

Mr. Hutcheson is a veteran real estate investor – he was formerly CEO of OMERS-owned Oxford Properties – and he said a 13-per-cent HST rebate on new homes in Ontario, backed by federal funds, has been the “most substantial” breakthrough. Several municipalities have cut fees and levies, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. can offer financing for large projects and cities “are fast-tracking any sort of crane quicker than they have in a decade.”

In the infrastructure sector, “we’ve been in more bake-offs or RFPs,” he added, referring to government-led requests for proposals.

In the defence sector, Mr. Hutcheson also sees a chance to back military suppliers and to extend that support to other NATO countries, though there are still parts of the defence sector that OMERS considers off-limits.

That is partly the result of a sense of urgency to act on the discussions that Canadian business leaders and policy makershave been having, he said.

“The message that I’ve repeatedly shared is, stop mixing and start painting,” Mr. Hutcheson said. “In recent months, we’re seeing the painting.”

Canada also looks more attractive to investors in relative terms, as wars, inflation and political instability put “a bigger risk premium” on deals in other countries, including in the United States, he said. And OMERS expects the Canadian dollar will get stronger relative to other currencies, creating a further incentive for pension plans to invest at home.

Like many large pension funds, OMERS still has minimal interest in being a government partner on greenfield projects that carry uncertainty around building costs and timelines to completion. “The risk is too high,” Mr. Hutcheson said.

Some pension funds have urged governments to sell key infrastructure such as airports, hydroelectric power assets and highways to private owners. But “we’re not sitting around waiting for the government to say, ‘We’re downloading X,’ nor are we advocating for it,” Mr. Hutcheson said.

Instead, he is increasingly convinced the seeds that governments are planting “are starting to grow trees,” so OMERS is “leaning in.”

“Do I want people to move faster? For sure. Do I want the tax regimes to be more enticing and catalytic? Of course. Do you want regulations to get out of the way in service of getting our economy kick-started? They can always do more,” he said. “But on all three fronts, we’re seeing more than we have in a long time.” 

Before I give you my thoughts, please take the time to support Globe and Mail reporter James Bradshaw who is riding his bike on two long journeys this summer to raise money for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation (details can be found on LinkedIn here). 

Alright, so OMERS is aiming to add $10 billion in new investment in Canada over the next five years, mostly in infrastructure and real estate.

Is this feasible? Yes, as long as all the governments -- local, provincial and federal -- create winning conditions for OMERS and all of Canada's Maple 8 and beyond to invest in big projects.

I recently discussed that Prime Minister Mark Carney has invited 100 of the world's biggest investors to a summit in Toronto this September hosted by CPP Investments and PSP Investments.

But I was clear, the time for words and slogans is long gone; the time for action is now, and we need to get going on big projects or else global investors will not invest here.

Wow, it's quite an achievement for Canada to have had even lower growth than Germany during the last decade.

Germany has done almost everything humanly possible to ruin its economy. How has Canada been able to beat that? pic.twitter.com/G8dm4D44xQ

— Michael A. Arouet (@MichaelAArouet) April 21, 2026

We need to privatize airports, ports, toll roads, electricity grids and do more to cut the risks of greenfield projects. We need to significantly cut regulations at all levels of government to get things going.

OMERS CEO Blake Hutcheson has joined his peers in high-level meetings with the federal Finance Ministry and he's optimistic that something will come out of these meetings.

I hope he's right. When we last spoke on February 23rd, when I covered OMERS' 2025 results, he shared this with me:  

A couple more ideas. We remain 55% committed to the United States. They're 26% of the global GDP -- their fiscal and monetary stimulus at this point in history is going to ensure that, at least for the foreseeable future, their markets are strong for most of the assets we invest in. Over time that exceptionalism may wane for all the reasons that we know, but for the short term, we remain committed to lots of assets, lots of counterparties in that market, and we've got deep friendships there. Notwithstanding, when people read the headlines, the Americans are great friends, and are great partners. 

But we want to do more in Canada. And we have, as you know, a significant portfolio here, sometimes with partners. Banff Springs, Chateau Lake Louise, Jasper Park Lodge, Chateau Whistler, Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Square One, Scarborough Town Centre, 20% of the office market A class product in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto. Bruce Power, the largest nuclear plant on the planet, 31% of the power supply for Ontario. Teranet, the Ontario land registry system here, a little piece of the MLSE, as you know, some really good PE businesses, some really good ventures investments. 

So we are, we're really committed to Canada, but we want to do more.And we're, we're encouraged when we look particularly at our infrastructure and and real estate, books and pipelines, that there's a lot of the offer there that we hope to get, get over the top, because we like the rule of law. We believe in this country.  

We believe in the future this country. We like a lot of the signs we're seeing as as you know, with this new government and the direction of travel with proper economic seeds getting planted for the first time in a long time. So I hope you'll read more in the future Leo that we're doing more in Canada. We're certainly seeing the prospects, and we're certainly committed to it.  

And ended the discussion with this:

 [...] our plan, which you've also heard me say multiple times, is 1,2,3,4,5. Between now and 2030, our ambition is to be 100% plus a cushion funded. Our $150 billion, roughly, will be $200 billion of equity. Three stands for three geographies, very prescriptive strategies. If we can't be great at something, we don't go there. Four for $400 billion plus of AUM. We are moving fast approaching half a trillion dollar enterprise between now and 2030. And to your final point, five stands for a 5% real which we've been able to deliver for five and 10 years, respectively. And when you look through and go back to the first objective, we will be significant. We will have a significant cushion in our funded status by delivering a 5% real, and we're measured by bridging that gap and giving our pensioners some optionality and a big cushion, not by some other metrics or some other, abstract number that doesn't pertain to our known liabilities. So that's the that's the message. 

So, OMERS remains committed to the US but wants to do more in Canada. By 2030, they will have $200 billion of equity if all goes well. This means they can easily afford to add another $10 billion in Canadian investments if the right opportunities present themselves.  

I want to stress that last part, the right opportunities have to be there for OMERS and other Maple-8 funds to invest significantly in Canada. 

I also want to stress that while Blake Hutcheson is as patriotic as they come (we both were so upset after Team Canada's 2-1 overtime loss to Team USA in the gold medal game at the Olympic Winter Games), OMERS isn't doing this for patriotic reasons; it wants to best match assets with liabilities in an intelligent way.

Below, on February 24, 2026, the Economic Club of Canada hosted the inaugural “In the Executive Chair with Rob Kumer” luncheon, featuring Rob Kumer (CEO, KingSett Capital) in conversation with Blake Hutcheson (President & CEO, OMERS).

The discussion examined Canada’s position in a shifting global and trade environment, the role of pension capital in supporting long-term economic growth, and the structural reforms required to strengthen productivity and competitiveness.

Great discussion, take the time to listen to it. 

Earlier this year, at BCI’s Investor Day, our asset class heads faced a deceptively simple challenge: tell clients what’s happening now in their programs, and what they think is coming next. No hedging, no caveats.

These are the experts who live and breathe these markets every day, building investment strategies to serve BCI’s clients. What followed were candid, informed perspectives from the people who know these markets best.

All figures reflect data as at February 2026 unless otherwise noted. 

Capital Markets & Credit Investments

“Deliberate credit selection, as opposed to broad market exposure, is where long-term value is created within private credit. You don’t just go out and buy a slice of the market—if you do that, you face very tight credit spreads and poor credit selection. Since the portfolio’s inception in 2018, our focus has been on the quality of the portfolio, across geographies, structures, and market cycles, a discipline that positions us well in this market and is reflected in the returns we deliver for our clients.”

– Daniel Garant, EVP & Global Head, Capital Markets & Credit Investments

 A crowded credit market 

BCI has been active in private credit since the portfolio launched in 2018. Over that period, the asset class has evolved considerably, growing in scale, sophistication, and the breadth of opportunities it offers investors.

With that growth has come increased competition, particularly in the US, where a large volume of capital has led to an increasingly competitive market, compressing the extra return or spread that lenders earn for taking on credit risk.

The practical consequence is that portfolios built on broad market exposure find themselves exposed to companies regardless of underlying credit quality. For example, software businesses whose models are being disrupted by AI, retail borrowers, and commodity companies exposed to market cycles find their way into these portfolios.

When you buy the market, you get all of it—including the parts you wouldn’t have chosen.

That’s why BCI’s Capital Markets & Credit Investments program takes a different approach.

Why credit selection matters 

BCI’s private debt portfolio offers approximately 550 basis points in credit spread, a premium earned through a strategic decision to focus primarily on credit selection, as opposed to passive market exposure.

Around 65% of BCI’s C$20 billion private debt allocation is in direct loans or co-investments alongside trusted partners. This sets BCI apart from many other investors and brings meaningful advantages that benefit our clients: diversification, deeper relationships, deal selectivity, and lower fees.

When US direct lending spreads compressed through 2025, BCI continued expanding into Europe, Asia Pacific, asset-backed lending, and investment-grade private debt, all strategies offering better spread compensation and fit for our clients’ portfolios.

Overall, the program has shifted its geographic mix. While still maintaining a meaningful exposure in the US, redeployed capital is targeting opportunities in Europe and Asia, offering 25–50 basis points of additional spread.

Built on strong foundations, relationships, and expertise since the private debt program launched, BCI is well positioned for where credit markets are moving. 

Private Equity

“I’m cautiously optimistic, moving towards more optimistic on private equity as deal activity slowly recovers. BCI has had a great ten-year run—returns around 16.1%. The platform is well positioned for the market opportunity going forward.”

– Jon Salon, EVP & Global Head, Private Equity   

Now: The private equity market environment today 

Private equity is in a period of meaningful transition. Interest rates have largely stabilized and valuations are moderating from their 2021 peaks, but the market is still working through the consequences of that cycle. An estimated $3.7 trillion in assets are considered “hung assets”: sellers unwilling to accept lower prices, and buyers unwilling to pay peak multiples. Exit markets are gradually improving but liquidity remains constrained. 

The more fundamental shift is structural. Gone are the days where interest rate tailwinds and multiple expansion drive returns. Creating real operational value for our investments by working alongside management teams to create efficiency, accelerate revenue growth, and build more resilient businesses is a growing source of return. That requires a different kind of capability: sector expertise, operational talent, and genuine partnership with GPs and portfolio companies.  

Next: Why we are cautiously optimistic 

BCI Private Equity’s 10-year annualized return of 16.1%¹ (as at March 31, 2025) reflects a platform that has delivered and one that has spent this period building for what comes next.

As exit markets gradually reopen and valuations continue to moderate, BCI is ready to move. The program has expanded beyond traditional buyouts into recapitalizations, structured equity, and broader capital solutions giving the team greater flexibility to deploy capital across a wider range of opportunities as they emerge. And with offices in New York and London, the team is close to the GP relationships that generate early access to deal flow. 

BCI has long invested in deep sector expertise and has been deliberately deepening it. The team includes sector specialists who understand the industries they invest in well enough to drive pipeline, manage assets, and work alongside management teams to shape real operational outcomes.  

Sustainable portfolio management and value creation is part of that picture too.  For example, BCI and Stanford University have demonstrated that ESG initiatives in private equity generate measurable returns for portfolio companies and investors alike. Read the research. 

¹ As at March 31, 2025 

Infrastructure & Renewable Resources

”BCI Infrastructure & Renewable Resources has navigated through a number of bumps in the road—the global financial crisis, euro crisis, COVID, post-COVID inflation. Part of the reason is the highly diversified portfolio across many sectors and countries. When you look at the portfolio level, it’s very resilient.” 

– Lincoln Webb, EVP & Global Head, Infrastructure & Renewable Resources 

Now: How the I&RR portfolio has remained resilient 

The resilience of BCI Infrastructure & Renewable Resources isn’t accidental. It’s the result of thoughtful construction and the application of a consistent set of principles over two decades and multiple market cycles: essential assets, defensive capital structures, and broad diversification.  

Today, the portfolio spans 30+ countries, multiple sectors, and invests in essential services that people depend on regardless of economic conditions. Essential assets — electricity, gas, water, digital infrastructure — don’t stop being necessary because markets are volatile. 

These principles have been tested repeatedly. The program has navigated through the global financial crisis, the Euro crisis, COVID and held steady through all of it.  And when post-COVID inflation spiked to near double digits, built-in passthrough mechanisms allowed revenues to increase alongside rising costs. 

Different shocks, different pressures but the result has been a resilient portfolio.   

Next: Positioning for the next decades of growth 

The megatrends that have driven infrastructure investment over the past two decades including digitization, energy security, and decarbonization, show no signs of slowing. And more recently, energy security and food security have come into focus. Globally, an estimated US$40 trillion² in infrastructure investment is needed over the next 20 years to meet demand. Not all of that is accessible to private capital, but the investable opportunity set that meets the program’s risk-return profile remains sizeable. 

Decarbonization is a case in point. Policy uncertainty in the US has caused some capital to pull back from renewables, pushing returns on operating solar and wind assets from 5–6% to 9–10%, while demand for clean, reliable energy isn’t slowing. That gap between retreating capital and growing demand is exactly the kind of opportunity BCI is built to capture.  

Northview Energy is how that opportunity takes shape. BCI recently announced the acquisition of a portfolio of operating solar and wind assets under long-term contracts with high-quality energy buyers. The platform is built to grow with an agreement in place to acquire additional assets as the energy transition continues. 

² Figure expressed in US dollars. 

Sources: BloombergNEF, 2025; Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, 2024; International Telecommunication Union, 2025; Climate Policy Initiative and Food and Agriculture Organization, 2024.  

Conclusion

Across every asset class, the message from BCI’s investment leaders is consistent: patient capital enables investor discipline. Walking away from crowded trades. Evolving with market cycles. Building resilient portfolios.

BCI’s focus has always been on the decades ahead, not the next quarter. The measure of success is straightforward: secure financial futures for the people, organizations, and communities that BCI’s clients serve across British Columbia and beyond.

Our 25-year track record speaks for itself. Nearly $300 billion in assets under management. A global presence that gives us access to top talent and the best deals. And the expertise to invest with agility across the capital stack to secure the right opportunities for our clients.

That’s the BCI advantage now: patient capital deployed globally to benefit future generations.

As for what comes next, you’ve heard directly from the people making the calls.

Some excellent insights here from BCI's senior investment executives, nothing earth-shattering but at least they held an Investor Day to share some insights (ideally, should be videotaped and posted on YouTube or Vimeo).

I would have also liked to hear from Dennis Lopez, CEO of QuadReal, since he's in charge of BCI's real estate portfolio (QuadReal does its own thing, they're performing very well).

I'll share some thoughts with you, beginning with private equity. 

Jon Salon, the new head of PE at BCI, took over the helm from Jim Pittman who recently departed the organization. 

He's a seasoned veteran who really understands the asset class.

In a conversation with him posted on BCI's website back in February, he explained his focus and strategy:

Following BCI’s recent announcement of his appointment, Jon Salon officially begins his role today as Executive Vice President and Global Head of Private Equity. With more than three decades of private equity and executive management experience, Jon brings a proven record of leadership, strategic vision, and operational discipline to his new role.

Jon joins BCI’s executive leadership team with a clear mandate: to advance BCI Private Equity’s high‑conviction, globally diversified investment strategy that creates sustainable, long‑term value for pension fund and institutional clients. He now leads a team of more than 75 professionals based in Victoria, New York, and London, overseeing a C$36 billion+ portfolio across fund, direct, and co‑investment strategies.

We sat down with Jon to hear his views on private equity, BCI’s evolving priorities, and where he sees opportunity ahead.

Drawing on three decades of diverse experience

Jon’s career spans the full spectrum of private equity and corporate leadership, from investment management and operations to legal and capital structuring and deployment. Before joining BCI, he spent 15 years as a Managing Partner at Bedford Funding, a US$1.4 billion private equity firm specializing in growth equity and buyouts across healthcare and technology. In this role, he developed a deep understanding of technology, growth and transformation initiatives. More recently, Jon served as President and CEO of MDLIVE, an Evernorth company within the Cigna Group and a leading provider of virtual healthcare services across the United States.

“I’ve had the rare opportunity to sit on all sides of the table – as a GP, LP, and corporate leader,” Jon reflects. “That breadth of experience gives me a deep understanding of how alignment and trust drive successful business outcomes.”

Perhaps unexpectedly, Jon began his career in transactional law, where he built deep expertise in corporate risk analysis, structuring and governance, and dealmaking. Those early legal insights continue to inform his approach to complex transactions today.

Lessons from a career in private equity

Reflecting on his career, Jon emphasizes that private equity is, at its core, a relationship‑driven business.

“This is an industry where talent and analysis matter, but long‑term success is built on trust and alignment,” he says. “Strong partnerships – whether with company management teams, co‑investors, or internal colleagues – are what enable us to act with conviction.”

Evolving strategy, building on strength

When asked whether his appointment signals a significant shift in strategy, Jon is clear: “Our direction remains largely consistent, with an emphasis on selective, high‑conviction investing, deep partnership collaboration, and operational value creation at the core. What’s evolving is our ability to effectively execute that strategy on a truly global scale – with the appropriate processes, partners, and team-based approach to drive growth.”

He expects continued emphasis on direct investments with meaningful governance rights, alongside greater geographic diversification. “Our talent is our greatest differentiator,” he adds. “We’ll continue empowering our professionals across regions to cultivate deep relationships and work closely with portfolio companies and partners on the ground to drive meaningful outcomes.”

He adds: “In private equity, we are not in the business of selling products or services. We are in the business of making sound investment decisions. How we support that decision-making is what sets us apart. It’s the combined strength of our deeply talented team, our technology, and our relationships that enables us to make decisions with conviction.”

What sets BCI Private Equity apart

Jon sees BCI’s integrated global model as one key advantage. “Our teams in Victoria, New York, and London collaborate seamlessly to deliver a global perspective and local execution,” he explains. “Even as some of our peers have retrenched, we continue to see quantifiable value from our internationally based offices – especially in terms of origination and asset management.”

Our flexible approach to investment structures also differentiates us. “Our Private Equity team evaluates direct opportunities with a broad view of the capital stack, recognizing that value and risk can often be optimized through thoughtful structuring rather than traditional equity alone. Structured debt and equity solutions are increasingly important components of our toolkit, allowing us to tailor solutions for situations with strong upside potential while also providing additional downside protection and capital preservation.” These types of investments often provide enhanced resilience in an evolving market environment.

Speed, flexibility and decisiveness further define BCI Private Equity’s approach. The program is increasingly adopting a capital allocation strategy that enables us to redeploy liquidity into high-conviction opportunities with very little lead time. “Our ability to move quickly, execute complex transactions efficiently, and invest across the capital structure gives us a real edge in today’s market.”

Where opportunity lies in the next 12–24 months

Looking ahead, Jon emphasizes both disciplined growth and deeper partnerships. A key priority is continuing to build out BCI’s presence in London – an important hub for European deal flow and co‑investor relationships.

“Our London team is integral to BCI’s global connectivity,” he says. “They’re sourcing quality opportunities and strengthening relationships with Europe‑centric companies and co‑investors. That local presence gives us both visibility and agility.”

Jon also highlights the value of deepening strategic partnerships. Going forward, BCI Private Equity expects to direct a greater share of capital commitments towards a more selective group of core GP partners.

“We’re refining our network to focus on GPs who bring differentiated opportunities, demonstrate a strong track record of superior returns, and share our views and principles around collaboration. These relationships, rooted in alignment and trust, allow us to act quickly and decisively on attractive transactions and value‑creation opportunities.”

Over the next several quarters, BCI Private Equity intends to take a strategic approach to fund engagement and rationalization.

Trends shaping the future

In an environment marked by a slower pace of exits, Jon notes that discipline has become more critical than ever. “We’re being highly deliberate about where we deploy capital, ensuring every investment has multiple credible, visible paths to exit and alignment across partners.”

There are also opportunities to differentiate BCI as a flexible capital solutions provider in this environment. “Our flexible capital strategies and broader BCI relationships can often support our portfolio companies as they mature through the capital lifecycle – whether that be through recaps, structured equity, debt financing, or more traditional exit pathways.”

Building on a strong foundation

Jon believes BCI Private Equity’s team should be proud of the momentum they’ve built over the past several years. The team has taken meaningful steps to build value creation capabilities within its investment process, integrating data‑driven tools and AI capabilities to support portfolio company growth.

“We’ve redefined how we work together as one Private Equity team, bringing deep sector expertise and specialized skill sets into a more integrated way of operating,” he says. “It’s positioning us, and our partners, to unlock greater value and seize market opportunities.”

As Jon begins his new leadership role, his message is one of continuity and confidence. “BCI Private Equity’s foundations are built on disciplined investing, trusted partnerships, and a global perspective. My focus is on amplifying what we already do well at greater scale and continuing to deliver for our clients.”

Jim Pittman hired Jon Salon so it doesn't surprise me that he sounds an awful lot like him when he discusses private equity and their approach. 

He sounds optimistic as deal activity slowly recovers, but remains cautious as the asset class works through many headwinds.

It remains to be seen if BCI and other large Canadian pension funds can navigate this more challenging period in private equity.

In late March, James Bradshaw of the Globe and Mail reported that BCI let go about 10 staff in its private equity division, trimming the ranks of its teams focused on direct buyouts and funds after Salon was appointed as the new head.

I can't say I was shocked. I was waiting for it and have seen the same thing going on at many Maple 8 funds in private equity.

Typically, it's the fund people that get cut first in this environment. 

Going from 75 employees to 65 isn't as drastic as it might seem, but it stings because these are highly paid professionals and it's not an easy market in private equity to turn around and find another job. 

Also, remember the rule of thumb: if assets under management get hit, headcount gets hit; that goes for all financial firms managing money.  

Anyway, we will not know exactly how BCI's private equity portfolio performed in 2025 until the annual results are released in the coming weeks. 

I do agree with Jon on this point: the time for operational excellence is now and this market is unforgiving; it rewards those who execute and punishes those who don't (in all private market asset classes). 

Every private equity team out there has to focus on what they are good at and find strategic partners to co-invest in areas where they can't compete.

Now, quickly, let me go over private credit and infrastructure at BCI.

I agree with Daniel Garant, the US market has become very competitive, banks are swarming in and whenever they do, my antennas go up, and not in a good way:

‼️Wall Street's exposure to private credit is now impossible to ignore:

9 largest US banks collectively hold ~$180 billion in loans to private credit firms, led by JPMorgan at $50 billion, Wells Fargo at $36 billion, and Citigroup at $22 billion.

Meanwhile, Investors attempted… pic.twitter.com/VgeUHT4mv0

— Global Markets Investor (@GlobalMktObserv) April 22, 2026

Yes, most banks are doing a decent job in private credit, but I'm starting to feel like we are coming to the end of this credit cycle, and once the party ends, those taking stupid risks or playing fast and loose with their underwriting, will be exposed.

Right now, you really need to partner up with funds that are top experts in their underwriting and know how to navigate a down credit cycle.

So Garant is right, don't buy the beta, prioritize credit selection here. 

Lastly, on infrastructure and natural resources, Lincoln Webb and his team have done a great job over the years building a resilient and diversified portfolio.

The only thing I see in infrastructure is the big private equity firms are increasingly scaling into the asset class and that means more competition for assets and valuations tend to be high when that happens.

In infrastructure, just like in real estate and private equity, it really matters what you pay for an asset initially and at what valuation.

The only good thing is you can keep an asset in your books for a long time but that doesn't mean it can't get marked down (a few large Canadian pension funds got hit on renewable energy assets last year). 

Ok, let me wrap it up there, I look forward to covering BCI's annual results when they're released and who knows, maybe CEO/ CIO Gordon Fyfe will grace me with a discussion (not holding my breath).

Please note you can read more BCI insights here. 

Below, Bloomberg Senior Writer for Ideas & Culture Felix Salmon discusses with David Gura and Christina Ruffini on Bloomberg This Weekend the growing attention on private credit, a trillion-dollar asset class involving direct loans from investors to private equity-backed companies.

Also, Apollo Global Management President Jim Zelter talks about the unprecedented surge in capital expenditures, the future of private credit, and where he’s seeing investment opportunities around the world.

CAAT Pension Plan earned 8.4% last year as buoyant stock performance outweighed soft returns in the fund’s private market portfolio. 

The gains, which pushed assets to C$25.4 billion ($18.6 billion), were below the benchmark of 11.2%. That was driven “almost entirely” by the pension plan’s private equity allocation, which returned 1.5% compared to its benchmark of 19.6%, according to CAAT’s annual report published Thursday. 

Public equity holdings gained 21.7% in 2025, while credit and real assets returned 3.7% and 4.1%, respectively. 

Private markets suffered from constrained liquidity and subdued deal activity last year as higher interest rates and macroeconomic uncertainty weighed on investor sentiment and valuations, the Toronto-based pension plan said in the report. 

The pension plan is “modestly” exposed to software companies affected by advancements in artificial intelligence across its private equity and credit holdings, Chief Investment Officer Kevin Fahey said in an interview, adding that the exposure won’t be a “significant headwind in either portfolio.”

CAAT plans to allocate capital to real assets this year as it remains underweight its target mix, said Fahey, who is also acting chief executive officer. “We have some work to do specifically in that space, and that will come out of a combination of the public equity and fixed income markets.” 

The softer US dollar also hurt CAAT’s returns last year. Canadian pension funds are among the largest holders of US assets in the world, and are vulnerable to a weaker greenback.

CAAT, which serves more than 850 employers in 20 industries, has been dealing with internal tension in recent months. 

The board of trustees launched an independent review after a controversial payment to the then-chief executive officer exposed broader concerns about governance, board oversight and workplace conduct.

CEO Derek Dobson exited the fund in March after being placed on leave amid concerns over C$1.6 million he received for unused vacation time. Three of the pension plan’s senior executives had approached the board in November with concerns over that payout and a relationship between Dobson and another CAAT employee.

CAAT made Fahey acting CEO after Dobson went on leave. The board is focused on appointing a permanent CEO, according to the annual report. 

“CAAT’s independent governance review is now in its final stages,” the pension plan said in a statement.

Fahey said he’s confident in CAAT’s ability to maintain a long-term focus for its members. “We’re going to do a good job setting up our next CEO for success,” he said.  

Earlier today, CAAT Pension Plan issued a press release stating it delivered strong 10-year returns, reinforcing long-term stability for members and participating employers:

Toronto, April 23, 2026 – The CAAT Pension Plan announced strong investment results in its 2025 Annual Report, underscoring a decade of solid performance and funding health. Over the past 10 years, the Plan has delivered an annualized net return of 9.6% supported by a one-year net return of 8.4% in 2025.

“CAAT’s investment program continues to deliver long-term returns that promote Plan health,” said Kevin Fahey, Acting CEO and Plan Manager and Chief Investment Officer. “Our 2025 results only add to my confidence in the Fund. Our 10-year annualized net return significantly outperformed CAAT’s policy benchmark and discount rate, which reflects the long-term rate of return required to make the Plan sustainable.”

Stability

On January 1, 2026, the CAAT Pension Plan’s assets were $25.4 billion with a funding reserve of $6.7 billion, up from $23.3 billion and $6.1 billion, respectively, the previous year. The Plan is 124% funded, meaning CAAT holds $1.24 in assets for every dollar of pension obligations - a strong indicator of benefit security and long-term sustainability for members.

Predictable income, meaningful benefits

CAAT provides beneficiaries with predictable lifetime income in their retirement. In 2025, the Plan paid more than $760 million to pensioners.

CAAT’s strong funded position directly translates into meaningful benefits for its members and participating employers. For instance, in 2025, the Plan extended its conditional inflation protection for eligible members to 2028, helping preserve the purchasing power of their pensions over time. CAAT has granted this enhancement every year since its introduction in 2007. CAAT also enhanced survivor benefits by increasing the minimum payment guarantee from 60 times to 180 times a member’s first monthly pension amount and by introducing a 100% survivor pension option.

Two previously announced initiatives strengthened the value of Plan participation. CAAT increased the annual pension factor to help DBplus members build retirement income faster without contributing more to the Plan. It also lowered the contribution rate for DBprime members while leaving benefit entitlements unchanged. For employers, these enhancements reinforce a competitive total rewards offering and demonstrate the value Canadians place on workplace pensions as a foundation for financial well-being.

An enduring promise

While many of the forces that shaped the economy over the past 50 years including globalization, declining interest rates and low, stable inflation may have run their course, Mr. Fahey says “the resilience of CAAT’s investment program enables the Fund to withstand periods of volatility and adapt to market conditions in the short-term to manage risk and take advantage of opportunities. As such, broader challenges in any given sector or the economy do not impact the ability of the Plan to pay pensions now or in the future.”

About CAAT Pension Plan

Established in 1967, the CAAT Pension Plan is an independent, jointly governed plan that offers highly desirable modern defined benefit pensions. Originally created to support the Ontario college system, the CAAT Plan now proudly serves more than 850 participating employers in 20 industries, including the for-profit, non-profit, and broader public sectors. It currently has more than 125,000 members. The CAAT Plan is respected for its pension and investment management expertise and focus on stability and benefit security. On January 1, 2026, the Plan was 124% funded on a going-concern basis. 

Earlier today, I had a discussion with CAAT Pension Plan's acting CEO and Plan Manager and CIO, Kevin Fahey, to go over their 2025 results.

Before I get to my discussion with Kevin, I'd like to go over some items from the annual report which you can download here. 

First, a message from Chair Audrey Wubbenhorst and Vice-Chair Janet Greenwood:

I note the following:

Strong governance is the foundation of trust in and long-term security of the CAAT Pension Plan. It is reinforced by the Board’s commitment to continuous improvement, disciplined oversight and a willingness to act decisively in the best interests of Plan beneficiaries.

To this end, the Board initiated a comprehensive review to evaluate the Plan’s governance framework against evolving best practices. This work included consideration of governance-related matters brought to the Board’s attention. To ensure objectivity, an independent expert was engaged to conduct the review. Based on the findings, the Board will identify targeted areas for enhancement and develop a set of actions to ensure CAAT’s governance continues to support the long-term success of the Plan.

A fundamental role for the Board is to provide oversight and counsel to keep CAAT focused on its strategy and the beneficiaries’ long-term interests, including maintaining continuity in leadership and decision-making during transitions. At the outset of CAAT’s current transition, the Board appointed Kevin Fahey as Acting Chief Executive Officer to ensure stability in leadership and operations. With leadership continuity in place, the Board is now focused on appointing a permanent CEO. 

Basically, the Board is doing its job properly, appointed an independent expert to make recommendations on how they can improve their governance, and the findings of this independent review will be made public when completed.

Next, a message from the Acting CEO and Plan Manager and CIO, Kevin Fahey: 

I note the following:

CAAT’s investment program is designed to turn contributions from members and employers into predictable retirement income for life. Our focus on long-term performance strengthens the funding position and overall health of the Plan. In 2025, CAAT achieved a 10-year annualized net rate of return of 9.6%, supported by an annual net return of 8.4%.

Today, our $25.4 billion fund is diversified across asset classes to achieve our targeted rate of return while helping mitigate market volatility and adverse economic conditions. CAAT’s $6.7 billion surplus – built through years of disciplined investing and risk management – also serves as a stabilizing force.

On a going concern basis, the Plan is 124% funded, meaning CAAT holds $1.24 in assets for every dollar of pension obligations. That is a strong indicator that members’ benefits are secure and the Plan is sustainable.

Strong funding enables tangible day-to-day value for members and employers. These  outcomes are guided by our Funding Policy, which establishes clear guardrails for contributions, reserves and benefit decisions.  

It is important to note that despite the governance issues the Plan faced last year, it remains one of the best -- if not, the best funded -- Plan in Canada. 

Next, a Q&A with Kevin Fahey which is definitely worth reading: 

I note the following:

You were appointed as Chief Investment Officer in January 2026. How are you approaching this new role?

CAAT’s investment strategy has delivered strong performance over the long term, and as such, I see no need to change an approach that continues to be effective. It’s a reflection of the incredibly talented and dedicated teams that oversee our investment program – many of whom I have worked alongside for years. Not only do they have the expertise and discipline to manage the Fund, they care deeply about the role it plays in supporting CAAT’s purpose. That unique mix of skill set and passion is fundamental in sustaining our investment goals well into the future.

In terms of CAAT’s performance in 2025, what do you want members to know?

Overall, our investment program delivered a strong performance in 2025. The fund’s 8.4% rate of return surpassed what we required on an annual and 10-year basis to enhance the long-term health of the Plan. For every dollar of pension obligations, CAAT has $1.24 in assets. The bottom line is, members can feel confident their pension is secure.

Putting the annual performance aside, your team places greater importance on long-term returns. Why?

I’ll give you an example related to the Plan’s enhancements in 2025. CAAT increased
the annual pension factor to help DBplus members build retirement income faster without contributing more to the Plan. We also lowered the contribution rate of DBprime members while keeping the same pension promise. Many factors go into these decisions, but they were made possible by the Fund’s status. And that’s a reflection of the success our investment program has had over the course of 10 to 15 years.  

The key thing here is following the departure of former CIO Asif Haque, the strategy isn't changing and the funding status remains solid because long-term returns are strong.

Alright, let me get to the key highlights for 2025:

Real assets (25%) and private equity (17%) make up 37% of the portfolio.

Given the tilt toward public markets, I wasn't surprised the overall performance of 8.4% was strong as Public equity had an exceptional year:

Also worth noting, returns in private markets were muted but better than many of their larger peers.

What else? Like its peers, the Plan underperformed its benchmark last year and the issues were in private equity which has a public market benchmark that soared last year:

The key thing here is that over the last 5 and 10 years, CAAT Pension Plan has outperformed its benchmark.

Discussion With CAAT Acting CEO and Plan manager and CIO Kevin Fahey

Let me get right into my discussion with Kevn Fahey.

I want to thank Kevin for taking the time to call me earlier and also thank Stephen  Hewitt and Erin Hamilton for scheduling the call and sending me material on an embargoed basis.

Kevin began by giving me an overview of the results:

I think the engine, clearly, last year, was the public market piece. There were great tailwinds in the form of just a good global markets generally, because our index was up 16.6% and we ended up 21.7%. And that's on the back of, on the public market side, value add from our long-only managers. But also, we have, as you might have read the report, or might have known, historically, we do have a program where we port hedge funds on top of our public portfolio, and there was a lot of value that came out of that piece as well. 

The obvious headwind was what we saw in private equity from a relative value perspective, at least benchmark. Although even in that space, we were above zero and, frankly, within shouting distance or above and below most of our peers. So it's not like I'm looking at private equity saying: "Wow, they really didn't perform well." We were on the same ride as everybody during the year, and the other asset classes were a little more sort of benign, whether it be nominal bonds or the TIPs portfolio. You know, neither one had a huge impact. I know it was the story of the equity bit. 

I noted the 510 basis points outperformance in Public Equity was quite impressive and asked Kevin whether the portable alpha strategy they use there to invest in external hedge funds is roughly 10% of assets.

He replied:

We don't report on leverage levels, specifically Leo. Your impressions, though, are not misplaced. I would say just to be clear, the impact of the leverage that comes with a portable alpha strategy is something that we do in addition to the strategy itself, and the managers that we put in the portfolio are really conscious of the potential impacts of leverage, and the knock-on effect from a liquidity perspective, and we're very comfortable that our leverage is modest at the plan level. 

It may be the case that they use "modest leverage", but just to be clear, no other peer group outperformed its Public Equity benchmark by 510 basis points last year or anywhere close to that, and they all invest in external hedge funds as well.

The reason? Other funds report absolute return activities separately, and they report their leverage level, whether or not it's moderate.

If CAAT Pension Plan is mixing portable alpha with their long-only equities and calling it added value, then their benchmark needs a premium to reflect leverage and a T-bill hurdle.

That's not to take away from their portable alpha strategy which delivered exceptional returns last year. I'm just stating how it needs to be properly reported separately (you measure beta with beta and alpha with alpha and if you mix them up, your benchmark has to reflect this and a premium should be added to it).

Alright, we moved on to private markets where I asked Kevin to give me some more flavour on private equity, infrastructure and real estate.

He replied:

I'll try and do a fly by those categories because there are new ones. What I would say that prevails across the peak is that we try and pick great GPs globally, across the strategies, and leverage as much co-investment alongside those GPs as we can. 

I think we've been pretty careful in varying degrees, quite frankly. In infrastructure, a lot of the portfolio is in co-invest in direct and in descending order, private equity, an order of magnitude lower, although it's still a significant portion of that portfolio.

Real Estate, even lower again, just by virtue of where our journey had been in that class. We were, for a very long time focused on open-ended funds, and we've more recently, started diversifying that strategy to closed-end GPs, and have started to attract more co-invest deal flow, so that will grow over time.

And in private credit, given the duration of those investments and the return profile we have not, and the relative newness of that portfolio, and frankly, the co-investments we see in private credit would be relatively small inside. We've not been active in co-investing in that space. So, private credit, we are not active co-investors at this point. 

And from a strategy perspective, all four of the asset classes, private equity, private credit, real estate and infrastructure, all global in nature, funds and co-investments (in three of them). Private equity, the portfolio more mid-market focused, I would argue, and infrastructure we're diversified across the cap spectrum. Although in recent years, we've tried to make a more concerted effort to go down into more mid-market space. We're seeing more mid-market deal flow, because honestly, some of the GPs that we hired many years ago, have drifted into the large cap space. And while they've been good partners from a diversification perspective and from wanting to be known that we are still important to that GP as we would be, we've sort of certified and gone more down market, and we've seen success in that, particularly in attracting co-investment deal flow in real estate, as I noted, we have more recently started. 

We are global on that side, not much Asia on the private market side, which is where, basically where all our real estate comes from but certainly well diversified, diversified across North America and Europe in real estate, and starting to see a lot more and more, probably minute small market there. We're starting to see co-investment deal flow that we've been executing on in that base and private credit, it's also a global program, but mostly North America and Europe, and again, not a lot co-investment in that portfolio at this point, and it's still in relatively early stages. 

I asked him if the split between fund investment and co-investments is 60/40 and he replied:

We don't disclose that publicly, but I say that across real estate, or, sorry, across infrastructure and private equity on an aggregate basis, Leo, you're within shouting distance with that number. 

He added that co-investments are a "huge driver of their long-term success" and CAAT Pension Plan wants to remain a strategic partner of choice to top GPs in the areas they invest in.

I also asked him, with the markets being so volatile this year, how does he manage to be Acting CEO and CIO? He replied: 

No, I don't feel overwhelmed. Leo, I would say, at good fortune, as did Asif and Julie before him, for many years to be surrounded by a really good team. 

The team has, over the last few years, has grown out significantly. We've got 20 on the investment side, which wouldn't have been the case a decade ago under Julie's stewardship. 

We're well served by having built really deep bench strength, and that has been a tremendous support to me, as you might imagine.

In recent months, I have been very busy, but it's not like my eye is off the CIO ball. Everything that's coming forward, I'm spending time with, whether it be Razvan Tonea who's heading the public market side, or Adam Buzanis who's heading the private market side. I'm still in regular dialogue with them. 

I would say, honestly, I'm dealing with it by spending more hours a day working. So my work days are longer than they used to be.

Lastly, since Kevin is a private markets experts, i asked him how he sees things going forward and whether he is concerned something structural is going on there.

He replied: 

I think that's a very reasonable question. As you know, that 2021 inflection point, a lot of us investing in private equity for call it a decade plus, that portion of the portfolio that was invested in the late teens and up to 2021 is definitely, with returns recently, and we're no different on that front, though. 

But these things, as you're likely aware are very end date sensitive. So to the extent that our numbers relative to benchmark in 2025 were not spectacular, look back three or four years ago, and granted, the impact of some of the teen stuff wouldn't have weighed on us at that point, but our numbers look fantastic when you look back. 

We think things are cyclical, and that's why it is important for us to sort of maintain our focus on the long-term plan level. But even in private markets, because our private equity return over the last 10 years is certainly very strong. 

Kevin is right, over a longer period, private equity portfolio at CAAT and other large Canadian pension funds has performed exceptionally well. 

Alright, we left it off there, I once again want to thank Kevin for taking some time to cover CAAT pension Plan's 2025 results with me and recommend you all read the annual report here (it is very well written).

I also want give Asif Haque the credit he deserves for CAAT Pension Plan's strong performance this year.

It sure was a strange few months at CAAT Pension Plan, but I remain confident the Plan is on more solid footing now, and I agree with Kevin, there's solid bench strength there nowadays. 

Below,  a guide to CAAT's "My Pension" portal and how members can use it.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at record levels on Friday after investors were given a hopeful sign that peace talks between the U.S. and Iran would soon take place in Pakistan.

The broad market index finished up 0.8% at 7,165.08, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.63% to settle at 24,836.60. Both indexes also scored fresh all-time intraday highs. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 79.61 points, or 0.16%, to end the at 49,230.71.

MS NOW reported, citing a Pakistani official, that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday evening to have a discussion with Pakistani mediators about a possible second round of negotiations with the U.S.

U.S. oil prices pulled back following the development. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures settled above $94 per barrel after falling 1.51%. Meanwhile, international benchmark Brent crude futures closed marginally higher at above $105 a barrel.

This comes on the heels of President Donald Trump announcing Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks. The announcement followed a meeting at the White House with top U.S. officials, Trump said.

“The Meeting went very well!” the president wrote in a Truth Social post. “The United States is going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah,” he added, referencing the Iran-backed militia group.

The Middle East conflict has evolved into a naval standoff over the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. and Iran have seized commercial ships. Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday that he had ordered the U.S. Navy to “shoot and kill any boat” that is laying mines in the strait.

Robert Conzo, chief executive officer at The Wealth Alliance, believes that regardless of what happens in Islamabad, the market is “almost setting [the conflict] aside and looking right through it,” though headlines coming from the Middle East still can sway the market given Thursday’s reversal from all-time highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

Because of Trump’s promotion of a short timeline for the conflict, the historically temporary nature of oil supply shocks and a strong start to earnings season, among other factors, the market has become resilient in the face of the war, Conzo noted.

“What it’s basically doing is saying, ‘Okay, these are more short-term things or maybe it’s a lot more talk than what’s really going on, and we’re going to, to set it over here, get back to fundamentals,’” he said. ”[Investors] feel good about those fundamentals, specifically in the United States, and that’s what’s really making the market grind higher.”

The move higher in S&P 500 on Friday was supported by Intel shares, which soared 23.6% to log its best daily gain since October 1987. The chipmaker posted first-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street’s expectations and shared an upbeat forecast for its current quarter.

That adds to the rally semiconductor stocks have seen this week. On Friday, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) posted its 18th positive session in a row and ended the week with an 11% gain.

For the three major averages, however, the week was mixed. The S&P 500 ended the period up about 0.6%, while the Dow recorded a 0.4% decline. The Nasdaq rose 1.5% this week. 

Rian Howlett   and Karen Friar of Yahoo Finance also report the S&P 500, Nasdaq close at record highs as Nvidia retakes $5 trillion mark, Intel finally tops 2000 peak:

US stocks diverged on Friday as semiconductor stocks powered to new highs and the Department of Justice dropped its criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.6% to a fresh record as the semiconductor index extended gains for the 18th day in a row.

The S&P 500 added 0.8% to close at a record. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2% following a losing day for Wall Street stocks.

Tech equities surged as shares of Intel (INTC) jumped to a record high, surpassing their level from the year 2000. The chip giant’s strong outlook and first quarter profit beat was a sign of renewed optimism around the AI trade. Nvidia (NVDA) also closed at a record, re-taking the $5 trillion market cap crown.

Stocks also gained after the DOJ announced it would drop its criminal probe into Chair Powell, potentially clearing the way for the confirmation of President Trump’s pick to lead the Fed, Kevin Warsh.

Meanwhile, the White House indicated President Trump will send special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner to Pakistan this weekend for peace talks.

Oil prices edged lower as concerns about a supply squeeze persisted, as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz remain high. Brent crude futures dipped below $100 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate futures slipped to $95 a barrel.

On the economic data, consumer sentiment improved in April but remained at record lows.

It's Friday, time to talk shop and cover the US stock market (my favourite thing to do).

This week is all about those red-hot semis driving the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to record highs.

Have a look at the top-performing US large cap stocks today, dominated by semis (full list here):

Amazingly, Intel just cleared its dot-com-era ceiling after earnings and just smoked short sellers today (it was a buy since David Tepper loaded up at $25 a share, I covered it in

You can say the same thing about the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), up 5% today and close to 30% over the past month, led by Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor which make up 20% and 12% respectively of this index (Broadcom another 8%):

So, Nvidia market cap back above $5T, Alphabet to invest $40B in Anthropic, tech stocks are booming, led by semis once again.

Those weekly up candles above tell me hedge funds, quant funds and CTAs are driving the bulk of the flows, and while I wouldn't chase them here, I certainly wouldn't short these stocks here, that's a surefire way to lose money.

As far as software stocks, they have recovered a bit but continue to struggle this year:

Has the Software Default Cycle Begun?

One of the largest and smartest private equity managers appears to be handing the keys over to creditors, two years before its scheduled debt maturity; potentially writing off $5.1 billion, or 100% of its equity investment.

This would be the largest private credit default ever, with $3 billion in debt outstanding and owners apparently choosing not to repay principal, instead turning its equity position over to creditors.

Some are calling it a “restructuring,” and for good reason: keeping the company out of Chapter 11 is essential to preserve value. In bankruptcy, software customers grow reticent to stay with a “bankrupt” vendor. A formal filing risks real destabilization since CIOs and CTOs become keenly aware of the risk associated with a software company that may not apply the resources to provide upgrades and essential services, leading to a natural degradation of enterprise value.

Pluralsight had a similar outcome, with $3.5 billion of equity wiped out, as the sponsor turned ownership of the company to its creditors, impairing $1.5 billion in private credit for this software company.

The majority of private credit software defaults, restructurings, and bankruptcies will likely occur in the 2027–2029 timeframe. M3 Partners, with deep industry and restructuring expertise, illustrates the maturity risk of software companies within private credit, data that suggests significant risk as we get closer to the “Maturity Wall” (chart below).

This is not the canary in the coal mine. It is one of the first of many software dominoes that will begin to fall as we enter SaaS-pocalypse.

While I don’t believe that SaaS-pocalypse will create systemic risk to the broader credit markets or the economy, it is becoming increasingly difficult to deny that existential risk has now arrived for many cohorts within the software sector itself. Creative destruction has arrived. To survive, software companies must become AI-first.

Creditors operating in this environment prioritize one thing above all: preserving capital. Yet many assume their software positions are secure, their mindset of a state of denial must be adjusted as it is painful to admit to a massive mistake that cannot be fixed.

Did you get this part: "This is not the canary in the coal mine. It is one of the first of many software dominoes that will begin to fall as we enter SaaS-pocalypse."

Now, it's possible Bruce Richards is talking up his book but what if he's right and  SaaS-pocalypse is just beginning?

Moreover, 20,000 job cuts at Meta, Microsoft are raising concerns that AI-driven labor crisis is here.

A lot of moving parts to this economy and I haven't even discussed geopolitics. 

One thing is for sure, investors are plowing into semis betting on AI, data centers and ignoring any fallout from Iran or any other concerns.

There is a bit of complacency setting in here, markets are ignoring Iran, for now.

Anyway, an eventful week, so let me end with the chart of the week: 

Absolutely insane price action.

Speaking of insane, the Montreal Canadiens are in overtime again versus Tampa Bay Lightning.

Time to enjoy some hockey and my weekend.

Below, Bloomberg Television brings you the latest news and analysis leading up to the final minutes and seconds before and after the closing bell on Wall Street. Today's guests are Goldman Sachs’ Peter Oppenheimer, Brookings Vice President Ben Harris, D. A. Davidson’s Gil Luria, Vantagescore CEO Silvio Tavares, Interactive Brokers’ Steve Sosnick, 248 Ventures’ Lindsey Bell, Pipeline CEO Katica Roy, Former Federal Reserve Governor Betsy Duke, University of Chicago’s Damon Jones, & Matternet CEO Andreas Raptopoulos.

Also, Dan Niles, founder and protfolio manager at Niles Investment Management, joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss Intel's latest earnings report, the impacts of agentic artificial intelligence, and more.

Third, Retired Navy Admiral William McRaven joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the latest developments in the Iran war, state of U.S.-Iran peace talks, what a potential endgame could look like, takeaways from his new book 'Duty, Honor, Country and Life', and more.

Lastly, Robert Pape, Professor of International Relations at the University of Chicago, joins Rhiannon Jones on TRT World from the United States to assess escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran.

As both sides ramp up military presence and rhetoric, Pape examines the risk of further escalation and whether the situation is heading toward a prolonged standoff. He also discusses the role of mistrust in stalled diplomacy, internal dynamics within Iran’s leadership, and whether there is any realistic path toward de-escalation.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced Canada’s first national sovereign wealth fund, calling it the “Canada Strong Fund,” ahead of Tuesday’s spring economic update.

Carney officially made the announcement in Ottawa on Monday morning, saying it will allow Canadians who have “a bit of extra money” to invest into it directly, similar to a government bond.

The federal government will initially contribute $25 billion into the fund, which Carney says “will grow through asset recycling and reinvestment, creating even greater opportunities for future generations.”

A sovereign wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund that uses government surplus reserves to invest in financial assets like stocks and bonds but is independently managed. Alberta has its own sovereign wealth fund, called the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, that was established back in 1976.

According to Carney, the fund will be “professionally managed and operate as an arm’s length independent Crown corporation” and “will be accessible to everyone.”

The fund is also intended to complement and accelerate the work of existing institutions like the Business Development Bank of Canada and the advancement of projects through the Major Projects Office.

Whether a project is in Alberta, Quebec, or in the far north, high north, all Canadians will have a stake because this is about ensuring that you and your children and your children’s children benefit from the prosperity that we are creating today,” Carney later added.

Asked by reporters why a new agency is required, Carney said the Canadian Infrastructure Bank “provides debt” and “helps make projects possible,” while the new fund “comes in on a commercial basis” to get returns alongside the private sector.

Carney also said the fund will not be strictly investing in projects deemed in the national interest, as described under the Building Canada Act, and said “absolutely not” when asked if the fund signals that there is not enough private sector investment for projects.

“I don’t think that it will be that restricted, but it will be a focus on investing in Canada,” he said.

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized the Carney government for creating another agency.

“How many corporate welfare agencies do the Trudeau-Carney liberals need to create before they learn that it doesn’t work?” Poilievre said.

Finance minister says fund will take ‘months to set up’

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says the fund will be up and running “in the coming months,” but did not provide a specific date when asked by reporters in Montreal on Monday.

“It will take, clearly, months to set up. But I think the fact that we are putting that as a pillar of our future growth, I think it’s an important message at an important time for Canadians,” Champagne said.

Pressed on how the fund will work for investors, Champagne said the federal government will “come back to the details.”

“The details of the funds, how it’s going to be, the liquidity. There’s a lot of very relevant questions you have,” Champagne said. “But I would say this would be for a later time when we have had the chance to have the consultation (with the industry).”

How does it differ from Norway?

Speaking to reporters, Carney compared the new fund to Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, which has surpassed $2 trillion in assets.

While Norway’s fund invests its direct oil and gas revenues and has a strict, self-imposed cap on how much money the government can spend from it, the new Canadian fund is more domestically focused and funded by borrowed money.

Montreal Economic Institute economist Emmanuelle Faubert said there is a difference between the two funds.

“The Norwegian model is not funded on debt. Right now, we have increasing deficits. We have increasing debt, both federally and provincially, and the funding model in Norway might work better because it’s funded through surpluses,” Faubert said in an interview with CTV News.

“(Canada is) taking money that should instead go towards clearing deficits,” Faubert went on to say, later adding that the fund could be “a risky venture that might end up just costing money and giving nothing to Canadians.”

Sources say deficit will be smaller than projected

The announcement comes as Champagne is set to unveil the Carney government’s first spring economic update on Tuesday, and the new fund will be part of that update.

Two senior government sources tell CTV News that the deficit will be smaller than what was projected in the federal budget back in November, in part due to increased revenue from inflation and the price of oil.

While speaking to reporters, Carney emphasized that the government is “determined to get spending down” and admitted that “you can’t do everything at the same time.”

“In order for the numbers to be better, you have to be on top of them, and we’re on top of them,” Carney said, while adding that issues of affordability will be addressed.

Last fall’s federal budget forecasted a $78-billion deficit in 2025-26 and a $65-billion deficit for 2026-27, with the figure decreasing to $56.6 billion by 2029-30.

On Sunday, Poilievre wrote an open letter to the prime minister to cap the deficit at $31 billion and “present a plan to return to a balanced budget in the medium term.”

Asked by reporters on Monday about how long he thinks the government should take to eliminate the deficit, Poilievre would not give a specific target date.

“Let’s figure out how big a mess the Liberals have made, and then I can tell you how long it will take me to clean it up,” Poilievre said.

Pressed further to provide a target date, Poilievre said “it should be yesterday,” adding “they should have a balanced budget all the time, except for in massive national emergencies.”

Peter Zimonjic of CBC News also reports Carney announces creation of Canada's first national sovereign wealth fund:

Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced his plan to create Canada's first sovereign wealth fund.

The "Canada Strong Fund" will serve as an investment vehicle to finance major projects of national interest and will work in partnership with the private sector, Carney said in a video posted online.

Carney said in the video that Canadians will be able to contribute to and benefit from the fund, investing alongside the private sector and international partners.

"If you have a bit of extra money, we'll make it easy for you to invest in the fund to help build Canada strong for all," he said.

In a statement, the federal government said the fund will include projects in "clean and conventional energy, critical minerals, agriculture, and infrastructure."

At Monday's press conference at the Canadian Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, Carney said the fund will begin with an initial endowment of $25 billion.

"Over time, the fund will grow through asset recycling and reinvestment, creating even greater opportunities for future generations," Carney said.

When asked where that $25 billion will come from considering Canada's fiscal situation, Carney said the Spring Economic Update on Tuesday will deliver news that Canada's finances are on a stronger footing than they were when Carney's government projected a $78.3-billion deficit for the fiscal year just ended.

"In order for the numbers to be better, you have to be on top of them, and we are on top of them," Carney said. 

The recent spike in the price of oil, due to the war between Iran and the United States and Israel, has boosted revenues in Canada's oil-producing provinces and in turn boosted how much revenue the federal government has collected. 

This time will be different, Carney says

Carney said the Canada Strong Fund will be managed by an arm's-length independent Crown corporation that will report to Parliament, and his government will spend the next few months consulting on "specific aspects of the fund."

Describing the fund as "essentially a national savings and investment account," Carney said the fund is being designed to "grow wealth for future generations."

"This will be a Government of Canada fund, but more importantly, this will be a people’s fund. It will be your fund," Carney said.

In order to allow people to contribute to the fund, the federal government will launch a "retail investment product" like a mutual fund or pension scheme where Canadians can buy into the fund and earn a dividend.

"This will give Canadians a direct stake in our nation’s long-term prosperity and help build long-term national wealth," the government said in a statement. 

Carney also said that like the Canadian Pacific Railway, the major projects his government is trying to get built will mostly be constructed by private companies.

Just like in the 1870s, Carney said "the federal government will support these projects through loans,  grants and other incentives."

Carney evoked the spirit of major infrastructure projects that defined Canada's history, but said the proposed plans would be different from things like the Canadian Pacific Railway, which was built by displacing Indigenous peoples from their land, where workers laboured under "appalling conditions" and the only people who benefitted from the projects were the companies that built them. 

Carney said Indigenous peoples will be full partners in the projects through equity stakes; that the projects being financed will be built by Canadians in "high-paying union jobs"; and because the government is investing in the fund, all Canadians, whether they invest directly or indirectly as taxpayers, will benefit.

Projects of national interest

Bill C-5, Carney's legislation to speed up approvals for major infrastructure projects identified as being "nation-building," passed through Parliament last June.

The second half of the bill, the Building Canada Act, enables the federal cabinet to pick projects, approve them upfront and override federal laws, environmental reviews and the permitting process.

The legislation speeds approval times from five years to two by introducing a "one project, one review" approach instead of having federal and provincial approval processes happen sequentially.

When he announced the MPO, Carney said it would "help structure and co-ordinate financing from the private sector, provincial and territorial partners" and the federal government to ensure taxpayers get value for money. 

Carney said the projects being financed through the fund will not be limited to ones of national interest, which have to meet certain benchmarks to get that classification.

"It wouldn't be restricted to that, in my judgement. We'll consult on the specifics of that, so it's a broader range than would be just specifically C-5," he said on Monday.  

Poilievre criticizes Carney for debt-financing fund

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized Carney for using borrowed money to endow the Canada Strong Fund, saying countries need to have wealth for a wealth fund, but all Canada has is debt. 

"The investment exists, it comes from our country," Poilievre said. "It just can't get a return in our country. Putting another $25 billion on the national credit card to pad a Liberal slush fund will not change that."

Poilievre said projects in Canada are struggling to get funding and investment from the private sector because of onerous regulations and laws that frustrate development, not because of a shortage of cash.  

"If a project has a business case, why would the government need to fund it? If it doesn't have a business case, why would the government want to fund it?" Poilievre asked Monday.  

Uday Rana of Global News also reports Canada is getting a sovereign wealth fund, here is what we know so far:

Canada is getting its first sovereign wealth fund, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Monday, with an initial endowment of $25 billion.

A sovereign wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund, that allows a government to invest in projects and investment opportunities across the world.

Carney described it as “essentially a national savings and investment account.”

Several countries around the world, from China and Norway to Australia and Saudi Arabia, have similar state-owned investment funds.

The Canada Strong Fund will “invest alongside the private sector in nation-building projects,” Carney said.

“We will begin with an initial endowment of $25 billion. Over time, the fund will grow through asset recycling and reinvestment, creating even greater opportunities for future generations,” he said.

Conservative Leader Pierre Polievre referred to the fund as a “slush fund.”

“Some of the countries around the world, you will note, have sovereign wealth funds. You need to have wealth for those funds. Norway, Singapore and Saudi Arabia run big budget surpluses, which they accumulate and then put into their sovereign wealth funds,” he said.

“Carney has no surplus and therefore, no wealth to put in such a fund. He’s talking about a sovereign debt fund,” Poilievre added.

The creation of a national sovereign wealth fund is “largely” a good initiative for the country, said Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.

“We need to have that environment to attract that economic investment, that private sector investment into our energy industry, into our industrial industries like mining, gas, helium, lithium and so on, as well as our agricultural industries and manufacturing industries,” he said.

However, when asked if such a fund would have an impact on provincial budgets if the federal government pulls oil and gas revenue to the fund, he pointed to questions of “provincial autonomy.”

“The development of our natural resources are the purview and the jurisdiction of the provinces,” he said.

What might the fund look like?

The idea of a government-run investment fund isn’t new, not even in Canada.

Alberta, for example, has the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, which reinvests a portion of the province’s resource revenues, particularly from the oil and gas sector. Quebec has the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ).

The Canada Pension Plan Investments is currently one of the largest institutional investors in the world, with over $780 billion in assets under its management globally.

“The really big question is how is this fundamentally different from what we’ve seen in the past?” said Jimmy Jean, chief economist at Desjardins.

“We’ve had a series of funds that haven’t really delivered, even though they were intended to do the exact same thing – get more investment and involve more private sector or major investors in major projects,” he added.

The Canada Infrastructure Bank, formed in 2017, was tasked with supporting infrastructure projects.

“We haven’t seen too much in terms of outcomes from that,” Jean said.

The plans for the fund will be included in the spring economic update on Tuesday, Carney’s office said.

The federal government said it will also establish a Canada Strong Fund transition office to “advance a targeted engagement with market participants and regulators,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Will a sovereign wealth fund work?

For private equity investors to choose Canada, the new sovereign wealth fund will need to guarantee targeted returns, said Concordia University economist Moshe Lander.

“Why would I want to invest my money in building some bridge in Canada when I can invest my money in some tech company in the U.S.? That’s where private capital is going to say ‘thanks, but no,’” he said.

The example of Alberta’s provincial fund would not be encouraging for many institutional investors, Lander added.

“They’ve (Alberta) massively mismanaged it. They use it as a rainy-day fund, rather than as some sort of generational fund. Any time something goes sideways in the province, which it inevitably does because it’s boom-and-bust cycle, they just go and grab the money,” he said.

Individual Canadians will be able to directly invest in the fund, Carney said, though it’s not yet clear how that proposal will work.

“If you have a little bit of extra money, we’ll make it easy for you to invest in the fund to help build Canada strong, for all,” he added.

Most of the major investment in big projects in Canada will still come from the private sector, he said, with the federal government providing support through loans, grants and other incentives.

The fund will be “professionally managed and operate as an arms-length, independent Crown corporation,” he said, adding that the government will be consulting over “specific aspects” of the fund.

Carney compared the fund to the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1870s, however, he said some things would be different.

“This time, we are building with Indigenous Peoples as full partners—ensuring meaningful Indigenous ownership and major economic benefits,” he said.

Some Indigenous groups, however, have expressed concern.

“At a minimum, there should be a clear policy standard: public funds must not be deployed in ways that infringe on Indigenous rights, title, or self-determination. Anything less signals that ‘sovereignty’ is conditional depending on who holds it,” said Gwii Lok’im Gibuu, co- director of the Skeena Watershed Coalition, in a statement.

Where would the money come from?

When asked where the money for the fund would come from given the size of the federal government’s deficit, Carney said there would be “good news” on that front during Tuesday’s spring economic statement.

The range of investments will be “very broad,” beyond just oil and gas, he said.

Managing oil revenue is a key aspect of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, but Norway has a cap on how much of the fund’s spending comes from the oil sector. This is done to protect the broader Norwegian economy from the boom-and-bust cycles typically associated with the oil and gas sector.

This will be harder for Canada to do, given that resource revenue in Canada is not centralized, a report in the McGill Journal of Economics said earlier this month.

“The difference between Norway and Canada is Norway does not have provincial governments with nearly the power that we have in Canada,” Lander said.

“Any attempt to try and deal with the oil and gas industry at the federal level will instantaneously be met with pushback, of course, from Alberta, but also from Newfoundland and Labrador,” he added.

The federal government needs to ensure that Canadian investments are protected against the boom-and-bust of global oil shocks, said Sierra Club Canada.

“We’re awaiting more specifics, but we are concerned that the fund is effectively a way to misleadingly ‘re-brand’ public investment and backing for a west coast oil pipeline and new LNG projects: projects that have no business case as the world moves rapidly to renewable energy,” says Conor Curtis, director of communications at Sierra Club Canada, said.

The focus of the fund will be on investing within Canada, Carney said, as Canada takes “a lesson from other jurisdictions that had the foresight many decades ago to start sovereign wealth funds.”

“In some cases, they began with a domestic focus. Then outgrew the scale of the domestic focus,” he said, pointing to the state-owned private investment fund Temasek Holdings in Singapore.

When it was founded in 1974, Temasek made largely domestic investments in Singapore. Recently, however, it has broadened its scope with global investments.

The “uniqueness” of Canada’s sovereign wealth fund – as opposed to the ones that Nordic countries like Norway have – will be the ability of everyday Canadians to put money in the fund, Finance Minister Francois-Phillipe Champagne said.

“We’re looking at best practices to really set something which would be uniquely Canadian, inspired by best practices in the G7,” Champagne said, speaking to reporters shortly after Carney.

However, this could mean that many Canadians will be left out of the returns, some economists warn.

“In order just to actually allocate funds to allocate your money as an individual to an investment fund, you need to have spare cash lying around. And the reality is that not everyone has that spare cash lying around,” said Paul Calluzzo, associate professor at Queen’s University’s Smith School of Business.

The silver lining for the government’s new fund might come in the form of the momentum around the Buy Canadian movement and surge of patriotism, Calluzzo added.

“It’s hard to think of a geopolitical time that’s more favorable to investing in Canadian infrastructure than right now,” he added.

You can read more about the Canada Strong Fund on the federal government's website here.

I note this part:

We are Building Canada Strong—and the Canada Strong Fund is designed to take that effort even further. The government intends to offer Canadians the opportunity to participate directly in the Fund through a new, retail investment product.

This means that any Canadian who wishes to can invest some of their savings into the Canada Strong Fund.

The government intends to consult on the specific design of this product, but Canadians can expect the following features:

• Broadly accessible to Canadians from coast to coast to coast;
• Easy and simple to purchase, hold, and transact;
• As the Canada Strong Fund succeeds, investors will be able to share in the upside, while their initial invested capital will be protected.

When Canadians invest directly in the Canada Strong Fund, they will help fuel its growth and increase its ability to deliver meaningful benefits across the country. 

Alright, let's get to it.

Mark Carney's government is setting up Canada's first sovereign wealth fund and calling it the Canada Strong Fund. 

The Fund will be an independent Crown corporation and operate at arm's length from the government, similar to CPP Investments and PSP Investments. 

It will have an initial endowment of $25 billion with a principal objective to create wealth for future generations. 

The Fund is in the process of being formed and it will likely start operations within the next three months and be fully operational when CPP Investments and PSP Investments host the Canada Investment Summit in mid-September (they look stupid if it's not up and running by then).

So who's going to be the inaugural CEO of the Canada Strong Fund?

There are several contenders starting with Mark Wiseman, who was recently appointed Ambassador of Canada to the United States and was formerly CEO of CPP Investments and Chair at AIMCo; Evan Siddall, former CEO of AIMCo and close friend of Mark Wiseman; Neil Cunningham, former CEO of PSP Investments; and Macky Tall, Chair of the Canada Infrastructure Bank and former Head of Liquid Markets and Infrastructure at CDPQ when Michael Sabia was CEO of that organization. 

Speaking of Sabia, my money is on him being the inaugural Chair of the Canada Strong Fund, and if that happens, Macky Tall's chances increase significantly to lead the new fund.

Of course, all this is conjecture, but as the late George Carlin once remarked: "It's a Big Club; you and I aren't part of the Big Club."

And don't kid yourselves, everything is already in place, they are hashing out the details but I guarantee you Carney, Sabia, Wiseman, Blanchard and company have discussed this new fund and they already know who the new leader will be.

Yes, it will operate at arm's length from the government, but you'd be really stupid if you think the government isn't going to have a say on how this fund operates and who will be appointed its leader.

Canada is really good with what I call the "illusion of independent governance"; in reality, the governments have a lot more say than you think -- and that goes for all Crown corporations.

What about female leaders? There are plenty of qualified women who can do the job but I wouldn't be betting on them to be the inaugural CEO.

Now, what exactly will this new fund be doing? Those details remain to be hashed out.

The key passage in the CBC article is this:

Bill C-5, Carney's legislation to speed up approvals for major infrastructure projects identified as being "nation-building," passed through Parliament last June.

The second half of the bill, the Building Canada Act, enables the federal cabinet to pick projects, approve them upfront and override federal laws, environmental reviews and the permitting process.

The legislation speeds approval times from five years to two by introducing a "one project, one review" approach instead of having federal and provincial approval processes happen sequentially.

If the federal government wants to really speed up major projects, it has to ram them through without delay but my close friends who know Ottawa well anticipate major lawsuits ahead (funded by left-wing and right-wing special interest groups).

The Trudeau Liberals really did a number on this country, causing irreparable harm and they put in ridiculous legislation to ensure nobody tampers with their asinine policies.

Lastly, the Canada Strong Fund will have and has nothing really in common with Norway's giant sovereign wealth fund.

It will never be as big or close to it, it will have a more domestic investment angle and it will never match its transparency or governance, that I can assure you of.

Do we really need this new wealth fund? Why can't CPP Investments take care of this mandate just like PSP Investments is taking care of the Canada Growth Fund?  

That's a really good question as is how exactly this new fund will be funded since we don't generate the wealth that Norway does (again, thank the Trudeau Liberals and their asinine "keep it in the ground" policies). 

I'm willing to give Mark Carney and his entourage the benefit of the doubt but I remain somewhat skeptical and cynical. 

One thing is for sure: this Canada Strong Fund better not flop like the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

Personally, I want to see it succeed so my child and future generations benefit from it.

But I'm too old and cynical, it's part of my Greek DNA, so forgive me if I'm not enthusiastic about it.

Having said this, it does irritate me when I hear people saying "Carney set this up to be a slush fund for Brookfield."

Brookfield is one of the best alternative investment funds in the world and doesn't need the Canada Strong Fund, more like the other way around (people are so stupid).

Let me wrap it up there.

Below, Prime Minister Mark Carney discusses the Canada Strong Fund and what its objective is.

Like I said, I wish them much success and if Carney, Blanchard, Sabia and Wiseman want my expert insights on setting this up right and getting the governance right, they know where to find me (won't be holding my breath).

Stonepeak and Bernhard Capital Partners announced an agreement to acquire Cleco Group from a consortium including Macquarie Asset Management, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, and Manulife Investment Management, marking a significant transition in ownership of the Louisiana-based utility.

Headquartered in Pineville, Louisiana, Cleco serves approximately 298,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers across 24 parishes and employs around 1,200 people. Following the transaction, the company will remain locally managed and operated, retain its workforce and benefits structure, and continue to be regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission.

The acquisition is expected to bring additional capital and operational expertise to support Cleco’s ongoing efforts to enhance grid reliability, expand infrastructure, and drive regional economic growth. Stonepeak is expected to hold the majority interest in the company upon completion of the transaction.

Over the past decade, Cleco has invested approximately $3 billion in grid modernization and resiliency initiatives under its current ownership, strengthening system capacity and reliability. The company has also secured regulatory approval for its largest grid resiliency investment program, positioning it to meet increasing energy demand and support future development in the region.

The transaction aligns with both Stonepeak’s and Bernhard’s focus on investing in critical infrastructure and supporting long-term energy system resilience. The firms emphasized their commitment to maintaining Cleco’s legacy of reliable service while advancing innovation and economic development across Louisiana.

The deal is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Support: Greenhill, a Mizuho affiliate, served as financial advisor to Stonepeak, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acting as legal counsel; Centerview Partners LLC served as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP as legal counsel to Bernhard; and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Moelis & Company LLC served as financial advisors to Cleco and the selling consortium, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Phelps Dunbar LLP acting as legal counsel.

KEY QUOTES:

“Cleco provides safe, reliable and affordable electricity to our customers in support of their quality of life, and we take pride in the work of our dedicated, local employees who support the communities in which we all live. Cleco’s employees are central to our success. In the last decade, we’ve become more safe, efficient and modern. With support from new partners Stonepeak and Bernhard, we can strengthen system reliability and encourage regional economic growth. This transaction marks an important day for our community, our customers and our company.”

Bill Fontenot, President And Chief Executive Officer, Cleco

“We have a deep appreciation for the critical role Cleco plays in the communities it serves and look forward to partnering with Cleco and Bernhard to support management’s key initiatives. We are excited to extend our track record of investing in Louisiana’s energy infrastructure and believe Cleco is well positioned to be a driver of economic growth within its service territory, while providing dependable service to its customers.”

Rob Kupchak, Senior Managing Director, Stonepeak

“This investment advances Bernhard Capital Partners’ focus on strengthening the nation’s critical energy infrastructure, building more resilient communities and accelerating innovation across the energy sector. It also reflects our continued investment in Louisiana—its people, its economy and its future. Our partnership combines Bernhard’s operational expertise and deep local knowledge alongside Stonepeak’s experience with similar mission-critical companies to build upon Cleco’s century of service in our state. Together, we will drive meaningful economic growth while continuing Cleco’s legacy of delivering essential energy service to communities across Louisiana.”

Jeff Jenkins, Founder And Partner, Bernhard Capital Partners

“Cleco’s progress in recent years reflects its strong collaboration with Louisiana communities, regulators and political leaders to build a more reliable system that meets customers’ evolving needs and supports economic growth across its service territory. It has been our privilege to have served as a steward of Cleco over the past 10 years as the company has navigated both challenges, such as maintaining high service standards during COVID-19 and the hurricanes of 2020 and 2021, and better times such as the growth phase the region has seen over the last few years.”

Aaron Rubin, Senior Managing Director And Head Of Americas Energy Infrastructure, Macquarie Asset Management

“Together with Macquarie and our consortium partners, we’ve worked closely with Cleco’s management team to strengthen and modernize its operations through long-term, targeted capital investments, reinforcing the company’s readiness to meet growing power demand across the region.”

Lincoln Webb, Executive Vice President And Global Head, Infrastructure & Renewable Resources, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation 

Earlier today, BCI put out a press release stating Stonepeak and Bernhard Capital Partners to acquire Cleco:

Follows a decade of resilience-focused grid modernization under the ownership of Macquarie Asset Management, BCI and Manulife Investment Management

NEW YORK, BATON ROUGE & PINEVILLE, LA., and VICTORIA, BC –Stonepeak and Bernhard Capital Partners (“Bernhard”) today announced an agreement to acquire Cleco Group LLC (“Cleco” or the “Company”), from a consortium comprised of Macquarie Asset Management, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (“BCI”) and Manulife Investment Management (“the Consortium”).

Headquartered in Pineville, Louisiana, Cleco is a regulated electric utility with 1,200 dedicated employees serving approximately 298,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in 24 Louisiana parishes. Following the close of the transaction, Cleco will:

• Remain locally managed and operated with its headquarters in Pineville
• Maintain its operating footprint and continue serving customers across Louisiana
• Retain employees and maintain compensation and benefit levels
• Continue to be regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission
• Remain focused on sustaining state leading reliability levels

This transaction will bring investors with deep access to capital, industry expertise and a local presence to support Cleco, a utility with more than 90 years in operation, in continuing to provide safe, reliable service to its customers. The strategic partnership and acquisition will also further Cleco’s position as a critical energy service provider and economic development engine across its service territory and the state of Louisiana.

“Cleco provides safe, reliable and affordable electricity to our customers in support of their quality of life, and we take pride in the work of our dedicated, local employees who support the communities in which we all live,” said Bill Fontenot, President & Chief Executive Officer at Cleco. “Cleco’s employees are central to our success. In the last decade, we’ve become more safe, efficient and modern. With support from new partners Stonepeak and Bernhard, we can strengthen system reliability and encourage regional economic growth. This transaction marks an important day for our community, our customers and our company.”

“We have a deep appreciation for the critical role Cleco plays in the communities it serves and look forward to partnering with Cleco and Bernhard to support management’s key initiatives,” said Rob Kupchak, Senior Managing Director at Stonepeak. “We are excited to extend our track record of investing in Louisiana’s energy infrastructure and believe Cleco is well positioned to be a driver of economic growth within its service territory, while providing dependable service to its customers.”

“This investment advances Bernhard Capital Partners’ focus on strengthening the nation’s critical energy infrastructure, building more resilient communities and accelerating innovation across the energy sector,” said Jeff Jenkins, Founder and Partner at Bernhard. “It also reflects our continued investment in Louisiana—its people, its economy and its future. Our partnership combines Bernhard’s operational expertise and deep local knowledge alongside Stonepeak’s experience with similar mission-critical companies to build upon Cleco’s century of service in our state. Together, we will drive meaningful economic growth while continuing Cleco’s legacy of delivering essential energy service to communities across Louisiana.”

Over the last decade, Cleco has modernized its operations and safe work practices while strengthening system capacity, positioning the company to support future load growth and new customers. Under the Consortium’s ownership, Cleco invested approximately $3 billion in support of projects like resiliency and to sustain its state-leading reliability. In November 2025, the Louisiana Public Service Commission unanimously approved the largest grid resiliency investment in Cleco’s history, enabling further system hardening and expansion.

“Cleco’s progress in recent years reflects its strong collaboration with Louisiana communities, regulators and political leaders to build a more reliable system that meets customers’ evolving needs and supports economic growth across its service territory,” said Aaron Rubin, Senior Managing Director and Head of Americas Energy Infrastructure at Macquarie Asset Management. “It has been our privilege to have served as a steward of Cleco over the past 10 years as the company has navigated both challenges, such as maintaining high service standards during COVID-19 and the hurricanes of 2020 and 2021, and better times such as the growth phase the region has seen over the last few years.”

“Together with Macquarie and our consortium partners, we’ve worked closely with Cleco’s management team to strengthen and modernize its operations through long-term, targeted capital investments, reinforcing the company’s readiness to meet growing power demand across the region,” said Lincoln Webb, Executive Vice President and Global Head, Infrastructure & Renewable Resources at BCI.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Upon close, Stonepeak will hold the majority interest in Cleco.

Greenhill, a Mizuho affiliate, served as financial advisor to Stonepeak, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal counsel to Stonepeak and the buyer consortium. Centerview Partners LLC served as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal counsel to Bernhard. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Moelis & Company LLC served as financial advisors to Cleco, Macquarie Asset Management, BCI and Manulife Investment Management, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Phelps Dunbar LLP serving as legal counsel.

Last week, I discussed insights from BCI's 2026 Investor Day where I noted this on infrastructure from Lincoln Webb, BCI's Global Head of Infrastructure and Renewable Resources:

BCI Infrastructure & Renewable Resources has navigated through a number of bumps in the road—the global financial crisis, euro crisis, COVID, post-COVID inflation. Part of the reason is the highly diversified portfolio across many sectors and countries. When you look at the portfolio level, it’s very resilient.” 

– Lincoln Webb, EVP & Global Head, Infrastructure & Renewable Resources 

Now: How the I&RR portfolio has remained resilient 

The resilience of BCI Infrastructure & Renewable Resources isn’t accidental. It’s the result of thoughtful construction and the application of a consistent set of principles over two decades and multiple market cycles: essential assets, defensive capital structures, and broad diversification.  

Today, the portfolio spans 30+ countries, multiple sectors, and invests in essential services that people depend on regardless of economic conditions. Essential assets — electricity, gas, water, digital infrastructure — don’t stop being necessary because markets are volatile. 

These principles have been tested repeatedly. The program has navigated through the global financial crisis, the Euro crisis, COVID and held steady through all of it.  And when post-COVID inflation spiked to near double digits, built-in passthrough mechanisms allowed revenues to increase alongside rising costs. 

Different shocks, different pressures but the result has been a resilient portfolio.   

Next: Positioning for the next decades of growth 

The megatrends that have driven infrastructure investment over the past two decades including digitization, energy security, and decarbonization, show no signs of slowing. And more recently, energy security and food security have come into focus. Globally, an estimated US$40 trillion² in infrastructure investment is needed over the next 20 years to meet demand. Not all of that is accessible to private capital, but the investable opportunity set that meets the program’s risk-return profile remains sizeable. 

Decarbonization is a case in point. Policy uncertainty in the US has caused some capital to pull back from renewables, pushing returns on operating solar and wind assets from 5–6% to 9–10%, while demand for clean, reliable energy isn’t slowing. That gap between retreating capital and growing demand is exactly the kind of opportunity BCI is built to capture.  

Northview Energy is how that opportunity takes shape. BCI recently announced the acquisition of a portfolio of operating solar and wind assets under long-term contracts with high-quality energy buyers. The platform is built to grow with an agreement in place to acquire additional assets as the energy transition continues. 

The focus at BCI's Infrastructure portfolio over the years has been on building a resilient and diversified portfolio across regions and and focus on megatrends including digitization, energy security, and decarbonization.

The investment in Cleco done alongside Macquarie Asset Management and Manulife Investment Management is a perfect example.

Here is the key passage I highlighted above:

Over the past decade, Cleco has invested approximately $3 billion in grid modernization and resiliency initiatives under its current ownership, strengthening system capacity and reliability. The company has also secured regulatory approval for its largest grid resiliency investment program, positioning it to meet increasing energy demand and support future development in the region. 

The company invested approximately $3 billion in grid modernization and resiliency initiatives under its current ownership.

That shows me they had a value creation plan, executed on it over time and are now ready for an exit. 

In terms of the value of this deal, Guru Focus puts it near $6 billion:

Macquarie Group (MCQEF) is edging closer to a potential exit from Louisiana utility Cleco Power, with a consortium led by Stonepeak Partners and Bernhard Capital Partners nearing a deal that could value the business between $5.75 billion and $6 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. A transaction could be announced as soon as Monday, although discussions remain private and subject to change. Cleco's ownership base also includes British Columbia Investment Management Corp. and Manulife Investment Management, while representatives for the involved parties have either declined to comment or not responded. 

Again, this is a great deal for all parties involved because Stonepeak Partners and Bernhard Capital Partners will help Cleco grow its business during its next growth phase. 

It also shows you that even in infrastructure, you sell assets when the time and conditions are right. 

Below, KALB Luisiana reports after almost a year of searching, Cleco now has a new owner.

Quebec investment manager La Caisse and health-care private equity firm Archimed Diagnostics have bought Stago, a French company specialized in the analysis of blood coagulation issues.

Financial terms of the agreement with the founding Viret family were not immediately available.

Stago sells its products in 115 countries and last year had revenue of about $880 million.

Martin Longchamps, head of private equity and private credit at La Caisse, said Stago is a recognized leader in blood coagulation analysis.

Stago, founded in 1945, develops and manufactures hemostasis equipment and reagents.

Stago's leadership team is taking a minority stake as part of the deal. 

Stago issued a press release stating it is accelerating its growth with ARCHIMED and La Caisse:

For nearly eighty years, Stago has been developing solutions grounded in rigorous scientific standards, driven by a constant ambition: to support healthcare professionals and contribute to improved patient care. 

As a leading global player in hemostasis, the company has built its identity on a culture of excellence, recognized expertise, and a long-term vision. 

Today, Stago is entering a new phase in its history. 

The founding family has chosen to transfer Stago to ARCHIMED, a leading investment firm exclusively focused on the healthcare industries holding the expertise and resources to support Stago’s growth and accelerate value creation. La Caisse, a global investment group, is also participating in this transaction as a minority shareholder. 

ARCHIMED brings solid experience in supporting high-potential companies. Its sector positioning and long-term approach offer Stago a suitable framework to reach a new milestone. 

This change in ownership is part of a structured development strategy that continues Stago’s commitments to its clients. Under ARCHIMED’s and La Caisse’s leadership, the company aims to strengthen its investment capabilities, accelerate its innovation projects, intensify its international expansion, and leverage its scientific expertise in operational and commercial performance. 

Building on its solid foundations, Stago is embarking on an ambitious growth phase, where scientific excellence and performance are the two drivers of sustainable development.  

And earlier today, La Caisse issued this press release stating ARCHIMED Diagnostics, along with minority investor La Caisse, acquires Stago, a global leader in blood coagulation analysis:

• Working with Stago management, ARCHIMED aims to expand sales and profits by building on gold-standard products in both developed and developing nations

ARCHIMED Diagnostics – the Diagnostics team of global private equity healthcare specialist ARCHIMED – has purchased alongside global investment group La Caisse (formerly CDPQ), Stago, a world leader for the analysis of blood coagulation issues (hemostasis). Stago develops and manufactures hemostasis equipment and reagents. It has unique expertise and a track record of innovation in this specialty.  

Stago is held through ARCHIMED’s MED Platform II fund and was purchased from the founding Viret family by the Diagnostics team through an unspecified mix of equity and unitranche debt. Stago sells its products in 115 countries and posted revenues of €550 million in 2025. Based in Asnières-sur-Seine (greater Paris), Stago was founded in 1945 and is the only pure-play hemostasis analysis company in the world. Stago’s leadership team is taking a minority stake as part of the deal.

“In addition to financial muscle, ARCHIMED and La Caisse have the operational sophistication and discretion to help us grow at a pivotal moment in our company’s history,” says incumbent Stago CEO Jean‑Claude Piel, who retires from his post, becoming Chief of the Scientific and Technology Monitoring Committee.“ARCHIMED’s diagnostics expertise is key for accelerating the efficient rollout of a major, new generation of Stago products,” says Philippe Barroux, Stago’s CEO-elect. Barroux, a 38‑year Stago veteran, is currently CEO of operations in North America and China.“This partnership is all about reigniting innovation at Stago.”

ARCHIMED has made a total of eight diagnostics acquisitions, exiting two: Diesse, which became a pioneer in the development of cutting-edge systems for diagnosing inflammatory diseases and immune disorders in partnership with ARCHIMED; and Eurolyser, a point-of-care testing specialist, which saw profits rise more than two-fold and sales growth accelerate from the high single-digits to 25 percent annually during three years of ARCHIMED ownership.

“Our aim is to provide Stago with the resources it needs to accelerate global growth and to reinforce its leading position as a pure player with unrivalled expertise,” says ARCHIMED Managing Partner Vincent Guillaumot. “Stago has a pipeline of innovative products that should allow its revenues and profits to grow well above industry averages,” adds ARCHIMED Partner Antoine Faguer.

“Stago is a recognized leader in blood coagulation analysis, operating in a segment we know well, and serving a mission-critical role in medical diagnostics. Our investment alongside ARCHIMED reflects the value we place on partnerships and businesses with strong fundamentals,” said Martin Longchamps, Executive Vice-President and Head of Private Equity and Private Credit at La Caisse.

Working closely with Stago management, ARCHIMED will deploy its MedValue template – ARCHIMED’s levers for accelerating the growth of partnering companies via internationalization (often including bolt-on acquisitions), innovation and product range expansion.

Diagnostics is a primary investment sector for ARCHIMED, and one of the seven major sectors mapped through ARCHIMED’s MedSeg, its proprietary sector analysis tool covering 430 sub-segments of the global health industry. For the acquisition of Stago, ARCHIMED also deployed MedDiscover, a proprietary set of tools and processes permitting ARCHIMED to identify and effectively engage with leading companies operating in ARCHIMED’s prioritized sub‑sectors.

Stago is MED Platform II’s 10th investment. All of MED Platform II’s investments have been first-time leveraged buyouts for the companies acquired. MED Platform II, more than two times oversubscribed, closed on €3.5 billion in June, 2023.According to Preqin data, the fund is a top quartile performer for its vintage year as are all ARCHIMED funds. After the Stago transaction, MED Platform II is some 70 percent invested.

ABOUT ARCHIMED 

www.archimed.group - With offices in Europe, North America and Asia, ARCHIMED is a leading investment firm focused exclusively on healthcare industries. Its mix of operational, medical, scientific and financial expertise allows ARCHIMED to serve as both a strategic and financial partner to healthcare businesses. Prioritized areas of focus include Animal & Environmental Health, Biopharma Products, Consumer Health, Diagnostics, Healthcare IT, Life Science Tools & Services, and MedTech. ARCHIMED helps partners internationalize, acquire, innovate and expand their products and services. ARCHIMED manages €9 billion across its various funds. Since inception, ARCHIMED has been a committed Impact investor, both directly and through its EURÊKA Foundation.

ABOUT LA CAISSE

At La Caisse, formerly CDPQ, we have invested for 60 years with a dual mandate: generate optimal long-term returns for our 48 depositors, who represent over 6 million Quebecers, and contribute to Québec’s economic development.

As a global investment group, we’re active in the major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private credit. As at December 31, 2025, La Caisse’s net assets totalled CAD 517 billion. For more information, visit lacaisse.com or consult our LinkedIn or Instagram pages. 

This is an excellent acquisition for La Caisse, co-investing alongside ARCHIMED, taking a minority interest in Stago, a world leader for the analysis of blood coagulation issues (hemostasis). 

The kicker here is Stago's management will take a minority stake in the acquisition, ensuring alignment of interest.

So what is hemostasis? From the Cleveland Clinic:

Hemostasis (hee-muh-stay-sis) is your body’s normal reaction to an injury that causes bleeding. This reaction stops bleeding and allows your body to start repairs on the injury. You need this ability to stay alive, especially with significant injuries.

When all goes well, hemostasis is a good thing. But in uncommon cases, the processes that control hemostasis can malfunction. This can cause potentially serious — or even dangerous — problems with bleeding or clotting.

But you should read it all here to really understand what it is and how issues arise.

I would also invite you to read about Stago's products and services to learn how the company is a world leader in this field and key figures here. 

I would also recommend you read more about Stago here to appreciate how successful this company has become:

From Research & Development and Production to Logistics, Marketing, Sales and International Distribution, Stago remains in control of its strategy at all levels.

Certified ISO 13485, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 for its main reagent manufacturing plant. the group’s industrial activities are mostly concentrated in France. Its geographical expansion has led to opening R&D and production centers in the USA, Netherlands, Germany, Ireland and China.

Ever since our American subsidiary was established in 1985, our distribution network grew considerably throughout the world. Since 2003, 17 new affiliates have been opened: China (2003), United Kingdom (2005), Dubai (2007), Australia/New Zealand and Canada (2008), Hong-Kong (2011), Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands (all opened in 2012), India (2014), Brazil (2016), Turkey (2017) and Saudi Arabia (2020).

The companies belonging to the Stago Group are: Diagnostica Stago, Agro-Bio, BioCytex, DSRV, Hemosonics, Synapse, Tcoag and BioCare.

A Human Adventure

Founded by Jacques Viret at the end of the Second World War to market a solution to ease digestion and hepatic disorders, the Stago Group has now  almost 2,600 employees, over half of whom are based in France.

The diversity of the men and women, professions and know-how is what allows Stago to develop, produce and sell the widest range of reagents and Hemostasis test instruments throughout the world using the most advanced technologies.
Customer satisfaction is a key value and everyone is conscious that there is a patient behind their actions.

With over 350 marketed products, Stago is a worldwide reference in Hemostasis and a 1^st class partner for biomedical laboratories.

Stago also has a licensed training center, offering theoretical and practical training courses at different levels.

Specialized in the fields of Hemostasis and Thrombosis, Stago invests in research and innovation to develop new and better performing reagents, systems and solutions. With more than 70 years of experience, Stago has acquired a charismatic image in Hemostasis and is well recognized among the international scientific world.

In this respect, Stago regularly organises symposiums or scientific meetings on Hemostasis research and latest practices, during conferences or as separate events.

Worldwide Presence

Stago is represented in over 110 countries via its affiliates and an extensive distribution network.
Each affiliate develops the processes implemented by that group, to provide our customers with the best support in terms of quality and services.

Each distributor is chosen on strict performance appraisal criteria with regards to their organisation and staff:  knowledge of Hemostasis, after-sales service capacities and commitment to promoting our products in a “customer satisfaction” culture. A specific internal structure (GSA) trains and monitors these teams. 

Allworth Financial, the Folsom, Calif.-based registered investment advisor with about $36.5 billion in client assets, is in market with its majority owners, Lightyear Capital and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, for a potential sale, according to two sources familiar with the move. 

Allworth is working with banking firm William Blair to lead the sale process, according to the sources.

Lightyear Capital and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan bought a majority stake in Allworth from Parthenon Capital in 2020, which had invested in the firm in 2017. 

Allworth declined to comment on the move. Lightyear Capital, Ontario Teachers and William Blair did not respond to a request for comment.

Since that initial stake in 2017, Allworth has completed over 40 acquisitions and grown to about 40 offices throughout the United States. It has also boosted client assets from about $8.6 billion in 2020 to its current $36.5 billion today, according to company filings and a spokesperson.

Six other executives, including CEO John Bunch, hold stakes of less than 5% in the firm, according to its most recent Form ADV. 

According to that filing, Allworth has recently shuttered about eight of its offices. The advisors working in them are still with the firm and working from new locations.

Last year, Allworth made one of its largest acquisitions with Salzinger Sheaff Brock and Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors, which had combined assets of $1.5 billion. CEO Bunch told Wealth Management at the time the deal signaled a shift for the firm toward larger, more sophisticated firms working with higher-net-worth clients. 

Over half of Allworth’s clients are marked in the individual category in its most recent Form ADV from March 20, signaling a strong presence in the mass affluent market. 

Last week, Allworth launched the Allworth Women’s Collective, a firmwide initiative to accelerate the growth of its female client base and talent. Allworth will feature the Women’s Collective on its website to raise clients’ and prospects’ awareness of the firm’s female talent. The firm will also call out specific segments and specialties that may be of interest to women, such as divorcees and business owners. 

Earlier today, OTPP issued a press release stating announces expansion of strategic investor group:

• Integrum, Lightyear Capital and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to Support Continued National Growth

FOLSOM, Calif., April 30th, 2026 /(BUSINESS WIRE) — Allworth Financial (“Allworth” or the “Company”), an award winning, full-service national wealth management advisory firm, announces today that it has entered a new strategic investment partnership co-led by Integrum Holdings LP (“Integrum”), Lightyear Capital LLC (“Lightyear”) and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (“Ontario Teachers’”).  As part of the transaction, Allworth’s management team continue to lead the Company, and existing employee and advisor shareholders will have significant ownership of Allworth.

Founded in 1993, Allworth is one of the largest and fastest-growing independent registered investment advisory firms.  Serving clients in all 50 states through more than 40 offices in the U.S., Allworth delivers integrated financial planning services, including investment management, tax planning and preparation, estate planning, insurance, and 401(k) management. With approximately $35 billion in assets under management and administration, Allworth is consistently recognized as a top 20 RIA by Barron's.  Allworth is committed to providing scalable, personalized financial guidance that helps clients plan wisely and enjoy life.

“We are grateful for the partnership Lightyear and Ontario Teachers' have provided over the past five years and are excited to welcome Integrum.  With all three investors at the table, we have the right group of thought and capital partners to accelerate our growth and expand our capabilities” said John Bunch, Chief Executive Officer of Allworth. “From our earliest conversations, our partners are aligned with what makes Allworth work: our people, our culture, and our commitment to clients. We are not looking to change the formula that makes Allworth a premier wealth management firm—we are continuing to invest behind it.”

Mark Vassallo, Managing Partner at Lightyear said, “Working with John and the Allworth team over the past five years on multiple growth initiatives has benefited clients and shareholders alike.  We are excited to continue building the business in the next chapter.”  Max Rakhlin, Partner at Lightyear added, “Our renewed partnership with Allworth represents Lightyear’s ninth investment in the wealth management and retirement sector since 2010.  We look forward to building on Allworth’s success with our partners at Ontario Teachers’ and Integrum.” 

“We are excited to continue our relationship with Allworth’s management team alongside our longstanding partner Lightyear and new investor Integrum. Allworth’s strong leadership team, national scale, and differentiated platform make it well positioned to benefit from continued industry tailwinds. We will leverage our deep expertise investing in wealth management businesses globally to help the Company execute its value creation plan and build on the momentum we have seen over the past five years” said Jeff Markusson, Senior Managing Director at Ontario Teachers’.

Tagar Olson, Founding Parter at Integrum said, “Allworth has built something exceptional: a national platform with real scale, a leadership team that operates with discipline and focus, and a culture that puts clients first. We’re excited to partner with John and the Allworth team, alongside Lightyear and Ontario Teachers’, to accelerate organic growth by investing in the talent, technology, and capabilities that will continue to scale the platform and enable Allworth’s advisors to deliver more value to their clients.”

William Blair & Company served as leadfinancial advisor to Allworth, with Houlihan Lokey also serving as a financial advisor to the Company.Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP served as legal counsel to Allworth.  Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal counsel to Integrum.

About Allworth Financial

Allworth Financial is a national, full-service registered investment advisory firm with approximately $35 billion in assets under management and administration. Serving clients in all 50 states through more than 40 offices nationwide, Allworth delivers integrated financial planning services, including investment management, tax planning and preparation, estate planning, insurance, and 401(k) management.

For more information, please visit: AllworthFinancial.com

Advisors and firms interested in joining Allworth’s national platform can find partnership details at allworthfinancial.com/partnerwithus

About Lightyear

Lightyear Capital is a New York-based private equity firm that partners with growing companies at the nexus of financial services and technology, health care and business services. For over 25 years, Lightyear has worked closely with management teams and leveraged its industry expertise, network of advisors and operating resources to accelerate growth and build market-leading businesses. As of December 31, 2025, the firm had assets under management of $8.1 billion. For more information, please visit www.lycap.com.

About Ontario Teachers’

Ontario Teachers' is a global investor with net assets of $279.4 billion as at December 31, 2025. Ontario Teachers’ is a fully funded defined benefit pension plan, and it invests in a broad array of asset classes to deliver retirement security for 346,000 working members and pensioners. For more information, visit otpp.com and follow us on LinkedIn. 

About Integrum

Integrum invests in technology-enabled services companies, partnering with management teams to accelerate growth. Founded by experienced investors and operators with complementary backgrounds and deep industry relationships, the firm pursues a high-conviction, concentrated approach—proactively sourcing opportunities and working closely with portfolio companies to scale through technology, talent, and expansion into adjacent markets and service offerings. Learn more at www.integrum.us.

Although financial figures were not disclosed, in late 2020, sources indicated the company was expected to sell for roughly $750 million to $800 million (though current, official valuation figures for 2026 are not publicly disclosed).

This is another major financial services deal for OTPP's private equity team which has an edge in this area.

Along with its partners, Lightyear and Instegrum, OTPP will help Allworth grow its operations and execute on its value creation plan. 

Why acquire a majority stake in Allworth now?

In short, wealth management is a burgeoning business in the US, and the numbers speak for themselves:

What is the exit strategy for Allworth? Well, don't be surprised if it keeps growing at this clip that a large US bank with its own wealth management division takes it over but that's not any time soon.

Right now, the focus is on execution and growing their business organically and through acquisition. 

Below, many investors, the big question is whether $5 million is enough to retire—and this real-life case study shows how to answer it. With Pat out this week, Scott is joined by Allworth advisor Mark Shone to walk through a $5–6 million household navigating retirement while raising kids, funding college, and managing a second marriage. Scott and Mark break down what really matters when asking if you can retire with $5 million—and how to make that decision with confidence.

Also, in this episode of Allworth's Money Matters, Scott is joined by Allworth advisor Mark Shone, who steps in while Pat is away to break down smart, tax-efficient strategies for handling highly appreciated stock positions. 

They use a real-life case of a recent retiree with nearly $2 million in Apple stock to explore how to reduce risk, diversify, and balance income and legacy goals. Plus, they touch on private credit and real estate trends shaping today’s investment landscape.

Lastly, if you’ve built significant wealth, simple index fund investing may not be enough anymore. In this episode of Money Matters, they break down advanced tax strategies for high-income investors and how to move beyond basic portfolio management. 

I am giving you a glimpse of how this financial services firm sets itself apart by providing its clients top advice and serving them well. This is wealth management at its best.

Stocks knocked it out of the park in April.

Wall Street’s April rebound ended the month with a scoreboard that looks more like 2020 than 2026 — and some of the details look even more like the dot-com era.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) surged over 10% during the month, its best showing since November 2020, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) jumped more than 15% for its best month since April 2020. The Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) gained nearly 16%, its best month since October 2002.

That was not the setup investors had in mind a month ago, with stocks still shaking off the shock of a major war and the bull market suddenly on defense.

The rally was broad enough to pull smaller stocks along too. The Russell 2000 (^RUT) climbed more than 12%, also its best month since November 2020.

But the S&P 500 equal-weight index rose less than 6%, barely more than half the gain in the cap-weighted S&P 500, and it now sits just under its March highs. That gap shows how much of April’s rally still came from the biggest stocks, not the average one.

Technology did most of the heavy lifting. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) gained 20%, its best month since October 2002.

Chips were the biggest reason.

The PHLX Semiconductor Index (^SOX) surged more than 40% and had its best month since February 2000 — extending the record-setting semiconductor run that has been driving the AI trade. It logged a record 18-day win streak and rose 13 straight days to record highs.

That strength ran straight through the stock leaderboard.

Intel (INTC) posted its best month ever, adding to the breakout above its dot-com-era ceiling after earnings. AMD (AMD) had its best month since January 2001, while Micron (MU) and Texas Instruments (TXN) had their best months since February 2000.

The same concentration showed up in market value.

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) added roughly $1.2 trillion in April — posting its best month since 2004 — while Amazon (AMZN) and Nvidia (NVDA) each added more than $600 billion. Broadcom (AVGO) tacked on more than $500 billion.

The laggards told the other side of the story.

Energy (XLE) and healthcare (XLV) finished lower in April, while the software comeback that briefly looked promising ended up fading against the semis. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) rose less than 5% and is down more than 20% for the year.

April put bulls back in control. The test in May is whether the average stock can start carrying more of the load.

Seal Conlon and Lisa Kailai Han of CNBC also report S&P 500 closes at a new record to usher in May as oil prices cool and Apple rises:

The S&P 500 rose to a fresh all-time intraday high on Friday, boosted by Apple shares, while oil prices fell as a new month of trading got underway.

The broad market index advanced 0.29% to end at 7,230.12. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.89%, reaching an all-time high and closing at 25,114.44. Both indexes posted closing records. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 152.87 points, or 0.31%, to settle at 49,499.27.

Shares of Apple climbed more than 3% after the consumer tech giant posted a fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue beat. Not only that, the company’s revenue outlook for the current quarter was better than expected, overshadowing the fact that iPhone revenue fell short of estimates for the second time in three quarters.

On the flip side, oil prices fell after Iran reportedly sent its response through Pakistani mediators to the latest U.S. amendments to a draft agreement to end the Middle East conflict.

President Donald Trump revealed later Friday he is displeased with a new peace offer from Iran, saying that the country “wants to make a deal, but I’m not satisfied with it.”

Oil prices were off their lows of the day following that development. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 2.98% to settle at $101.94 a barrel. International benchmark Brent crude futures slid 2.02% to $108.17 a barrel.

The moves come after a record-setting session, with the S&P 500 closing above the 7,200 threshold for the first time ever. That helped both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq — which also notched a new record closing high — secure their strongest monthly performances since 2020. The Dow, meanwhile, saw its strongest monthly performance since November 2024.

A strong first-quarter earnings season, as well as hopes for easing tensions in the Middle East, have ultimately boosted stocks higher on the year. Although the major averages took a dip on the commencement of the U.S. war with Iran, all three indexes are now trading well above where they began 2026.

David Krakauer of Mercer Advisors believes that positive trajectory can continue in the long term for equities. While Krakauer is hopeful that the Iran war will conclude in the near term, leading to a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, he believes that the earnings growth potential in the U.S. as well as overseas will offer momentum to stocks, even if the conflict persists.

“There could be always new news or some sentiment declining, where we could see a little bit of a pullback here after a strong pop up, but we’re still just overall strategically bullish on equities,” the vice president of portfolio management said.

Noting that there will be winners and losers in technology as “not all” of the artificial intelligence capital expenditures spending is going to “pay off,” Krakauer added, “We think the enhanced productivity story remains intact.” 

Alright, it's finally Friday, Game 6 between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lighting starts in a little over 2 hours and I'm hoping the Habs win again tonight. 

What can you say about the US stock market over the past month? Led by semiconductor stocks which were up 40%, it was outstanding month, an April to remember:

Notice how last year, during the Liberation Day tantrum, semis melted down to their 200-week exponential moving average, and then they bounce big -- and have never looked back.

You had a bit of a selloff when the Iran conflict hit in March, the SMH fell just below its 20-week exponential moving average (not shown above), and then "PAF!!", another melt-up to make a record new high.

Who's driving this price action? My bet is on CTAs and quant funds, whenever I see parabolic moves, I now they're adding massively to their positions.

Aren't semis overbought here? You bet they are but that doesn't mean they can't continue going higher.

You have to play the game but also be cognizant that stocks don't go up or down in a straight line, and when they're going parabolic, common sense risk management tells you to take some money off the table (an easy rule of thumb after a big move is to reduce your position after a negative weekly return).  

This week we saw Big Tech earnings and while we can debate details, there's no debating Alphabet (Google) is the new AI king:

Again, this stock was a buy when it held above it 50-week exponential moving average in March and then ripped higher in April.

The violent upside moves I'm seeing in April in a bunch of stocks is quite incredible.

For example, last week I discussed Intel, but check out shares of Qualcomm (QCOM) and Twilio (TWLO), both up big this week:

Now, notice how Qualcomm's weekly MACD remains negative and the stock is unable to make a new 52-week high, whereas Twilio's weekly MACD is now positive and it made a new 52-week high today?

That tells me to stay long Twilio, buying any pullback there and avoid buying pullbacks in Qualcomm shares.

I can go on and on and on, I know Apple shares made a new 52-week high today and that's typically the (defensive) tech stock to buy when you feel the red-hot chips stocks are cruising for a bruising. 

Below, the top-performing US large cap stocks over the past month (full list here): 

Alright, that's a wrap, time to enjoy my weekend and Friday night hockey.

Below, the CNBC Investment Committee debate whether earnings can drive stocks higher and how you should position your portfolio.

Also, Fundstrat's Tom Lee joins 'Closing Bell' to discuss Lee's thoughts on equity markets, recent earnings growth and much more.

Lastly, some highlights from Game 5 where the Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2. 

I'm psyched for Game 6. Go Habs Go!! Let's put this series behind us!!

This essay is part of the Prosperity’s Path series. In a time of geopolitical instability and a shifting world order, the challenges facing Canada's economy have only gotten more visible, numerous and intense. This series brings solutions.

When the 2008 financial crisis struck, the Bank of Canada followed other central banks in flooding the economy with money, by slashing interest rates and buying government debt. This juiced the economy with borrowed money. But it did nothing to boost its long-term productivity. This effectively took future income and redistributed it to the present.

When wealth races ahead in this manner, something I call the Icarus effect sets in. Initially, rising wealth raises a country’s growth rate by, among other things, creating a larger pool of capital to support investment. But past a certain threshold, wealth becomes a dead weight.

A greater share of investment tends to go to real estate, which sucks income into paying rents – not just on homes but on commercial real estate as well, which raises fixed costs and so can hurt competitiveness. Money gets sucked into stocks as well, but it tends to steer clear of start-ups and innovators and more toward established, conservative but dividend-paying companies. That slows the rate of new business formation and depresses labour productivity. It also undermines regime stability, as young people, who are disproportionately affected, turn against democratic capitalism.

So, if the problem is that the country has enriched itself by redistributing income from the future to the present, the solution is to reverse some of that, ensuring future generations enjoy the same benefits that today’s receive.

The good thing is that we seem to be going in this direction. The past week Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a sovereign wealth fund to invest in nation-building projects and generate returns, “creating even greater opportunities for future generations.” 

On April 27, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the creation of the Canada Strong Fund, Canada's first sovereign wealth fund.

But Mr. Carney did not go far enough. The fund would have only $25-billion initially. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, to which Mr. Carney compared Canada’s, has US$1.7-trillion in assets.

There is a next step that governments must take, and that is to expand the mandate of Canada’s pension funds so that they invest more domestically. These funds should effectively become sovereign wealth funds as well.

These institutions manage $2-trillion in assets and have long time horizons. They are big enough, patient enough to make a difference. And they should. Pension funds are, after all, the very embodiment of protecting the future, of deferring income today to spend tomorrow. It’s just that this “future,” and whose future it is, has so far been defined too narrowly.

This idea is admittedly controversial. Two years ago, a group of executives wrote to then-finance minister Chrystia Freeland, calling for the government to “amend the rules governing pension funds to encourage them to invest in Canada.” The initiative stirred considerable pushback, not least from the pension industry itself, which said it would hurt returns. In my own modest contribution to the debate, I doubted the merit of a national-development mandate.

Half of the Canada Pension Plan's holdings are invested in the U.S. economy, an odd mismatch at a time when Canada is trying to lessen its American exposure and fortify its economic sovereignty.

But the world has changed an awful lot since that original debate. After all, Canada did not then face an existential crisis, and the case for a national-development mandate has turned into a national-survival one. Economic sovereignty is what will enable Canada to stand up to a hostile United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney has said. And as former prime minister Stephen Harper said in February, “We must make any sacrifice necessary to preserve the independence and the unity of this blessed land.”

Almost all Canadian pension funds have a purely fiduciary model. Take the biggest of them all, the Canada Pension Plan. As the CPP states, “Our mandate is clear: to invest the assets of the CPP Fund with a view to achieving a maximum rate of return without undue risk of loss.”

But an exception already exists: the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which has a dual mandate of also contributing to Quebec’s economic development. Notably, this has not proved controversial. Despite the criticism that anything but a purely fiduciary mandate is irresponsible, the Caisse’s returns are in line with other Maple Eight funds. Why not give all funds a similar mandate – and more?

Singapore’s Central Provident Plan provides an illustration of how this can work. Singapore used its pension scheme to accelerate national development by steering toward housing, education and the growth of the local stock market (by allowing members to withdraw some funds to invest in local securities). The results speak for themselves. Measured in per capita income, Singapore was in 1960 poorer than Argentina. Today, it’s richer than Canada.

The specific mechanics might differ greatly – for one, Singaporeans must pay a whopping 20 per cent of their salaries into CPF. But the general idea is worthy of emulation. Canada’s pension system can play a similarly vital role in reallocating resources back into the Canadian economy, steering investment toward emergent businesses with a long-term future and also engaging in a multiyear investment program to build houses, especially at the underserved low end of the market. As happened in Singapore, the reduced cost of housing would free up money for working people, which could then be allocated toward other purposes.

Singapore has seen success using its Central Provident Plan pension scheme to accelerate national development by steering toward housing, education and the growth of the local stock market.

Moreover, while that purely fiduciary requirement has led funds to invest in what they view as stable assets with generous dividends, it has arguably come at the expense not only of the Canadian economy, but of future generations.

For instance, many funds invest heavily in fossil fuels. That neglects the impact carbon emissions will have on future generations and carries an opportunity cost – that money could have gone into other investments. The funds are heavily invested in the U.S. economy – half of CPP’s holdings, for example. That is an odd mismatch at a time when Canada is trying to lessen its American exposure.

An expanded mandate is a way for the funds to fix those issues.

Canada has one of the world’s largest pension funds. As a tool to help steer the country through this moment of difficult transition, and thereby preserve the independence of which Mr.Harper spoke, it could prove extremely potent.

Most Canadian pension funds have a purely fiduciary model, but Quebec’s pension fund manager, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, has a dual mandate of also contributing to the province’s economic development.

The Caisse’s example notwithstanding, even if an expanded mandate hurts returns, it is a worthy sacrifice. If Canada is to grow its wealth in the long term, and if it’s to build a more dynamic, competitive and diversified economy, over the short term it will need to reduce its wealth. Although wealth is good, since it’s the accumulation of past income surpluses, the problem is that today much of Canada’s wealth is actuallythe opposite and a drag on growth.

Most importantly, there’s an argument to be made that young people already made their sacrifices for their country and now it’s the turn of their elders.

When the pandemic hit,lockdowns hurt young people’s education, job prospects and mental health, but they were asked to make the sacrifice to protect the vulnerable elderly from COVID-19. They gave a lot. Let them now be assured of a future in a sovereign and prosperous country with the sacrifice that can be made today. 

Oh God! I fundamentally disagree with pretty much everything John Rapley states in his comment, so why am I posting it here?

He's not totally out to lunch. La Caisse has a dual mandate and is delivering solid long-term returns, but I loathe the argument that if La Caisse has a dual mandate, every other major Maple Eight pension fund should too.

Total rubbish! CPP Investments has its own mandate and laws that define its objectives and risk-taking.

All of Canada's Maple Eight invest more than enough in Canada and if Carney governments finally privatizes airports and other major assets, they will invest more domestically.

But let's stop pretending Canada's pension funds will "save our economy" by investing more domestically.

There are intelligent arguments to invest more wisely in Canada, and then there are silly ones like this one.  

Dual mandates are hard; they require great governance and are fraught with risks, like political interference and corruption.

When things go right, you look like a superstar, but when things turn south, you look like a complete fool.

I've seen plenty of organizations suffer major setbacks investing in Canada. I saw the BDC lose its shirt in venture capital during the 2008 GFC. 

Invest more in venture capital, not dividend-paying stocks from stable businesses.  

Really? That's what we want our pension funds to do: to invest more in Canadian venture capital?

Not me, I see a recipe for disaster with this strategy. 

Invest in large infrastructure projects, fine, but in venture capital, tread extremely carefully.

Why? 99 times out of 100, you're going to lose your shirt. 

Notice how Rapley doesn't talk about the insane regulations that have destroyed business formation in Canada. 

No, it's the pension funds' fault for not investing more in venture capital.

Give me a break!

What other nonsense? Oh yeah, how dare CPP Investments invest in oil and gas companies and put 50% of its assets in the US?

Well, thank god John Rapley isn't in charge of asset allocation at CPP Investments. 

Lastly, he writes:

Most importantly, there’s an argument to be made that young people already made their sacrifices for their country and now it’s the turn of their elders. 

Seniors on a fixed income who paid into the CPP all their lives are in no position to make sacrifices, nor should they be asked to.

The job of every pension fund in Canada is to make sure all members -- young and old -- are taken care of when they retire. Full stop.

Dual mandates sound cool but in practice they can be hell, especially if the governance is all wrong and governments continuously interfere in the investment process. 

We all deserve better, a lot better, and we need to trust the fiduciaries of our large pension funds. 

I don't know where this Canada Strong Fund is headed. As I wrote, I have my doubts but want it to succeed. 

I think our government is on the right track if it privatizing airports and other large infrastructure assets.

That all remains to be seen.

But changing the mandate of our large national pension funds to emulate La Caisse or Singapore’s Central Provident Plan?

No thanks, I think we are on the right path and Trump Derangement Syndrome is leading some commentators into recommending the wrong long-term path. 

Below, Prime Minister Mark Carney introduced a sovereign wealth fund for Canada to bolster national projects, create jobs and grow taxpayer money — but it's not a sovereign wealth fund in the traditional sense. Andrew Chang explains the stark differences between the Canada Strong Fund and other countries' sovereign wealth funds, and what we know so far about how it will work.

It has been two decades since CPP Investments, Canada’s largest pension fund, first adopted the total portfolio approach, swapping out asset class labels for underlying drivers of performance as guidelines to portfolio construction.

Looking back on the revolution, the C$780 billion pension giant outlined in a recent paper the five pillars of TPA through which it achieves “disciplined flexibility”, allowing the fund to preserve “the ability to deliver exposures efficiently and adjust by choice rather than necessity”.

While CPP Investments made the first foray into TPA in 2006, it wasn’t until 2016 that the fund “institutionalised” the framework and set targeted market risk and desired exposures to economic drivers at a total fund level. It then separated the investments into an active portfolio and a highly liquid, passive “balancing portfolio”.

Central to CPP Investments’ TPA framework is the idea of “relative value” which determines how capital competes across its active strategies, the paper said. The process shifts the focus of evaluation of active risk away from headline IRRs to alpha excluding all costs but taking into consideration liquidity consumption and balance sheet capacity.   

This is especially useful for discerning the true value-add of private investments, which need to generate a rate of return above market beta and also compensate for the liquidity consumption and reduced optimality they cause in the portfolio.

“Traditional asset-class silos obscure these trade-offs. Allocation bands can implicitly treat private assets as inherently diversifying or alpha-generating,” said the paper, co-authored by Sally Shen, Derek Walker and Geoffrey Rubin from CPP Investments’ insight and total fund teams.

“Under the relative value framework, public and private investments compete explicitly on a common risk-adjusted basis, taking these considerations into account.”

The relative value framework applies to both new and existing investments as the decisions to resize or sell down assets carry the same importance to new deployments, the paper said.

“The relative value framework is integrated with exposure management as a continuous, repeatable process: capital allocation affects portfolio exposures; exposures are measured against strategic targets; deviations trigger rebalancing actions.”

The other four pillars around the relative value framework are factor exposures [See CPP evolves total portfolio approach], liquidity, leverage and currency.

Canadian funds have been big proponents of applying leverage in pension management and CPP Investments began using this tool over a decade ago. Its leverage is managed at a total fund level and assessed alongside the funding capacity and collateral demands and other balance sheet factors.

The paper emphasised that leverage is not used as a tool to scale risk and boost return but as a tool to support diversification.To meet CPP Investments’ return target, an unlevered portfolio is likely to be overexposed to the growth factor whereas with leverage, it can “provide a more attractive mix of beta that moderates inherent growth and inflation biases”.

Leverage is also used as a tool to recalibrate risk levels across the total fund.

“For example, if higher-risk private-market exposures increase, total fund leverage can be reduced to maintain the calibrated risk target. If it declines, leverage can increase accordingly,” the paper said.

“In this sense, leverage functions as a balance sheet risk stabiliser: it absorbs shifts in portfolio composition and risk conditions while preserving overall portfolio risk.”

Leverage goes hand in hand with liquidity management which the fund considers on two dimensions: market liquidity (the ability to transact without great price impacts) and funding liquidity (meeting cash obligations).

“Liquid capital—unencumbered assets within the passive balancing portfolio—is structured to absorb shocks while remaining invested… In contrast, the active portfolio is treated as illiquid to preserve the integrity of long-term investment strategies,” the paper said.

“Resilience is monitored through multi-horizon liquidity coverage ratios, which test whether coverage assets, net of haircuts and combined with forecasted inflows, are sufficient to meet stressed obligations. Leverage capacity is explicitly linked to these thresholds.”

The fund conceded that TPA does require investors to be able to handle more portfolio complexities, but in an environment defined by geopolitical upheavals and regime shifts, “prudent design and adaptability matter more than speed”.

“The total portfolio approach cannot eliminate uncertainty, but when properly implemented, it does help build resilience to it. In doing so, it creates a durable institutional advantage for long-horizon investors like CPP Investments, strengthening our ability to weather the storms ahead.”

You can read the paper written by Sally Shen, Derek Walker and Geoffrey Rubin (featured above) titled "Investing in Uncertain Times: Achieving Disciplined Flexibility in the Total Portfolio Approach" on CPP Investments' website here , and the report can be downloaded here.

It is excellent, an in-depth look at a topic that everyone is discussing but few have mastered.

I'm not going to print it all here but like the way it begins:

Markets have entered a period of sustained geopolitical and economic uncertainty. Wars in Europe and the Middle East, fragmentation among major economies, inflation shocks, and volatile liquidity and financing conditions have unsettled long-standing market frameworks, challenging assumptions about diversification and correlations across assets and risk factors. For institutional investors, the question is no longer whether shocks will occur, but how to ensure their portfolios are resilient and responsive when they do¹. In this environment, the Total Portfolio Approach (TPA) is often presented as an antidote to uncertainty, a framework that promises adaptability across market environments. Yet there is limited clarity on how that flexibility works, how it is implemented, and what its limitations are. Indeed, flexibility within a TPA is not a “magic wand” of unconstrained agility that can address all threats to a portfolio. Rather, it is a governance and portfolio management architecture that builds an exposure profile that can adjust as conditions change. This stands in contrast to traditional strategic asset allocation frameworks, where implementation is largely fixed once targets are set. Within calibrated risk targets and centralized governance, TPA enables relative value–driven adjustments and multiple channels for delivering exposure while maintaining alignment with long-term total Fund objectives across market cycles. Flexibility, in this context, is a structural feature of the portfolio management architecture, not just an episodic tool deployed only in moments of opportunity or threat. This paper examines how Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments or the Fund) implements disciplined flexibility within its Total Portfolio Investment Framework, focusing on exposure², leverage, liquidity and currency management, and relative value decision-making. It explores how these mechanisms interact to deliver a diversified portfolio at a calibrated total Fund risk target while enabling capital to move to its highest-value use as conditions change. This supports the Fund’s ability to remain invested and resilient through different phases of the cycle in pursuit of its 75-year horizon.

The Evolution of a Total Fund Model

CPP Investments’ Total Portfolio Approach didn’t emerge fully formed. It evolved over time—from a relatively simple set of constructs guiding different aspects of the Fund’s portfolio construction, such as the risk targeting framework, to a fully integrated framework that calibrates risk, manages exposures, and considers alpha opportunities, while simultaneously integrating liquidity, leverage, and currency considerations. This evolution reflects CPP Investments’ legislated mandate to maximize returns without undue risk of loss, having regard to factors that may affect the plan’s funding and ability to meet its financial obligations. Risk is therefore assessed with a focus on long-term outcomes, and the organization has the flexibility to align its processes with that mandate.

CPP Investments' has a huge balance sheet and arguably the best team to undertake this total portfolio approach which can be complex at times.

There are a lot of moving parts to its portfolio and at the total fund level, you need a team to make sure risks across public and private markets are being monitored and taken appropriately. that leverage is used to enhance diversification and recalibrate risks across the total fund, and that currency risk is managed well.

The paper concludes by stating this:

Disciplined flexibility is the defining advantage of a Total Portfolio Approach—but only when it is carefully designed and managed and the investor can handle the greater complexity of its day-to-day implementation. At CPP Investments, flexibility is embedded through calibrated risk targets, centralized balance-sheet management, and a relative value discipline that allocates scarce capital to true incremental risk-adjusted return. Flexibility in this framework extends beyond avoiding forced selling to include increased capabilities in implementation, separation of alpha from beta decisions, and the ability to redeploy as views of prospective risk and return change, without compromising total Fund targets. In an environment defined by geopolitical fragmentation, liquidity shocks, and regime shifts, prudent design and adaptability matter more than speed. This flexibility is what enables CPP Investments to remain disciplined through cycles, reinforcing its ability to invest against its long-term mandate. The Total Portfolio Approach cannot eliminate uncertainty, but when properly implemented, it does help build resilience to it. In doing so, it creates a durable institutional advantage for long-horizon investors like CPP Investments, strengthening our ability to weather the storms ahead. 

What I like about this paper is that it clearly outlines how they implement TPA, what it can do and what it cannot do.

They're not looking to be cowboys here, they want to strengthen the total portfolio's resilience and risk-adjusted returns using all the tools available to them.  

In this environment, a great TPA team is critically important.

Lastly, a huge shout-out to Sally Shen, self-proclaimed pension nerd. Sometimes I feel like she's the only person who truly appreciates my comments and understands my passion for the subject matter.

Below, in an increasingly complex and fast-moving risk environment, judgment and discipline matter more than ever. Priti Singh, Chief Risk Officer, shares how CPP Investments approaches risk through a total portfolio lens, and how institutional investors are balancing speed, uncertainty, and long-term decision-making in a changing world.

Also, in this conversation with Bloor Street Capital, Frank Ieraci, Global Head of Active Equities, discusses how CPP Investments approaches risk, asset allocation and security selection across global markets.

He explains how CPP Investments targets risk rather than static asset allocations, how active management drives alpha in public equities, and how the Fund navigates uncertainty in areas such as geopolitics, artificial intelligence and energy transition.

Frank also reflects on investing in Canada, global diversification and what differentiates CPP Investments’ platform from traditional money managers.

The six most senior executives at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec received a total of $17.15 million in total remuneration and other compensation payments in 2025.

This information is contained in the annual report of the “Quebecers’ nest egg,” published on Wednesday.

Chairman and CEO Charles Emond was awarded total remuneration of $5.1 million, compared with $4.9 million in 2024, representing an increase of approximately one per cent.

The remuneration and other terms of employment of the president and CEO are determined in accordance with parameters set by the government, following consultation with the board of directors.

The annual base salary of Michael Sabia’s successor was maintained at $550,000 in 2025.

Emond also received annual variable remuneration of $4.5 million, as well as $23,799 in pension plan contributions paid by La Caisse and other benefits totalling $54,906.

In a news release, La Caisse highlights that, “under Mr. Emond’s leadership, La Caisse delivered a return of 9.3 per cent over one year, with a level of risk tailored to depositors’ needs, thereby helping to maintain the excellent financial health of their schemes, even in an environment marked by uncertainty and profound changes.”

It adds that Emond “achieved his ambition of $100 billion in Quebec assets ahead of schedule” and “ensured, through his effective handling of complex situations that arose, the progress of key projects.”

She cites, in particular, the opening of the REM’s Deux-Montagnes branch, the start of planning work for TramCité, and Alto’s selection of the Cadence consortium to build the high-speed rail link between Quebec City and Toronto. 

Earlier today, La Caisse released its 2025 Annual Report: 

La Caisse today presented its Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2025.

In addition to the financial results published on February 25, La Caisse presents an overview of its activities over the last year. The report includes:

• A presentation of La Caisse’s 48 depositors and their respective net assets as at December 31, 2025
• A detailed analysis of the overall return and different asset classes
• A risk management report
• An overview of La Caisse’s presence in Québec, where its assets reached the historic milestone of $100 billion, one year ahead of schedule, including highlights of La Caisse’s key achievements in supporting company growth and implementing structuring projects that contribute to economic development
• A section on governance, including reports from the Board of Directors and its committees covering audit, governance and ethics, investment and risk management, human resources management and compensation, as well as compliance activities
• The Sustainable Development Report, highlighting the new climate strategy adopted in 2025, which aims to accelerate the decarbonization of the real economy
• The financial report and consolidated financial statements
• The Report on Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) Compliance

The Annual Report Additional Information for the year ended December 31, 2025, was also published today.

But instead of focusing on that, Quebec's media is in an uproar that Charles Emond's total compensation reached $5.1 million and senior executive compensation surpassed $17 million:

Alright, let me give you my quick thoughts here.

Whenever you look at compensation, look at 5-year returns rather than one-year because that's what it's primarily based on.

From table 21 on page 44 of the annual report:

I covered the results already in late February with the Head of Liquid Markets, Vincent Delisle (see my comment here).

Notice on the table above, over the last 5 years, La Caisse delivered an annualized return of 6.5% vs 6.2% for its benchmark.

And that's what primarily determines compensation.

Over a 10-year period, La Caisse delivered 7.2% annualized vs 6.9% for their benchmark.

The report on compensation starts on page 80 of the annual report and it goes into detail how they benchmark compensation relative to peers and determine it. 

Below, you can see the table outlining executive compensation on page 89:

Again, look at asset class performance over the last 5 years and see how they get compensated relative to peers.

By the way, despite having the best performance among Maple Eight funds last year, Charles Emond and company received less total compensation than their peers in Toronto.

I'm not going to get into details here, you will have to wait this fall for the 2026 Pension Pulse Compensation Report, but suffice it to say that all the senior execs at Canada's Maple Eight received millions in compensation despite underperforming their benchmark last calendar and fiscal year. 

I've said it before, these people are paid extremely well and they all know it.

It's a great gig if you can land a senior exec job at one of Canada's large pension funds (politics plays a big role in landing these jobs).

Of course, they all have to deliver on long-term targets and in La Caisse's case, its dual mandate adds more challenges to the mix.

Moreover, Charles Emond is constantly in the spotlight; he has to appear in media to explain their activities and that adds extra pressure.

Don't get me wrong, he gets paid $5M total compensation to do this job, I'm not crying for him, I'm just stating that being the CEO of La Caisse isn't as glamorous or fun as you think.

Charles Emond and his senior execs are doing an outstanding job, not perfect, but they're delivering on key targets, including responsible investing.

Yes, they're all being paid extremely well, but that's the industry and it's a whole other discussion on whether or not Canada's senior pension fund managers are all getting paid way too much (according to my friends, their returns are "a joke" relative to the S&P 500 and "they're all overpaid").

Alright, let me wrap it up there, I'm bummed out the Habs lost to the Sabres in Game 1 but this series will be tougher than their first one Sabres have an excellent team).

Below, Canadians are demanding answers, but is the Bank of Canada listening? In this Public Accounts Committee hearing, officials are grilled over a court challenge to disclose senior executive compensation. While other central banks are open, why is Canada resisting? Watch as the committee pushes for transparency on taxpayer-funded salaries and the "personal information" defense. 

I personally find it ridiculous that the annual report of the Bank of Canada and all Canadian Crown corps don't have detailed compensation tables just like our pension funds disclose every year. 

The federal government should force the investment arms of the Canada Pension Plan and public-sector pensions to invest additional funds in this country rather than launching a sovereign wealth fund, says the Conservative chair of the Senate finance committee.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail Wednesday, Senator Claude Carignan said the model – known as a dual mandate – has worked well in Quebec with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

“My position is that I think that the pension funds need to invest more in Canada,” the Quebec-based senator said.

While the federal government has frequently said it wants to help create conditions that encourage such funds to invest more domestically, Mr. Carignan said urging voluntary action hasn’t worked and legislative changes should be considered. 

“We could change their mandate and put a note that they have to invest more in the Canadian economy, like we have with Caisse de dépôt,” he said. “The other pension plans don’t have this objective, but I think that they have to be more involved in our economies.”

Mr. Carignan said a dual mandate would eliminate the need for the $25-billion Canada Strong Fund that Prime Minister Mark Carney announced last month tied to the government’s spring economic update.

The Conservative senator said he was expressing a personal view and acknowledged his comments place him at odds with his own party.

The CPP is jointly managed by Ottawa and the provinces, except Quebec. Changing the CPP investment rules would require the support of Ottawa and at least two-thirds of participating provinces, representing two-thirds of the population of those provinces.

The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) invest funds for the pension plans of the public service, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Reserve Force.

The CPPIB and PSP Investments have virtually identical mandates to invest assets with a view to achieving maximum rates of returns without undue risk. Neither fund is subject to minimum amounts with respect to domestic investments.

The CPPIB held net assets worth $780.7-billion as of Dec. 31, 2025, while PSP Investments held $299.7-billion as of March 31, 2025.

Under pressure to put more money to work in Canada, the chief executives of Canada’s largest pension funds have argued that the plans have thrived on an independent governance model that keeps them free from political meddling.

Some pension-sector experts have suggested that the dual mandate that governs the Caisse has been a drag on its returns over the past decade. But comparisons with peers are hard to make given the different mix of clients the funds serve.

Provincial law in Quebec requires the Caisse to pursue “optimal returns” for its six million depositors “while contributing to Quebec’s economic development.” The fund now manages $517-billion in assets, and its former CEO, Michael Sabia, is Clerk of the Privy Council in Mr. Carney’s government. Its Quebec investments include infrastructure projects such as Montreal’s REM light-rail line.

Conservative MPs stressed the need for CPP independence in an exchange last month with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board senior managing director Michel Leduc.

During a recent finance committee meeting in the House of Commons, Conservative MP Pat Kelly criticized calls for the CPP to have a domestic investment mandate.

“We hear voices, from time to time, saying things like, ‘Why doesn’t the CPPIB invest in Canada?’ ‘Shouldn’t they invest more in Canada?’ or more chillingly: ‘Should they be compelled to invest more in Canada?’ ” he said, before asking Mr. Leduc to comment on the importance of the fund’s independence.

Mr. Leduc responded by saying that the CPPIB does invest considerably in Canada, which he pegged at more than $115-billion.

“The point about independence is critical on multiple fronts, including our ability to access global markets,” he said. “If we were seen to have different non-commercial objectives – perhaps national-interest objectives – it would make our life a lot more difficult regarding accessing prized assets around the world.”

Mr. Leduc told The Globe Wednesday that the CPPIB is one of the best performing pension funds in the world and Canada should not be adding barriers.

“We have heard many voices about this in recent years and while everyone is entitled to their opinions, that respectfully doesn’t extend to their own facts,” he said.

In April, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System was the first major Canadian pension fund to set a target to boost its exposure to Canada. CEO Blake Hutcheson said OMERS plans to add at least $10-billion of new investment in Canada over five years, which would increase the part of its portfolio in Canadian assets to 25 per cent from 18 per cent.

John Fragos, a spokesperson for Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, said the OMERS move shows the government’s “carrot” approach is working.

“We don’t need a stick,” he said. 

Alright, let me cover this since it's starting to really irritate me how many articles are coming out stating an opinion that Canada's large pension funds should invest more in Canada, and adopt a dual mandate like La Caisse.

With all due respect to Senator Claude Carignan (featured above), he doesn't know what he's talking about and I suspect I know who put him up to this (two fellas in Montreal).

Canada's large pension funds already invest billions in Canada across public and private assets and if the Carney Liberals start privatizing airports and other assets, they'll invest more.

They don't need or want a dual mandate, they want to have the freedom to invest in the best assets that meet their long-dated liabilities. 

We don't need to transform our pension funds into sovereign wealth funds and we don't need politicians telling our pension funds where to invest.

I have a serious problem with all these articles, people need to remind politicians that pension fund assets don't come from taxes, they come from members who contribute a percentage of their earnings.

The minute politicians insert themselves into the equation, it's game over, our pension funds will not be managed in an optimal sense.

Alright, not going to expand on this topic, if there are opportunities to invest in infrastructure assets in Canada, great, if not, leave our pension funds alone.

Below, Prime Minister Mark Carney has called Canada's pension funds "among the world's largest and most sophisticated investors." How large are they? By the end of 2024, they managed assets totalling nearly two and a half trillion dollars. 

But a lot of that money isn't being invested in Canada. As the government tries to boost the economy through nation-building projects, should Canadian pension funds be investing more right here at home? And what could we do to make that happen? 

TVO today discusses with Matthew Mendelsohn, the CEO of Social Capital Partners; and Keith Ambachtsheer, the co-founder of KPA Advisory Services and director emeritus of the International Centre for Pension Management at the University of Toronto.

Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 and the start of the generative AI craze, one name has dominated the infrastructure boom: Nvidia.

While the chipmaker — and the world’s most valuable company — continues to prosper and is expected to show revenue growth of 70% this fiscal year, Wall Street has moved elsewhere, piling into businesses that were hardly visible in the initial years of the artificial intelligence buildout.

This week offered the starkest illustration yet of what Mizuho analyst Jordan Klein said could be a “changing of the guard in AI.” Chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices and Intel notched gains of about 25%, while memory maker Micron jumped more than 37% and fiber-optic cable maker Corning climbed about 18%.

All four of those companies have more than doubled in value this year, with Intel leading the way, up well over 200%. Nvidia, meanwhile, is only slightly ahead of the Nasdaq in 2026, gaining 15% for the year, aided by an 8% rally this week.

In spreading the wealth to a wider swath of hardware companies, investors are clearly betting that the bull market in AI has long legs and that data centers are going to need a wider array of advanced components for years to come. Memory has been the biggest theme of late due to a global shortage that’s driven up prices and turned Micron, a 47-year-old company tucked in a sleepy corner of the semiconductor market, into one of the hottest trades over the past 12 months.

Micron blew past an $800 billion market capitalization for the first time this week, and the stock is now up over 750% in the past year. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra told CNBC in March that key customers are only getting “50% to two-thirds of their requirements” because of supply issues. 

The memory market is largely dominated by Micron, along with Korea-based Samsung and SK Hynix, which are also both in the midst of historic rallies.

“That is what happens when a market quickly enters a material shortage condition and pricing surges higher” while expenses “rise only modestly,” Mizuho’s Klein wrote in a note to clients early in the week. “You make a lot of money being overweight historic memory upturns when new capacity cannot be added fast enough. That simple.”

Agents drive ‘tremendous demand’

Beyond memory is insatiable demand for central processing units (CPUs), which underpin everyday computers and smartphones. They had mostly become an afterthought as model developers like OpenAI and Anthropic and cloud giants Google, Microsoft and Amazon were gobbling up Nvidia’s GPUs.

Now CPUs are back in the spotlight as momentum shifts from chatbots to AI agents. Bank of America estimates the data center CPU market could more than double from $27 billion in 2025 to $60 billion in 2030.

AMD’s quarterly results this week underscored the emerging trend, as earnings, revenue and guidance sailed past estimates on strong data center growth. The company has long led the CPU charge, and CEO Lisa Su said on the earnings call that AMD now expects 35% growth over the next three to five years in the server CPU market, up from a forecast of 18% growth that the company provided in November.

“Agents are really driving tremendous demand in the overall AI adoption cycle, and we’re very excited to be in the middle of it,” Su told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Wednesday, following the company’s earnings report.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs and Bernstein upgraded the stock to buy ratings, citing CPU tailwinds. And JPMorgan Chase analysts said the report “crystallizes the structural inflection underway across both server CPU and [datacenter] accelerator growth trajectories.”

Intel, which for many years towered over AMD in the CPU market before missing out on numerous major transitions, most notably AI, is in the midst of a revival sparked by a major investment from the U.S. government last year.

Intel’s stock had its best month on record in April, more than doubling, and has continued notching massive gains, rising 33% in the early days of May. The shares surged 13% on Tuesday following a Bloomberg report that Apple is in talks with Intel and Samsung to produce the main processors for its U.S. devices. They climbed another 14% on Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported that Intel and Apple have come to an agreement for the chipmaker to manufacture some processors for Apple devices.

Representatives from Intel and Apple declined to comment.

Elsewhere in the new AI stack, some companies are directly benefiting from partnerships with Nvidia.

Glass maker Corning, which celebrated its 175th anniversary this week, signed a massive deal with Nvidia on Wednesday that involves the development of three new U.S. factories dedicated entirely to optical technologies for the chip giant.

The deal gives Nvidia the right to invest up to $3.2 billion in Corning, and is likely a major step in Nvidia’s move away from copper cables and towards fiber-optic cables as it builds out its rack-scale systems. Earlier this year, Corning inked a $6 billion deal with Meta through 2030 to provide fiber-optic cables in the social media company’s AI data centers. 

“We’re going to scale up optical at a scale that, quite frankly, no optical companies have ever enjoyed,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday. He said the economy is going through the “single largest infrastructure buildout in human history.” 

Corning’s recent boom on Wall Street pushed its stock to a record in February, when it finally passed its prior high from the dot-com era in 2000. It’s continued to soar in the months since.

Analysts are seeing plenty of other comparisons to the internet boom of the late 1990s, which preceded an extended market bust.

Jonathan Krinksy, an analyst at BTIG, said in a recent note that the magnitude of the markup in the semiconductor space resembles 1999. He warned of a 25% to 30% correction for the PHLX Semiconductor Index, a significant benchmark for the sector, which is up 66% so far this year.

“We have written ad nauseam about how extreme the move in semis has been — in many cases not seen since the dot-com bubble,” he said. “In some ways, however, this move is actually more extreme.”

Last week, I discussed how stocks knocked it out of the park in April, led by red-hot chip stocks.

This week, semis are melting up again led by Micron, AMD, Intel and Qualcomm:

The melt-up in some chip stocks is staggering, even more so than 1999-2000.

They're way overbought but continue to melt up in a parabolic fashion.

For example, Micron shares are up 38% this week, 84% over the past month and 777% over the past year.

So what? Sandisk shares are up 4,162% over the past year, trouncing every other stock. 

 Gamma hedging and one-day options are undoubtedly fuelling these explosive moves but it's more than this; clearly, CTAs/ large quant funds are running the show, increasing their positions in chip stocks with every new high.  

How much higher can chip stocks fly? Nobody has a clue but Sandisk's 4,000%+ return over this past year after it IPOed sends a chill down the spine of short sellers.

Things are way overheated but this May melt-up can continue. 

Still, semis are due for a pause and pullback so chase them at your own risk here.

Below, the CNBC Investment Committee debate whether AI stocks can carry the market and how you should position your portfolio in this environment.

And Paul Tudor Jones, Tudor Investment Corporation founder and CIO and Robin Hood Foundation founder and board member, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the promise and perils of AI, future of AI regulation, state of the AI boom, latest market trends, the Fed's interest rate outlook, NY's wealth tax proposal, and more.

KingSett Capital and University Pension Plan Ontario are partnering to invest in income-generating industrial real estate assets in major Canadian urban markets, the institutional investors announced.

The partnership will focus on acquiring multi-tenant, light-industrial buildings in supply-constrained markets, with an emphasis on assets where active management can support long-term value creation. The partners said Canada’s industrial sector continues to benefit from evolving supply chains, population growth and limited availability, supporting demand and rental growth in key markets.

The initiative marks the first partnership of its kind for KingSett and expands UPP’s exposure to industrial real estate as the pension plan seeks to diversify its holdings and increase allocations to income-generating assets.

“We are thrilled to partner with KingSett to establish a dedicated Canadian industrial strategy aligned with our goal of building a resilient real estate portfolio focused on value creation over the long term,” said Peter Martin Larsen, senior managing director and head of private markets at UPP.

“This investment is designed to provide exposure to industrial assets, such as warehousing and light manufacturing facilities in close proximity to urban centres, underpinned by strong domestic demand and attractive inflation protection,” said Peter Martin Larsen, senior managing director and head of private markets at UPP.

“Through this partnership, we are selectively deepening our position in a sector supported by strong fundamentals, enhancing our ability to deliver secure, stable pensions for our members. KingSett brings deep expertise across market cycles, a long-standing presence in Canada’s major industrial hubs, and a proven track record of creating value through active asset management.”

KingSett said its industrial real estate transaction volume has exceeded $13 billion over the past 24 years, giving the firm insight into asset performance and trends across the sector.

“We are delighted to begin a long-term strategic partnership with UPP and grateful for their support,” said Rob Kumer, CEO of KingSett Capital.

“The Canadian industrial sector is at an inflection point: Investors, developers and tenants are adjusting to an evolving trade relationship with the U.S., new supply chains, and the need to improve efficiencies to remain competitive in this environment,” said Rob Kumer, Kingsett’s CEO.

“KingSett is well-positioned to leverage our relationships, scale and platform to navigate this environment and build a portfolio of industrial properties designed to deliver sustainable premium risk-weighted returns for UPP.”

Kumer said the partnership complements KingSett’s existing fund strategies and represents “an important milestone” for the company.

“We are introducing a highly customized investment solution that is designed to meet the specific needs and objectives of an institutional investor like UPP,” he said. “We are aiming to expand on this type of program as an important differentiator for our investor-partners and as a driver of growth for KingSett in the years to come.”

Kingsett and UPP have yet to announce announced any acquisitions under the new partnership. 

Last week, UPP announced it and KingSett Capital have formed a strategic partnership to invest in Canadian industrial real estate:

New partnership focused on the acquisition and active management of light industrial assets in Canada’s major urban markets.

KingSett Capital (“KingSett”) and University Pension Plan Ontario (“UPP”) today announced a strategic partnership to invest in income-generating industrial real estate assets across Canada’s major urban markets. The partnership will focus on acquiring multi-tenant, light industrial buildings in supply-constrained markets, taking a selective approach to assets where active management can enhance long-term value creation.

Canada’s industrial sector continues to benefit from structural tailwinds, including evolving supply chains, population growth, and limited availability. These factors support resilient demand and rental growth across key markets. Industrial assets also play a critical role in enabling efficient distribution and logistics networks across Canada.

This partnership is the first of its kind for KingSett and builds on UPP’s targeted exposure to industrial real estate, further diversifying its portfolio while increasing allocation to income-generating assets. As UPP continues to evolve its real estate portfolio, it remains focused on investments that enhance diversification, manage risk, and deliver durable returns to support the delivery of pensions over the long term.

“We are thrilled to partner with KingSett to establish a dedicated Canadian industrial strategy aligned with our goal of building a resilient real estate portfolio focused on value creation over the long term,” said Peter Martin Larsen, Senior Managing Director, Head of Private Markets at UPP. “This investment is designed to provide exposure to industrial assets, such as warehousing and light manufacturing facilities in close proximity to urban centres, underpinned by strong domestic demand and attractive inflation protection. Through this partnership, we are selectively deepening our position in a sector supported by strong fundamentals, enhancing our ability to deliver secure, stable pensions for our members. KingSett brings deep expertise across market cycles, a long-standing presence in Canada’s major industrial hubs, and a proven track record of creating value through active asset management.”

Over the past 24 years, KingSett’s total transaction volume involving industrial assets exceeds $13 billion. By acquiring and owning individual properties over this period, KingSett has gained direct and specific insight into asset performance and evolving trends in industrial real estate.

“We are delighted to begin a long-term strategic partnership with UPP and grateful for their support,” said Rob Kumer, CEO of KingSett Capital. “The Canadian industrial sector is at an inflection point: Investors, developers and tenants are adjusting to an evolving trade relationship with the US, new supply chains, and the need to improve efficiencies to remain competitive in this environment. KingSett is well positioned to leverage our relationships, scale and platform to navigate this environment and build a portfolio of industrial properties designed to deliver sustainable premium risk-weighted returns for UPP.” 

“This partnership, which complements the balance of our existing fund strategies, marks an important milestone for KingSett. We are introducing a highly customized investment solution that is designed to meet the specific needs and objectives of an institutional investor like UPP. We are aiming to expand on this type of program as an important differentiator for our investor-partners and as a driver of growth for KingSett in the years to come,” added Mr. Kumer.

About UPP 

University Pension Plan Ontario (“UPP”) is a jointly sponsored defined benefit pension open to all Ontario university sector employers and employees. UPP manages $12.8 billion in pension assets as of December 31, 2024 and proudly serves over 46,000 members across six universities and 21 sector organizations. The plan invests to deliver secure, stable pension benefits for members today and for generations to come. For more information, please visit myupp.ca and follow UPP on LinkedIn.

For more information, please contact:

Kelly Conlon
Managing Director, Strategic Communications and External Relations
media@universitypensionplan.ca

About KingSett Capital

KingSett Capital (“KingSett”) is Canada’s leading private equity real estate investment firm with over $19 billion of assets under management. Founded in 2002, KingSett creates value through a broad portfolio of custom real estate investments, financing solutions and asset classes backed by strong core values, an entrepreneurial approach and a Canada-first platform. Today, the firm has over 170 employees in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. 

This is another great strategic partnership for UPP, partnering up with KingSett Capital, Canada's leading private equity real estate firm, with over $19B AUM, $55B transactions to date and more than $27B loan commitments to date.

UPP and KingSett are establishing a dedicated Canadian industrial strategy to take advantage of favourable trends in this evolving sector.

This partnership builds on UPP’s targeted exposure to industrial real estate, further diversifying its portfolio while increasing allocation to income-generating / inflation-sensitive assets.   

To my surprise, this partnership is the first of its kind for KingSett Capital, and that shows me how smart UPP is to engage in such a partnership with a top real estate firm right in its own backyard.

[Note: Photo above is KingSett CEO Rob Kumer with Jon Love, Executive Chair & Founder, taken from here when Kumer was appointed CEO]. 

UPP manages $12.8 billion in pension assets as of December 31, 2024 so it's the perfect size to engage with partners like KingSett to initiate a strategic partnership of this kind.

Why not just invest in KingSett's funds? The biggest reason is to mitigate fee drag, co-invest alongside KingSett in this partnership, have them operate and add value to assets, and scale up their industrial platform in Canada. 

There are other advantages. Responsible investing is part of UPP's core values and you can bet they will engage with KingSettt on this front. 

From my vantage point, UPP is taking the right approach, identifying best-in-class partners all over the world and partnering up with them to reduce fee drag and scale up their operations in private markets.

You need a dedicated legal, finance and investment staff to perform due diligence and monitor the partnership but the approach allows you to diversify globally and also domestically. 

And for its part, KingSett gets a great institutional partner with steady long-term streams of capital, so they can grow together and form other partnerships in warranted. 

Alright, going to wrap it up there but suffice it to say, I like this deal and trust this will be a long and fruitful partnership for UPP and KingSett. 

Below, Bodhi's Founder and CEO, Ranjan Bhaduri, is joined by Aaron Bennett, Chief Investment Officer of UPP. Alongside discussing fiduciary duty, inflation risk, and responsible investing, Aaron shares stories of how the organization built its culture remotely and constructed the blueprint for a durable portfolio designed to support members for decades to come. Great discussion, listen to Aaron's insights.

Next, in this episode of Real Estate Development Insights, Payam Noursalehi interviews Jeff Thomas, Group Head of Development at KingSett Capital, who explains how the Canadian private equity firm invests in Canadian commercial real estate through development, joint ventures, and lending. 

He describes transitioning from brokerage (co-founding and selling Ashler Urban to Cushman & Wakefield) to development, emphasizing that long-term relationships, trust, transparency, and early delivery of bad news are critical to managing risk across KingSett’s roughly 55 projects with a small internal team. 

Thomas discusses “premium risk-weighted returns” as achieving strong returns relative to managed, less volatile risk. He details Toronto’s 50 Wilson Heights affordable-housing project (about 750 units in phase one, half affordable) on a prepaid ground lease, involving over 50 initial agreements, CMHC financing, and geothermal sustainability, and notes construction is in early structural work. He says Toronto condos are “dead” due to a large gap between resale and new-launch pricing, with development charges and HST seen as key barriers. 

He advises smaller builders to get close to customers and highlights modular/precast delivery at West Square as a path to speed, standardization, and affordability, while wishing policymakers would truly prioritize housing.

Lastly, Dennis Mitchell, CEO and CIO of Starlight Capital, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the recent acquisition deal between KingSett and Choice to acquire First Capital. Smart man, he covers a lot here including industrials.

The board of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan announced last week the appointment of Feifei Wu to the newly established role of senior managing director of investment technology and applied intelligence.

Wu will lead the pension fund’s artificial intelligence strategy to strengthen governance and accelerate the adoption of the technology while partnering with investment leaders to ensure AI enables key business outcomes, according to the OTPP’s announcement. Wu will report to OTPP Chief Technology Officer Terry Hickey.

“I am pleased to welcome Feifei to Ontario Teachers’ in this important role at a pivotal time in our technology journey,” Hickey said in a statement. “She brings a strong combination of technical expertise and proven leadership across global financial institutions. Her experience building high-performing technology teams and her forward-looking approach to applied intelligence will help accelerate innovation, deepen investment insights, and deliver long-term value for our members.”

Wu joins from Macquarie Asset Management, where she was global head of engineering. Her previous roles include divisional chief information officer at Edward Jones and global chief information officer at Brown Brothers Harriman. She also served as an adjunct professor at New York University.

Wu earned a master of science degree and a Ph.D. in computer science with a focus on artificial intelligence from Rutgers University; a master of engineering degree in computer engineering from Zhejiang University in China; and a bachelor of engineering degree in computer engineering from Northeastern University, also in China.

OTPP manages C$279.4 billion ($204.29) billion in assets for 346,000 beneficiaries who are working and retired educators from the province of Ontario.

Last week, Ontario Teachers’ announced the appointment of Feifei Wu as Senior Managing Director, Investment Technology & Applied Intelligence:

TORONTO, May 4th, 2026 – Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (“Ontario Teachers’”) today announced the appointment of Feifei Wu as Senior Managing Director, Investment Technology & Applied Intelligence, effective immediately.  In this newly established role, Ms. Wu will partner closely with investment leaders to ensure technology enables key business outcomes, while leading Ontario Teachers’ AI strategy to strengthen governance, accelerate adoption, and unlock new opportunities. She will report to Chief Technology Officer Terry Hickey.

Ms. Wu has over 25 years of global experience at leading investment and wealth management firms, with deep expertise in technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud transformation.

“I am pleased to welcome Feifei to Ontario Teachers’ in this important role at a pivotal time in our technology journey,” said Mr. Hickey. “She brings a strong combination of technical expertise and proven leadership across global financial institutions. Her experience building high-performing technology teams and her forward-looking approach to applied intelligence will help accelerate innovation, deepen investment insights, and deliver long-term value for our members.”

Ms. Wu joins Ontario Teachers’ from Macquarie Group in New York, where she most recently served as Managing Director, Global Head of Engineering of Macquarie Asset Management. Previously, she held senior leadership roles including General Partner, Digital & Technology at Edward Jones, Global Chief Information Officer at Brown Brothers Harriman, and Managing Director at RBC Capital Markets and BNY.

She has an MS and PhD in Computer Science (with a focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning) from Rutgers University, in addition to an ME in Computer Engineering from Zhejiang University and a BE in Computer Engineering from Northeastern University in China.

About Ontario Teachers’

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers') is a global investor with net assets of $279.4 billion as of December 31, 2025. Ontario Teachers’ is a fully funded defined benefit pension plan, and it invests in a broad array of asset classes to deliver retirement security for 346,000 working members and pensioners. For more information, visit otpp.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

 So what is this all about and why is it a big deal?

Two reasons. If OTPP and other large pension funds want to better understand the risks and opportunities of AI, they need experts who can help them better understand the AI landscape to figure this out.

The second reason, and it's equally important, OTPP wants to improve its total portfolio approach and AI will be help them standardize data, improve decision-making and be better prepared to pounce on market opportunities across the spectrum.

In short, Ms. Wu will be working with investment heads to understand their approach and needs and see how she can leverage AI at an organizational level to produce better outcomes over the long run. 

For OTPP to go ahead and attract Ms. Wu to their organization, it means they are getting serious about AI on a much deeper level.

In fact, on LinkedIn yesterday, PSP Investments' former CIO  and founder of Brave Foresight, Eduard van Gelderen, posted this:

Matt Toledo (https://www.ai-cio.com/) reported: 'Ontario Teachers’ Pension Appoints Intelligence Strategy Head. Feifei Wu will serve in the newly established role of senior managing director for investment technology and applied intelligence.

When I interviewed the C-suite of the larger Canadian pension plans 18 months ago as part of my PhD research, it was clear that an 'AI Northstar' was not in place. Yes, experiments to come to productivity gains were initiated, but there was no clear AI vision. I am delighted that since then some of the funds have taken serious steps to figure out what a system solution (in contrast to a point solution) could look like. Congratulations toTerry Hickeyand OTPP's C-suite for taking the lead. 

Indeed, congratulations to Terry Hickey, OTPP's CTO, for taking the lead here.  

There is actually a lot of work ahead; people mistakenly think that because they use AI in their daily activities, it's easy to implement it properly in a pension fund.

Like all other quantitative initiatives, I can tell you that if you do it properly, it will add value but if you don't, it's garbage in, garbage out.

Below, Feifei Wu, former Managing Director & Technology Head at Macquarie Group, shares how modern enterprises are building end-to-end AI architecture to support business-wide use cases (March, 2026).

From trading and research to operations and fund management, the foundation starts with strong data and memory layers enabling not just storage, but reasoning and inference. On top of that sits an orchestration layer, where agents, workflows, and AI applications are built and deployed.

With advancements in cloud platforms, vector search, and agent frameworks, what once took over a year to build can now be done in days or weeks. Integration, APIs, and MLOps capabilities ensure these systems are scalable, monitored, and production-ready.

Key takeaway: Modern AI architecture is about connecting data, models, and workflows, enabling faster, scalable, and enterprise-wide impact.

Smart lady, she obviously knows what she's talking about and will be an invaluable resource at OTPP. 

Markets Group Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Blair Richards reveals how a small Canadian pension plan quietly outperformed expectations for decades — and why the traditional playbook was never going to be enough.

In this wide-ranging conversation, the longtime CIO of the Halifax Port ILA/HEA Pension Plan shares how he transformed a conservative 70% fixed-income portfolio into a forward-thinking “mini Maple Model,” embracing private equity, private credit, and alternative assets long before it became mainstream.

Richards explains how disciplined long-term investing, diversification across vintages, and a relentless focus on member outcomes helped the plan achieve a remarkable 134% solvency ratio and inflation-beating pension increases, while many other sponsors were abandoning defined-benefit pension plans altogether.

He also opens up about one of the defining decisions of his career: securing a landmark buyout with Sun Life that guarantees retirees a 4% annual cost-of-living adjustment for life. Along the way, he discusses the risks of today’s geopolitical climate, why he’s cautious on artificial-intelligence investing, and the leadership philosophy that shaped his success: surround yourself with experts and trust them deeply.

This episode is a masterclass in pension investing, fiduciary leadership, and adapting institutional strategies for the real world — whether you manage billions or just want to understand how the smartest long-term investors think. 

A week ago, Lauren Bailey also reported Halifax Port ILA/HEA pension completes PRT deal with Sun Life, locks in 4% COLA:

The Halifax Port International Longshoremen’s Association/Halifax Employers Association Pension Plan has entered into a pension risk transfer deal for its defined-benefit pension plan with the Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada that locks in guaranteed annual increases.

The move comes as the plan reported a 147% solvency ratio in 2025. The Halifax Port ILA/HEA, which dates back to the 1950s and serves roughly 600 active members and 300 retirees, completed the buyout transaction valued at approximately C$57M.

For years, the Halifax ILA/HEA has maintained a surplus, enabling it to provide ad-hoc pension increases that ultimately tripled pension payments over time, said Blair Richards, the plan’s chief investment officer.

“That was the reason we held onto the plan, continued to run it in the first place,” he said.  

During a panel discussion hosted by Sun Life, Richards noted that in 2024, the plan’s actuary determined the policy had exhausted its available room, preventing further increases despite the plan’s strong surplus position. The realization prompted trustees to explore 12 strategic alternatives before ultimately pursuing a buy-in and buyout structure.

“Once it was clear that we could not do any better on an ad-hoc basis with respect to pensioner raises than we could guarantee with a buyout, the decision was obvious,” Richards told Markets Group. “We locked in a 4% annual cost-of-living adjustment for our retirees.”

The transaction also required solving for illiquid real estate assets held within the pension portfolio. While most of the plan’s assets were invested in liquid funds, a portion earmarked for the annuity premium was tied to a real estate vehicle with limited redemption flexibility.

Mercer, which advised the plan on the pension risk transfer, worked with Sun Life to develop a deferred premium structure that allowed the illiquid assets to remain in place while transferring pension risk immediately.

“We agreed to divide the premium into two components,” said Emile Alarie, principal and PRT specialist at Mercer, during the panel discussion. “A cash premium that would be paid at the onset like a typical premium transfer, and a deferred premium that would cover the illiquid asset portion.”

The deferred portion was structured similarly to a loan, allowing repayment over time as the underlying real estate fund generated liquidity. The arrangement enabled the plan to lock in pricing and complete the transaction without waiting for the assets to fully liquidate.

Alarie said the structure could provide a template for other Canadian pension plans holding illiquid assets that are exploring de-risking efforts.

“In the end, what we wanted to do was find a way to get this deferred premium completed, and ultimately we got to the goal with this innovative feature,” he said.

The plan also placed significant emphasis on governance, data validation and communication throughout the process. Richards said trustees were repeatedly updated to ensure they fully understood the implications of the transaction before making a final decision.

Improving funded ratios and elevated interest rates have prompted more Canadian pension plans to evaluate pension risk transfer strategies and annuity purchases. Plan sponsors are increasingly exploring customized structures to address illiquid holdings, surplus management and inflation protection within defined-benefit plans.

A TELUS Health report citing Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario data showed a median solvency ratio of 124% for Ontario plans in the third quarter of 2025, with stability maintained through the year. With many Canadian plan sponsors sitting on meaningful surplus, the focus, said the report, will likely be on both protecting and strategically utilizing these positions to derive value.

It noted that surplus can quickly evaporate with the changing environment, making it critical for plan sponsors to review their funding and investment strategies to protect their gains.

After decades helping oversee the Halifax Port ILA/HEA pension plan, Richards is now preparing to retire. He leaves the role with a strong sense of satisfaction, having realized outsized growth and, now, the plan’s de-risking transaction.

“I’m not sure it could be any more satisfying,” Richards said. “The results speak for themselves.”

Still, he acknowledged that he’s leaving as economic uncertainty remains a constant feature of the investment landscape.

“There are always challenges,” he said. “Geopolitical risks can’t be ignored at the moment, but the plan is in very strong shape and in very capable hands, so I remain optimistic.” 

I met Blair Richards years ago at a conference and hit it off with him because he's a smart, no-nonsense type of guy who gets it.

I like this interview a lot, which is why I embedded below.

Let me provide some more background. 

Two years ago, Bryan McGovern of Benefits Canada reported on Halifax Port ILA/HEA assessing past, future of DB pension plans:

While Blair Richards understands why the industry is moving away from defined benefit pension plans, he worries about what may be lost in the process.

When Richards — the chief investment officer at the Halifax Port ILA/HEA pension plan — joined the institutional investor 40 years ago, DB plans were an attractive hiring and retention tool for private sector employers. Now, he says the risk associated with these plans has led to a widespread exit strategy.

The organization opted to keep its DB plan, which has been closed since 1984. “I have unfortunately lived through what I guess was the high point of DB plans and what will eventually be a complete loss. . . . I had hoped . . . [they’d] come back around. [They have] slightly, but [not] like . . . before.”

The Halifax Port ILA/HEA continues to manage the DB plan’s investments, but without further financial support from its employers, the investment team knew it had to take a conservative approach.

Due to its size, the breakeven point is low compared to most, which motivated the team to focus on alternative investments early on, says Richards, noting the plan has also reduced its allocations to fixed income over time.

“Now as the rates have come back up, the reason we got away from that high weighting is that if your breakeven is five per cent and your expected return around a 10-year bond is two per cent, you can’t sit on that position. You’re forced away from that very bond that has served you so well for decades.”

The development of advanced life deferred annuities and variable payment life annuities has helped the plan provide lifetime payments to members. Indeed, for more than 30 years, the plan has been providing raises to members, says Richards. “Not only did we increase pensions, we . . . increased those pensions by 155 per cent . . . above inflation over the period, so we’re sitting on a very successful plan here.”

While increasing pension benefits is a priority for the Halifax Port ILA/HEA, an internal policy on excess interest has prevented an increase over the last two years, during which the plan’s surplus grew to 134 per cent on a solvency basis as of the end of September 2023.

Read: Blair Richards moves to CIO of Halifax Port ILA/HEA pension plan

He says the plan has shifted away from this policy and increases are expected to begin again this year.

Employees enrolled in the Halifax Port ILA/HEA’s defined contribution plan can also purchase a pension from the DB plan. “At the point of retirement, they can take part of their balance, put it in the DB [plan] and create a floor between that and their government benefits — they can roll a portion into a registered retirement income fund or a life income fund to have the flexibility that a lot of people want.”

He credits much of the success of the DB plan with a long-term strategy, rigorous discipline and always asking questions from the perspective of members. “What we did was take that notion of fiduciary to heart. We wanted the best for the retirees in particular, but [for] pension members in general and we’ve proven that it is possible.” 

As you can read, the Halifax Port ILA/HEAisn't that "mini", it manages billions and Blair did a great job as CIO there, taking intelligent risks and diversifying the asset allocation to make the plan more resilient.

He's preparing for retirement, and in my opinion, he should write a book about his experience managing this plan.

Anyway, take the time to listen to Blair's interview below where he shares great insights with Lauren Bailey. Great guy in every respect, he deserves a nice retirement.

The managers of Germany’s largest public pension fund want to wipe their hands clean of their increasingly contentious exit from San Francisco’s Transamerica Pyramid.  

Earlier this week, Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) — a state-run institution managing the pensions of 2.8 million public employees in Bavaria — rejected accusations raised in a recent lawsuit that it broke investment rules and stiffed one of its partners out of more than $30 million after selling the Transamerica Pyramid in March. 

As part of that lawsuit filed last month, Deutsche Finance America claimed BVK “went to concerted, conspicuous lengths” to skip paying the firm its early termination fee of $31.3 million. The firm claimed that BVK paid its other partner — New York developer and face of the Transamerica Pyramid revival, Michael Shvo — $79 million despite the partners having similar termination fee structures. Shvo’s payday, Deutsche Finance America said, raised “grave questions” about the deal. 

Representatives of BVK called the allegations “unfounded,” and said they “vigorously reject” them, according to a statement released Tuesday to trade publication, Investment & Pensions Europe. 

Partnering with Shvo and Deutsche Finance America, BVK funneled nearly $2 billion into seven U.S. properties, including the Transamerica Pyramid and the Raleigh Hotel in Miami, according to Deutsche Finance’s court filing last week. Although no precise final number has been released, BVK has estimated that losses on those investments could exceed $1 billion. 

Deflecting accountability

BVK, which is supervised by Bavaria’s interior ministry, has continuously tried to evade direct responsibility for the series of failed U.S. real estate bets it made with pensioners’ money. It leans on the fact that it used what’s called a “fund-of-funds” structure to invest in the real estate portfolio, where BVK put money into third-party, Luxembourg-based funds that then made the investments.

In March, BVK’s CEO, Axel Uttenreuther, told a German news outlet that Deutsche Finance and Shvo had identified the properties in advance of BVK’s investment. Deutsche Finance has explicitly denied this claim. 

Last summer, BVK fired its long-time head of real estate investment management Rainer Komenda after more than 20 years at the helm. Months later, Norman Fackelmann, who served just under Komenda, quit the institution, according to Investments & Pensions Europe. An internal investigation by BVK found Komenda had too close a relationship with its business partners, which included stays at luxury hotels and meals at high-end restaurants. Bloomberg reported that a younger relative of Komenda held internships at Deutsche Finance’s London and Denver outlets, as well as Shvo’s firm. 

Komenda sued BVK over his dismissal. In March, a Bavarian court sided with Komenda. According to Investments & Pensions Europe, BVK planned to appeal and had fired Komenda all over again based on “fresh findings from a recent internal investigation.” 

The pension fund sought to further distance itself from the Transamerica Pyramid deal with its comments on Tuesday. BVK told Investment & Pensions Europe that it learned of Deutsche Finance’s latest court filing through a “third party” and characterized the dispute as between Deutsche Finance and an externally managed fund of funds. 

“BVK is neither a party to the petition nor to the arbitration proceedings,” a representative told the London-based trade publication. 

Deutsche Finance America’s lawsuit does not explicitly name BVK as a defendant, but rather two Luxembourg-based investment funds, Elektra 2 and 711 Investments SCS. However, it says BVK acted through the two companies in refusing to pay DFA its fee for early termination of its asset management services on the Transamerica Pyramid.

Losing streak 

In March, BVK sold its piece of the San Francisco skyline and the two adjacent properties for $692 million to Cyprus-based investment firm Yoda PLC.The sale marked a more than $200 million loss on the investment, part of the larger, billion-dollar losing streak for BVK’s U.S. portfolio. 

At the time of the sale, Yoda PLC reported that, amid the losses for German investors, Shvo would receive a separate $34 million exit package that covered his broker’s pay for representing both sides in the transaction, an early termination fee and the cost of buying out his right of first offer agreement on the property. 

Yet, as the estimates of losses grew for German investors, Shvo’s riches seemed to increase. Deutsche Finance America’s court filing last week claimed Shvo actually made $79 million on the deal thanks to an additional $45 million he earned in December after BVK allegedly terminated his contract as asset manager. That timeline contradicts Shvo’s claim that he remained asset manager until the property’s sale in March.

Spokespeople for Shvo have denied he was terminated as asset manager in December and said he stayed on in the role until the building’s sale in March. On several occasions, the spokespeople declined to comment on whether Shvo was paid an additional $45 million in fees.

Deutsche Finance is arguing that it had a fee-protection agreement identical to Shvo’s but received nothing after the property was sold.

The dispute between Deutsche Finance and BVK’s funds remains in arbitration. Meanwhile, lawyers in Bavaria whose pensions are managed by BVK have been gearing up for months for a possible class action-style lawsuit against the state-run pension fund and the state of Bavaria. 

Editors Note: A previous version of this story misattributed a claim to Shvo’s spokespeople. The spokespeople declined to comment on whether BVK paid Shvo an additional $45 million in fees. They did not deny it, as previously reported. 

This isn't a new story. Back in February, Julian West of AInvest wrote BVK's US real estate bet was a symptom of Germany's housing crisis, noting this:

The financial impact of Bayerische Versorgungskammer's US real estate missteps is contained, but the fallout is about trust. The group faces a potential additional loss risk of up to €690m from a small number of higher-risk development and refurbishment projects. This represents roughly 0.6 per cent of BVK's total €117bn portfolio, a level the group deems manageable. Crucially, BVK maintains that pension commitments to members are not affected, arguing that any losses are offset by gains in other asset classes. In 2024, the group delivered a capital-weighted net return of around 3.4%, meeting its central investment target.

Yet this is not merely a story of a small bet gone wrong. The core question is whether this is a manageable financial event or a symptom of deeper institutional failure. The scale of the potential loss is dwarfed by the group's total assets, but the governance and transparency failures are not. Members of BVK, which manages funds for 2.7 million people, are preparing legal action to obtain information and potentially compensation. German law firms have set up an interest group, claiming BVK has refused to provide information despite repeated requests, necessitating a lawsuit to force disclosure.

The thesis here is clear. The financial impact is contained within BVK's diversified strategy. The real damage is to fiduciary trust. The group's own measures-appointing an external manager, tightening partner standards, and strengthening compliance-admit to a breakdown in oversight. When a pension fund managing hundreds of billions cannot provide basic information to its members, even under confidentiality agreements, it raises fundamental questions about accountability. The bottom line is that while the numbers may not threaten pensions, the opacity and the need for legal compulsion to reveal them do threaten the very foundation of the system.

The Governance and Transparency Crisis

The core failure here is not financial, but fiduciary. While BVK's total portfolio is large enough to absorb the potential losses, its refusal to communicate with its members represents a fundamental breach of trust. The breakdown is now formalized through legal action. German law firms Mattil and Greger & Collegen have set up an interest group to seek disclosure, stating they have asked BVK "several times" for information but received no response. This has forced them to conclude that a lawsuit is necessary to compel transparency, with the case ready to be filed in Munich. 

This legal push starkly contrasts with BVK's public messaging. The group's CEO has repeatedly emphasized that transparent, trust-based dialogue remains a core element of its governance approach. Yet the fund's actions in withholding information from members-its ultimate beneficiaries-undermine that very claim. The excuse offered, citing pending legal proceedings in the US and existing confidentiality obligations, does not hold up under scrutiny. The law firms represent members of the very pension funds BVK manages, and the information sought is about the fund's own investments and performance. The conflict is clear: a fiduciary refusing to communicate with its members.

The planned legal action in Munich seeks both disclosure and potential compensation for member losses. This is the ultimate consequence of a governance model that prioritizes legalistic defensiveness over open communication. When a pension fund managing hundreds of billions cannot provide basic information to its members, even through a legal representative, it reveals a system in crisis. The bottom line is that while the financial impact may be contained, the institutional failure-the refusal to engage-is what truly threatens the integrity of the pension system.

What a complete mess. I read this story and others related to it earlier today and I'm bringing it up on my blog for one simple reason: if you don't have the right governance, your pension fund is a swamp.

And proper communication figures into the right governance. In fact, it's governance 101.

Those lawyers in Bavaria whose pensions are managed by BVK need to go after BVK hard and make sure they get accountability and implement changes to the governance there to make sure this never happens again.

Let me be honest, this story reminds me of the Wild West days of real estate, where corruption and bribes were rampant. 

Rainer Komenda is taking the fall for this mess, but the truth is BVK’s CEO, Axel Uttenreuther, should have also been dismissed from the organization.

In total, over $1 billion was lost on shady real estate deals. Blaming the fund of funds you hired is farcical; you still have the responsibility to oversee its investments.

I personally hate funds of funds because they add an extra layer of fees but I understand that sometimes you need expertise if you don't have it in-house.

BVK would have been better off approaching an Oxford Properties or QuadReal here in Canada than investing in some second-tier fund of funds.

It also sounds to me like Deutsche Finance America has a legitimate lawsuit and should get the same terms Michael Shvo received (Shvo and BVK’s CEO Axel Uttenreuther are feautured at the top of this post).

Anyway, what a mess. This is Germany’s largest public pension fund and this isn't a story you want associated with your organization.

No wonder members are furious and looking into class-action lawsuits (they will not recover losses but can demand changes to the governance structure).

Again, my advice is to get certified fraud examiners, audit the real estate department thoroughly and figure out who was accountable and what changes can be made in the governance structure to make sure this never happens again.

I would also take a closer look at Michael Shvo's role in all these real estate dealings.

Below, an older (December, 2024) clip where developer Michael Shvo discusses his $1B San Francisco investment in Transamerica Pyramid (see backstory here) and why he believes the redesigned iconic building is the Rolls Royce of office.

Stocks fell on Friday, bogged down by losses in technology stocks and a rise in U.S. Treasury yields, after a summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinpingended and left traders worried about no major policy breakthroughs.

The S&P 500 shed 1.24% to end at 7,408.50, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.54% to 26,225.14. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 537.29 points, or 1.07%.

Investors took profits in tech after the group saw sharp gains recently. Notably, Intel retreated 6%, while Advanced Micro Devices and Micron Technology lost 5.7% and 6.6%, respectively. Nvidia dropped 4.4%, while Cerebras Systems— which surged 68% Thursday after it began trading on the Nasdaq — shed 10%.

“The group has witnessed an extremely unsustainable move in recent weeks and remains vulnerable to profit taking regardless of the headlines,” wrote Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge.

Microsoft was an exception, however. The stock was 3% higher after Bill Ackman said Friday that Pershing Square has built a position in the name.

Treasury yields jumped, pressuring stocks, with the 30-year rate topping 5.1%. A series of reports this week showed inflation was revving back up as oil prices remain elevated from the Middle East conflict. Higher rates could hit the high growth stocks the hardest.

Oil prices traded higher Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 4.2% to settle at $105.42 per barrel, while international Brent futures settled up 3.35% to $109.26. That’s after Trump told Fox News that he is “not going to be much more patient” with Iran, adding that “they should make a deal.”

Investors were disappointed following the conclusion of the summit between Trump and Xi, as no major deals have been announced. The two agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open, according to a U.S. readout that was shared by a White House official. But “the few headlines that did come out of the summit (like the Boeing orders) were underwhelming,” Crisafulli wrote.

Boeing shares extended their losses Friday, moving lower by 3% following a nearly 5% drop in the previous session, as investors were let down by Trump saying that China has agreed to buy 200 Boeing jets— just 50 more than the company had previously anticipated.

Thursday marked a winning session for the indexes. The Dow reclaimed the 50,000 level, and the S&P 500 closed above 7,500 for the first time.

Stocks have been on a record-breaking tear on a renewed fervor around artificial intelligence. While Argent Capital Management’s Jed Ellerbroek believes sentiment among investors “remains very optimistic overall,” a peek under the hood is showing that the broader market is lagging the largest tech companies, a divergence that is increasingly worrying some investors as it suggests a fragile rally.

“It doesn’t feel right to say that tech is just going to lead forever,” the portfolio manager said, noting that the “HALO” trade earlier this year saw tech stocks “shunned” in support of those in sectors such as consumer staples and materials. “One thing kind of popping up and driving the market is inherently more risky than if there were several things.” 

Amalya Dubrovsky , Rian Howlett , Karen Friar and Grace O'Donnell of Yahoo Finance also report 

US stocks sank on Friday, retreating from record highs as rising bond yields and inflation worries preyed on markets and investors were gauging the success of the Trump-Xi summit in China.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slid 1.5%, dragged lower by a 4% decline in Nvidia (NVDA), which reports earnings next week, and pressure on other chip stocks.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 1.2% after surging to all-time closing highs on Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) lost 1%, or 530 points, and dropped back below 50,000 as stocks came under pressure.

Stocks pulled back as a global bond rout weighed on sentiment to end the week, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) climbing to 4.59%, and the 30-year yield (^TYX) reaching 5.13%.

Investors also assessed the geopolitical backdrop as President Trump concluded his visit with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing. The two-day summit struck a business-friendly tone, involving 16 top US executives and delivering newdeals for the likes of Boeing (BA) and Nvidia (NVDA).

However, the diplomatic issues of Taiwan and Iran continued to lurk in the background. US officials hoped that China could help end the war with Iran by using its influence with its major oil supplier. Trump said China and the US “feel very similar about Iran,” but Xi struck a more measured tone.

The lack of progress toward peace has stoked concern about the conflict’s price pressures, shown in this week’s US inflation readings. Oil futures rose over 2%, with Brent (BZ=F) trading around $109 a barrel. 

So the Xi-Trump summit happened and traders used it to sell the news.

Long bond rates keep inching higher and all of a sudden Wall Street is paying attention and decided to sell red-hot semis and other tech shares on Friday to buy energy and commodity stocks.

Still, for the week, while Energy outperformed all other sectors, Information Technology did manage to eke out a 1% gain (data source here):

As far as large cap shares, here were this week's top performers:

So what does inflation pressure mean for the Fed and stocks going forward? 

Well, BCA's Chief EM/ China Strategist Arthur Budagyan posted this on LinkedIn earlier today:

Next week, King Kong (Nvidia) reports, so let's see the reaction afterwards. 

Below, CNBC’s “Halftime Report” Investment Committee debate whether it’s safe to buy the tech pullback.

Two of Latin America's largest energy infrastructure investors are consolidating their Brazilian transmission assets into a single platform, betting on the country's grid modernization push. 

La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Colombia-based Grupo Energía Bogotá (GEB) have signed a final agreement to merge their respective Brazilian power transmission holdings into a jointly controlled, 50/50 venture under the name Verene Energia S.A. 

The combined entity will hold 26 electric transmission concession agreements, more than 9,000 km of transmission lines, and over 400 employees across 17 Brazilian states.  

A scale the partners say places Verene among Brazil's top five transmission operators. 

Verene will pursue growth through network optimization, infrastructure expansion, and potential acquisitions, aligned with Brazil's broader decarbonization objectives. 

Emmanuel Jaclot, executive vice-president and head of infrastructure and sustainability at La Caisse, said GEB brings "more than 130 years of operating heritage" to the venture. 

Jaclot said the partners plan to grow Verene's footprint in Brazil through acquisitions and continued support for the country's energy transition. 

GEB president Juan Ricardo Ortega said the deal marks "a significant milestone" in the company's long-term Brazil strategy, citing the combination of GEB's regional expertise with La Caisse's financial reach. 

Financial close is expected by Q4 2026, pending regulatory approvals.  

On Friday, La Caisse issued a press release stating it and Grupo Energía Bogotá will establish Brazil’s 5th largest power transmission platform:

• The partners will co-control the joint venture on a 50/50 basis under the Verene name

Global investment group La Caisse, and Grupo Energía Bogotá (“GEB”), a leading Latin American energy infrastructure group, today announced that they have entered into a final agreement to create a jointly controlled, 50/50 power transmission platform in Brazil, bringing together their respective transmission assets in the country under a single joint venture which will retain the name Verene Energia S.A. (“Verene”).

The combined platform will comprise 26 electric transmission concession agreements, more than 9,000 km of transmission lines, and over 400 employees, with operations spanning 17 Brazilian states. With this scale, Verene will rank among the top five power transmission players in Brazil.

Verene will continue to operate as the reference platform for the combined portfolio and will be positioned to pursue disciplined growth opportunities in Brazil’s transmission market, including the optimization and expansion of existing networks and potential acquisitions, in line with Brazil’s broader grid modernization and decarbonization objectives.

Juan Ricardo Ortega, President at GEB, said:
“Our partnership with La Caisse marks a significant milestone in our long-term strategy for Brazil. By combining our operational expertise and regional market knowledge with the financial strength and global perspective of our partner, we are creating a platform positioned to accelerate growth, expand transmission energy infrastructure, and support Brazil’s energy transition. We believe this alliance will generate sustainable value for our stakeholders and contribute to Brazil’s economic and energy development.”

Emmanuel Jaclot, Executive Vice-President and Head of Infrastructure and Sustainability at La Caisse, said:
“By bringing together highly complementary assets under one banner, the partnership establishes Verene as a scaled, business-driven platform with strong financial backing. GEB brings more than 130 years of operating heritage and ranks among Latin America's leading energy infrastructure groups, with deep expertise across the region's transmission sector. Together, we share a vision to strengthen Verene's footprint in Brazil through value-creating acquisitions and continued support for the country's energy transition.” 

Financial close is expected by Q4 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and relevant consents and approval.

La Caisse was advised by BTG Pactual as financial advisor and Pinheiro Neto Advogados as legal advisor. GEB was advised by Citibank as financial advisor and Mayer Brown as legal advisor.

ABOUT GRUPO ENERGÍA BOGOTÁ

For more than 130 years, Grupo Energía Bogotá has contributed to the development of Latin America’s energy sector through the operation, development and investment in electricity and natural gas infrastructure. Headquartered in Bogotá, the company operates across Colombia, Peru, Brazil and Guatemala, with a diversified portfolio of electricity generation, transmission and distribution and gas transportation and distribution investments.

As a leading Latin American energy group, Grupo Energía Bogotá combines strong corporate governance, operational excellence and a long-term sustainability strategy to improve lives through competitive and reliable energy services. The company is listed on the Colombian Stock Exchange and continues to play a key role in the region’s energy transition and infrastructure growth. Learn more at Grupo Energía Bogotá and LinkedIn.

ABOUT LA CAISSE

For more than 60 years, La Caisse has invested with a dual mandate: generate optimal long-term returns for its 48 depositors, who represent over six million Quebecers, while contributing to Québec’s economic development.

As a global investment group, La Caisse is active in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private credit. As at December 31, 2025, its net assets totalled CAD 517 billion. Learn more atLaCaisse.com, LinkedIn or Instagram. 

This is another great infrastructure deal where La Caisse is partnering up with Grupo Energía Bogotá (GEB) to invest in Brazil's power transmission lines. 

The new platform, a jointly controlled, 50/50 venture under the name Verene Energia S.A., will hold 26 electric transmission concession agreements, more than 9,000 km of transmission lines, and over 400 employees across 17 Brazilian states.  

The theme remains the same as other countries. Brazil is growing fast and wants to decarbonize its economy. That means more electric vehicles and higher demand for electricity. Add to this the needs of the AI economy, which means more data centres, and electricity demand will take off in a huge way there.

Are there risks investing in Brazil? Any time you invest in Latin American infrastructure or real estate, you're taking political and currency risk but La Caisse and other large Canadian pension funds know the country very well, and the top bank there (BTG Pactual) advised them on the deal, so I'm very confident the terms of the deal reflect all potential risks.

Again, Juan Ricardo Ortega, President at GEB, summed it up well in the press release when he states this:

“Our partnership with La Caisse marks a significant milestone in our long-term strategy for Brazil. By combining our operational expertise and regional market knowledge with the financial strength and global perspective of our partner, we are creating a platform positioned to accelerate growth, expand transmission energy infrastructure, and support Brazil’s energy transition."

In other related news, earlier today, a press release was issued where BIG Fiber secured $250 million in financing led by Stonepeak Credit and La Caisse to accelerate digital infrastructure expansion:

BIG Fiber, a leading provider of high-capacity dark fiber infrastructure, announced the closing of a $250 million debt facility with an additional $100 million accordion feature. The financing, led by Stonepeak Credit and La Caisse (formerly CDPQ), provides BIG Fiber with significant capital to accelerate the expansion of its core markets and reinforce its position as the premier provider of mission-critical digital infrastructure in the U.S.

The new credit facility follows BIG Fiber’s 2024 milestone, the first-ever green loan in the dark fiber sector, and marks a significant scaling of the company’s financial capacity. Backed by sponsors Columbia Capital and SDC Capital Partners, the expansion of BIG Fiber’s debt facility and the infusion of new capital ensure the company remains well-positioned to meet the escalating infrastructure demands of the AI era.

Proceeds of the facility will be used to refinance existing debt, provide new capital and facilitate the necessary headroom for major network expansions already underway. This includes a significant multi-market buildout in Greater Atlanta, adding over 205 route miles and 165,000 fiber miles to BIG Fiber’s existing market-leading footprint.

“Our partnership with Stonepeak Credit and La Caisse marks a pivotal moment in our mission to empower our customers with highly-scalable and purpose-built dark fiber solutions,"said Bruce Garrison, CEO of BIG Fiber."This financing ensures we have the scale to stay ahead of the escalating demand for modernized infrastructure enabling the AI ecosystem and the necessary digital highways for decades to come.” 

"BIG Fiber’s infrastructure delivers critical bandwidth to meet the insatiable demand for both data and compute capacity across its key markets,"said Arun Varanasi, Managing Director at Stonepeak Credit."We are proud to partner with Columbia Capital, SDC Capital Partners, and La Caisse to support the Company's next leg of growth as it positions itself as one of the preeminent dark fiber operators in the country." 

“BIG Fiber is well positioned to meet the growing connectivity needs of enterprises and data centers seeking new, high quality infrastructure options,” said Jérôme Marquis, Managing Director and Head of Private Credit at La Caisse.“Its resilient business model, underpinned by long term contracts and strong structural demand, positions the company well for growth. Together with Stonepeak Credit, we’re providing a tailored financing solution that supports the continued build out of essential digital infrastructure.”

The latest expansion will bring BIG Fiber’s Atlanta and San Francisco Bay Area network capacity to 850 route miles and over 3 million fiber miles. Projects are currently under construction or contract, with phased Ready for Service (RFS) dates expected in early 2027.

About BIG Fiber

BIG Fiber is a metro dark fiber provider that offers high capacity, strategically placed, dark fiber networks to mission critical data centers, Hyperscalers and enterprises throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Portland and Greater Atlanta areas. BIG Fiber’s 100% underground network meets critical data needs for enterprises and data centers that require new, quality infrastructure options. BIG Fiber’s San Francisco Bay Area network offers more than 320 route miles and 65 data centers. The Greater Portland network has more than 20 route miles and 15 data centers, and the Greater Atlanta network has more than 550 route miles and 30 data centers. BIG Fiber was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Visit www.bigfiber.com to learn more.

About Stonepeak Credit

Stonepeak Credit is the credit investing arm of Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets with approximately $88 billion of assets under management. Stonepeak Credit targets credit investments across the transportation and logistics, energy and energy transition, digital infrastructure, and social infrastructure sectors that provide essential services with downside protection, high barriers to entry and visible, recurring revenue generation. It seeks to provide capital solutions that are flexible across the capital structure while generating cash yield through majority senior secured credit investments.

Stonepeak is headquartered in New York with offices in Houston, Washington, D.C., London, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh. For more information, please visit www.stonepeak.com. 

This is another example of a private credit deal where La Caisse is partnering up with Stonepeak Credit to provide credit to BIG Fiber to grow its operations to meet the growing demands of bandwidth during the AI build-out phase.

Bruce Garrison, CEO of BIG Fiber summed it up: "This financing ensures we have the scale to stay ahead of the escalating demand for modernized infrastructure enabling the AI ecosystem and the necessary digital highways for decades to come.”  

What else? La Caisse is on record that it wants to double its allocation to private debt in the next 5 years and these are the type of large transactions that will enable it to get to its target.  

Jérôme Marquis, Managing Director and Head of Private Credit at La Caisse and his team are on pace to meet this target.

Below, understanding Brazil's Transmission Model: A Presentation by Luiz Barroso: CEO of PSR Energy Consulting and Analytics and former Director of Brazilian Energy Planning Agency (two years ago). 

In this International Online Conference for the African School of Regulation (ASR), Luiz Barroso explores the Brazilian electricity transmission business model. 

Excellent presentation, take the time to listen to his insights. 

The Public Sector Pension Investment Board has signed a deal to sell the U.S. operations of FirstLight to private equity firm Hull Street Energy.

Financial terms of the agreement announced Tuesday were not immediately available.

FirstLight's U.S. portfolio includes about 1.4 gigawatts of installed capacity across hydroelectric generation, energy storage and renewable assets in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

PSP Investments acquired FirstLight in 2016 and will keep the company's Canadian business under the transaction.

The Canadian operations include wind, solar, hydro, and battery storage projects in Quebec and Ontario.

The deal is subject to customary regulatory approvals. 

Freschia Gonzales of Benefits and Pension Monitor also reports pension fund sells 1.4 GW of US clean power assets:

PSP Investments is exiting its US clean power holdings while keeping its Canadian infrastructure intact. 

After nearly a decade of ownership, PSP Investments has agreed to sell the US operations of FirstLight to Hull Street Energy, a private equity firm focused on power infrastructure and energy transition investments.  

The portfolio comprises roughly 1.4 GW of hydroelectric, energy storage, and renewable assets across Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. 

H2O Power and Hydromega, which make up FirstLight's Canadian platform, will remain under PSP Investments' ownership, alongside a development pipeline of wind, solar, hydro and battery storage projects in Quebec and Ontario.  

That includes the 57.2 MW Fort Frances solar project in Ontario, developed in partnership with the Lac Des Mille Lacs First Nation and recently awarded a 20-year power purchase agreement through Ontario's long-term energy procurement process. 

Andrew Alley, managing director and global head of infrastructure investments at PSP Investments, said the sale reflects the fund's approach to portfolio management while preserving exposure to Canadian projects with long-term, inflation-linked cashflows. 

FirstLight president and CEO Justin Trudell and the US-based team will transition with the assets to Hull Street Energy. 

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals. Evercore acted as sole financial advisor to PSP Investments, with Latham & Watkins and Foley Hoag as legal counsel.  

Martina Markosyan of Renewables Now also reports Hull Street to buy FirstLight’s 1.4-GW clean power, storage ops in US:

US power sector-focused private equity firm Hull Street Energy has agreed to buy clean power producer FirstLight’s US-based operations that include nearly 1.4 GW of installed capacity across hydroelectric generation, energy storage and renewable energy plants in three states.

The assets are being sold by the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), which acquired FirstLight in 2016. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The portfolio to be offloaded covers assets spread across Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. FirstLight’s US-based employees, led by president and CEO Justin Trudell, will transition to Hull Street Energy as part of the deal.

In particular, Hull Street is acquiring the 1,168-MW Northfield Mountain pumped storage hydro facility in Massachusetts, which is described as the largest energy storage facility in New England. The package also includes 14 hydroelectric stations located in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, plus three operational solar and battery storage facilities in the Northeast.

FirstLight’s Canadian operations -- H2O Power and Hydromega, are not included in the transaction and will remain under PSP Investments’ ownership. The Canadian platform includes the 57.2-MW Fort Frances solar project in Ontario.

The transaction inked with Hull Street is subject to customary regulatory approvals. The parties expect to wrap it up later in 2026.

The deal with PSP Investments comes after Hull Street's agreement last year with Consumers Energy to acquire 13 hydroelectric dams across Michigan. Following completion of the FirstLight and Michigan investments, the private equity firm will become one of the major hydropower investors in the country with a fleet of about 1,200 MW of flexible pumped storage hydro capacity and nearly 400 MW of hydroelectric capacity. 

 Yesterday, PSP Investments announced the sale of FirstLight’s US portfolio to Hull Street Energy: 

Related to this, earlier this month, FirstLight executed a power purchase agreement for Fort Frances Solar Project:

• PPA signing marks a key milestone in advancing new solar generation in Ontario, with enough clean electricity to power approximately 8,000 homes 

Oshawa, ON — May 8, 2026 — FirstLight, a leading clean power producer, developer, and energy storage company wholly owned by the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), today announced the execution of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator for the 57.2 MW Fort Frances Solar Project, in partnership with Lac Des Mille Lacs First Nation.

The agreement follows the Project’s contract award through Ontario’s Long-Term 2 (LT2) procurement process and represents a significant step toward delivering new, reliable and affordable clean electricity to the province. 

“The signing of this Power Purchase Agreement represents a major milestone for the Fort Frances Solar Project and formalizes its role in bringing new solar generation online in Ontario,” said Justin Trudell, President and CEO of FirstLight. “In partnership with Lac Des Mille Lacs First Nation, we’re proud to advance a project that will deliver reliable, cost-effective clean energy to the grid while creating lasting value for the community.”

 “We are proud to continue to leverage our global expertise here, in Canada. The Fort Frances Solar Project is a strong example of what we can achieve as a committed investor in the Canadian power sector,” said Andrew Alley, Managing Director and Global Head of Infrastructure Investments at PSP Investments. "We're thrilled to see FirstLight and Lac Des Mille Lacs First Nation recognized for their contribution to Ontario's electricity supply objectives — these are exactly the success stories that reflect the quality of our teams and the strength of our partnerships.” 

The Fort Frances Solar Project was one of 14 projects awarded contracts by the IESO, together representing more than 1,300 MW of new clean electricity supply for the province as it works to support forecasted increased electricity demand, while maintaining affordability and advancing carbon reduction goals. The Project builds on FirstLight and its predecessors’ more than 100-year legacy in the community through its 13.1MW hydroelectric project, Fort Frances Generating Station, which was built in 1909 and is located on the Rainy River. 

About FirstLight

FirstLight is a leading clean power producer, developer, and energy storage company serving North America. With a diversified portfolio that includes over 1.6 GW of operating renewable energy and energy storage technologies and a development pipeline with 4+ GW of solar, battery, hydro, and onshore and offshore wind projects, FirstLight specializes in hybrid solutions that pair hydroelectric, pumped-hydro storage, utility-scale solar, large-scale battery, and wind assets. The company’s mission is to accelerate the decarbonization of the electric grid by supporting the development, operation, and integration of renewable energy and storage to meet the world’s growing clean energy needs and deliver an electric system that is clean, reliable, affordable, and equitable. Based in Burlington, MA, with operating offices in Northfield, MA, New Milford, CT, Adrian, PA, Oshawa, ON, and Montréal, QC, FirstLight is a steward of more than 14,000 acres and hundreds of miles of shoreline along some of the most beautiful rivers and lakes in North America. FirstLight has been wholly owned by PSP Investments since 2016. To learn more, visit www.firstlight.energy or follow us on LinkedIn or X.

PSP Investments has decided to exit from FirstLight's US clean energy assets while retaining the Canadian ones.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed but these are high-quality US assets that will enable Hull Street Energy to become one of the major hydropower investors in the US with a fleet of about 1,200 MW of flexible pumped storage hydro capacity and nearly 400 MW of hydroelectric capacity. 

PSP will retain FirstLight's Canadian operations -- H2O Power and Hydromega -- a platform that includes the 57.2-MW Fort Frances solar project in Ontario (see the PPA agreement above).

Why sell the US operations but retain the Canadian ones? Is this about Trump and renewables being out of favour?

No, from my reading of it, the new global head of Infrastructure at PSP, Andrew Alley, wanted to realize on those US assets to invest elsewhere (more of a portfolio management decision and nothing to do with politics).

This deal represents a win for all parties involved because everyone got what they wanted.  

PSP will exit and invest elsewhere, Hull Street Energy becomes a dominant power player in US renewable energy and FirstLight will continue expanding its operations in the US and Canada under two distinct owners. 

Not much more I can add here but it's clear to me Andrew Alley has his vision for the portfolio and wants to execute on it.

By the way, the photo at the top of this post was taken when FirstLight was honored as the Alliance for Climate Transition’s Clean Energy Company of the Year at the Green Future Gala. 

Below, FirstLight is a leading clean power producer, developer and energy storage company that also serves as a steward of more than 14,000 acres of land and hundreds of miles of shoreline. 

In this company overview, hear from our leaders and learn more about our mission to accelerate the decarbonization of the electric grid by supporting the development, operation, and integration of renewable energy and storage to meet the world’s growing clean energy needs and deliver an electric system that is clean, reliable, affordable, and equitable (2024).

Also, Firstlight is advancing the energy transition and working towards the goal of reaching net zero emissions targets. In this video, learn more about how we do this by owning, operating, and developing hydroelectric, pumped-hydro storage, utility-scale solar, large-scale battery, and offshore wind assets(2024).

Lastly, Bloomberg QuickTake explores FirstLight's Northfield Mountain Pumped Hydro Energy Storage facility in supporting the transition to a clean energy economy (2022).

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has reported a return of 7.8 per cent for its 2026 fiscal year.

The results helped increase its net assets to $793.3 billion at March 31, up from $714.4 billion at the end of its 2025 fiscal year.

It says the increase for the year included $56.9 billion in net income and $22.0 billion in net transfers from the Canada Pension Plan.CPP Investments chief executive John Graham says the results reflected the strength of its diversified portfolio and the reach of its global investment platform.

The returns were helped by its holdings in public equities, while its real assets, particularly energy and infrastructure assets, also contributed to the gains.

The results for the year by CPP Investments fell short of its benchmark portfolio which returned 13.2 per cent for the same period, as it was boosted by relatively heavier exposure to the large technology companies that outpaced the broader market for the year.

Layan Odeh of Bloomberg also reports that stocks, data centers drive the Canada Pension Fund to 7.8% return:

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board notched a 7.8% return in its most recent fiscal year, as gains on stocks and data center investments helped offset the impact of a softening US dollar and a weak year in private equity.

The returns, which pushed net assets to C$793.3 billion ($576.2 billion), came in a period “marked by geopolitical uncertainty, market volatility and currency movements,” Chief Executive Officer John Graham said in a statement. 

Public equities gained 17.5% and were a key driver of results, particularly in the US, led by information technology and communication services. But private equity rose just 2.9%, partly because of the poor performance of some holdings in the software business, which investors see as vulnerable to AI-related disruption. 

Real assets delivered a 12.2% return, boosted by data center investments and industrial real estate in the Asia-Pacific region, the fund said. 

CPPIB’s results were hurt by the decline of the greenback against the Canadian dollar and by losses on government bonds, as expectations for central bank rate cuts shifted. The weakening of the US dollar contributed to a foreign currency loss of C$12.4 billion.

During the fiscal year ended March 31, Canada’s largest pension plan shifted some real estate, infrastructure and energy investments that were previously reported as equities to the real assets group, “to better reflect the underlying characteristics of these assets,” according to the annual report. Private equity now makes up 22% of the total fund, down from 25% a year earlier. 

The pension plan made billions in new data center-related investments or commitments, including a C$225 million loan for a hyperscale expansion of a data center in Cambridge, Ontario.

CPPIB also committed $1.5 billion to an account managed by Blackstone Inc. that invests globally across diversified credit, including fund commitments, spanning private corporate credit, asset-based and real estate credit, structured products and liquid credit.

Layan Odeh also reports that CPP investments' boss warns about AI-fueled valuations as stocks keep rising:

Earlier today, CPP Investments announced net assets total $793.3 billion at 2026 fiscal year end: 

Highlights:

• Net income of $56.9 billion
• Net annual return of 7.8% in fiscal 2026
• 10-year annualized net return of 8.8%

TORONTO, ON (May 21, 2026): Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) ended its fiscal year on March 31, 2026, with net assets of $793.3 billion, compared to $714.4 billion at the end of fiscal 2025. The $78.9 billion increase in net assets consisted of $56.9 billion in net income and $22.0 billion in net transfers from the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).

The Fund, composed of the base CPP and additional CPP accounts¹, generated a 10-year annualized net return of 8.8%. For the fiscal year, the Fund’s net return was 7.8%. As the CPP is designed to serve multiple generations of beneficiaries, evaluating the performance of CPP Investments over extended periods is more suitable than in single years.

“Fiscal 2026 was a strong year for CPP Investments. In a period marked by geopolitical uncertainty, market volatility and currency movements, we delivered a 7.8% net return and the Fund grew to more than $790 billion,” said John Graham, President & CEO. “These results reflect the strength of our diversified portfolio and the reach of our global investment platform. By staying disciplined and investing for the long term, we continued to build value for generations of CPP contributors and beneficiaries.”

A diverse range of asset classes contributed to the strength of the fiscal year’s performance at CPP Investments. Public equities were a key driver of results, particularly in the U.S., led by information technology and communication services in the first half of the year. Real assets, particularly energy and infrastructure assets, also contributed meaningfully, alongside steady gains in credit. These gains were partially offset by foreign exchange movements, driven by the depreciation of the U.S. dollar against major currencies including the Canadian dollar, and by losses in government bonds as market expectations for major central bank interest policies shifted. Conflict in the Middle East at the end of the fiscal year contributed to a broad selloff in global equity markets, against a backdrop of ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and global inflation.

On a 2025 calendar-year basis, the Fund delivered a 7.7% net return, primarily driven by public equities, with gains across all asset classes.

“What matters most for a pension fund serving generations of Canadians is long-term performance, and over the past decade our investment programs have contributed positively to the Fund’s returns,” said Graham. “Through disciplined decision-making and global diversification, we have earned $549 billion in cumulative net income since we started investing more than 25 years ago, helping us protect and grow the Fund while building resilience through changing market conditions.”

Performance of the Base and Additional CPP Accounts

The base CPP account ended the fiscal year on March 31, 2026, with net assets of $712.9 billion, compared to $655.8 billion at the end of fiscal 2025. The $57.1 billion increase in net assets consisted of $53.2 billion in net income and $3.9 billion in net transfers from the base CPP. The base CPP account’s net return for the fiscal year was 8.0% and the 10-year annualized net return was 8.8%.

The additional CPP account ended the fiscal year on March 31, 2026, with net assets of $80.4 billion, compared to $58.6 billion at the end of fiscal 2025. The $21.8 billion increase in net assets consisted of $3.7 billion in net income and $18.1 billion in net transfers from the additional CPP. The additional CPP account’s net return for the fiscal year was 5.4% and the annualized net return since inception was 6.0%.

The additional CPP was designed with a different legislative funding profile and contribution rate compared to the base CPP. Given the differences in its design, the additional CPP has had a different market risk target and investment profile since its inception in 2019. As a result of these differences, we expect the performance of the additional CPP to generally differ from that of the base CPP.

Furthermore, due to the differences in its net contribution profile, the additional CPP account’s assets are also expected to grow at a much faster rate than those in the base CPP account.

Long-Term Financial Sustainability

Every three years, the Office of the Chief Actuary of Canada (OCA), an independent federal body that provides checks and balances on the future costs of the CPP, evaluates the financial sustainability of the CPP over a long period. In the most recent triennial review published in December 2025, the Chief Actuary reaffirmed that, as at December 31, 2024, both the base and additional CPP continue to be sustainable over the long term at the legislated contribution rates.

The Chief Actuary’s projections are based on the assumption that, over the 75-year projection period following December 31, 2024,the base CPP account will earn an average annual rate of return of 4.05% above the rate of Canadian consumer price inflation. The corresponding assumption is that the additional CPP account will earn an average annual real rate of return² of 3.53%.

CPP Investments continues to build a portfolio designed to achieve a maximum rate of return without undue risk of loss, while considering the factors that may affect the funding of the CPP and its ability to meet its financial obligations on any given day. The CPP is designed to serve contributors and beneficiaries today and across future generations. Accordingly, long-term results are a more appropriate measure of CPP Investments’ performance and impact on plan sustainability.

“Canadians can continue to rely on the CPP as a strong foundation for their retirement income,” said Graham. “The Chief Actuary’s latest report shows our approach is on track, with investment income coming in approximately $80 billion higher than expected over the three-year period since December 31, 2021. This performance has strengthened the CPP’s funding outlook and helped create the conditions for governments to agree to a reduction in the contribution rate, while maintaining benefit levels and supporting a strong, sustainable plan for current contributors and future retirees alike. As a pension fund investor whose role is to prudently grow the Fund so Canadians can rely on the CPP for generations, it is especially meaningful that we have been able to contribute to this outcome.”

The OCA report provides forward-looking return assumptions and projected financial states for the base and additional CPP. The table below presents CPP Investments’ historical net real returns, which reflect realized performance over past periods.

Relative Performance

CPP Investments was created to invest and help grow the Fund, with the legislative mandate to maximize returns without undue risk of loss. The organization’s overall investment strategy is therefore focused on delivering a level of absolute performance that will help ensure the CPP meets all current and future obligations to contributors and beneficiaries.

CPP Investments also tracks investment performance relative to benchmarks to report on the value active management adds after all costs over different time horizons. It does so against the benchmark portfolios, which provide target allocations for our active and balancing investment strategies. We construct the benchmark portfolios by aggregating the sector- and geography-relevant public market index benchmarks to assess relative performance of each individual investment strategy. CPP Investments’ performance relative to the benchmark portfolios is measured in percentage terms.

On a relative basis, the Fund’s 10-year return outperformed the aggregated benchmark portfolios, generating 0.7% per annum of value added, net of costs. The benchmark portfolios’ fiscal 2026 return of 13.2% exceeded the Fund’s net return of 7.8% by 5.4%.

Significant concentration in public equities, with relatively heavier exposure to large-cap technology and communication services companies largely tied to artificial intelligence, were the principal drivers of benchmark portfolio performance in fiscal 2026. These companies delivered outsized returns compared to the wider universe of investable assets. By design, however, the Fund’s more diversified asset mix across public and private markets, sectors and geographies that helps reduce the impact of sharp equity market declines, limited participation in strong equity market rallies, such as those reflected in the benchmark portfolios’ public market indexes this past fiscal year.CPP Investments’ diversified portfolio is intentionally constructed to be less concentrated than public market indexes, with the purpose of enhancing the Fund’s resilience as it continues to grow over time.

For information on which of our decisions we believe are adding the most value, please refer to page 42 of the CPP Investments Fiscal 2026 Annual Report.

Asset Class and Geography Composition

CPP Investments’ portfolio, inclusive of both the base CPP and additional CPP investment portfolios, is diversified across asset classes and geographic markets.

Performance by Asset Class and Geographic Markets

Five-year Fund returns by asset class and geographic markets are reported in the tables below. A more detailed breakdown of performance by investment department is included on page 53 of the Fiscal 2026 Annual Report.

Managing CPP Investments Costs

Discipline in cost management is a main tenet of how we operate an internationally competitive enterprise that exists to create enduring value for multiple generations of CPP contributors and beneficiaries.

To generate $56.9 billion of net income, CPP Investments directly and indirectly incurred $1,757 million of operating expenses, $1,976 million in investment management fees and $2,758 million in performance fees paid to external managers, as well as $753 million of transaction-related costs.

Operating expenses were broadly flat in fiscal 2026, increasing by $1 million due to inflationary increases in personnel costs offset by lower general and administrative expenses. The net result is an operating expense ratio of 23.1 basis points (bps), below both last year’s 26.1 bps and our five-year average of 26.5 bps. We have also improved our operational efficiency, measured by net investments managed per employee, from $269 million in fiscal 2022 to $364 million in fiscal 2026, reflecting a 8% growth rate per year.

Management fees incurred increased by $216 million, driven by growth in externally managed assets. Performance fees increased by $535 million reflecting the positive performance delivered by our external managers.

Transaction-related costs, which increased by $23 million, vary from year to year according to the activity level, size and complexity of our investing activities. In fiscal 2026, we announced more than 50 transactions of $250 million or more, including approximately 20 transactions valued at more than $1 billion. Other categories affecting our total cost profile include taxes and expenses associated with various forms of leverage.

Refer to page 29 of the Fiscal 2026 Annual Report for more information on how we manage our costs and to page 50 for a complete overview of CPP Investments combined expenses, including year-over-year comparisons.

Operational Highlights for the Year

Corporate developments

• Once again ranked one of the world’s top-performing public pension funds by Global SWF when measuring annualized returns between fiscal years 2016 and 2025 (Global SWF Data Platform, May 2026).

• The Federal government announced, with the support of provincial and territorial governments, a proposed reduction in base CPP contribution rates (from 9.9% to 9.5%). This follows the most recent actuarial review released in December 2025, which confirmed the CPP remains financially sustainable and in a stronger financial position than in the previous assessment, supported in part by the growth of the CPP Fund and investment income over time. This underscores the long-term strength of the CPP and its ability to meet its obligations to current and future generations.

• Entered into a Memorandum of Understanding under the Canadian-Australian Pension Funds Investment Initiative (CAP Invest Initiative), which defines a voluntary commitment among leading pension investors to facilitate dialogue on investment environments and policy barriers to generate solutions that unlock greater opportunities for value creation.

• Ranked first among Canadian pension funds and second among 75 pension funds across 15 countries in the 2025 Global Pension Transparency Benchmark developed by Top1000funds.com and CEM Benchmarking, its fifth and final edition. The Global Pension Transparency Benchmark focuses on the transparency and quality of public disclosures relating to the completeness, clarity, information value and comparability of disclosures.

• CPP Investments Insights Institute (the Institute) published Investing in Uncertain Times: Achieving Disciplined Flexibility in the Total Portfolio Approach, the first in a two-part series on how the Total Portfolio Approach works in practice. As persistent geopolitical and economic uncertainty reshapes markets, the report explores how CPP Investments adapts exposures and reallocates capital through market cycles within a calibrated risk framework—supporting a resilient portfolio and the Fund’s financial sustainability over its 75-year horizon. In fiscal 2026, the Institute also published Investing in aChanging World: How Public Funds are Addressing Physical Climate Risk; The Longevity Dividend: The CPP, Canada and an Aging World; and Mapping Canadian Capital, an ongoing series profiling our $119.2 billion in Canadian investments.

Board appointments

• Welcomed the following appointments to our Board of Directors:
  • Gillian Denham, effective September 25, 2025. Ms. Denham has extensive experience on public company boards and is the former Head of the Retail Bank at CIBC.
  • Stephanie Coyles, effective October 10, 2025. Ms. Coyles is an experienced director and is the former Chief Strategic Officer at LoyaltyOne, Inc.
  • Elio Luongo, effective April 29, 2026. Mr. Luongo has more than three decades of experience in financial services and advisory and served as Chief Executive Officer and Senior Partner of KPMG in Canada.

• Barry Perry and Sylvia Chrominska were reappointed as Directors of the Board for three-year terms, effective September 25, 2025, and December 3, 2025, respectively.

Leadership announcements

• David Colla was appointed Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Credit Investments, effective April 1, 2026, and joined the senior management team. Mr. Colla joined CPP Investments in 2010 and most recently led the Capital Solutions group. He succeeds Andrew Edgell who will continue with the organization as a Senior Advisor.

Public accountability

• Hosted our first two in-person public meetings for 2026 in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, providing an accessible forum to ask questions of our senior leaders. Additional meetings, including a national virtual meeting, will be held in the fall of 2026 to reflect our continued accountability to the CPP’s more than 22 million CPP contributors and beneficiaries.

Transaction Highlights for the Year

Active Equities

• Invested C$73 million for a 0.8% stake in Definity Financial Corp, a property and casualty insurance services provider in Canada.

• Invested C$411 million for a 0.6% stake in Medline Inc., a medical-surgical products and supply chain solutions provider in the U.S.

• Invested C$322 million for a 0.1% stake in Hitachi, Ltd., which provides digital systems and services, green energy and mobility, and connective industry solutions in Japan and internationally.

• Invested C$320 million for a 1.5% stake in Informa PLC, an international events, digital services and academic research group based in the U.K.

• Invested an additional C$1.1 billion in Ares Management, a global alternative investment manager operating in the credit, private equity and real estate markets, resulting in a total ownership stake of 2.0%.

• Invested an additional C$594 million in DSV A/S, a Danish transport and logistics company offering global transport services by road, air, sea and train, resulting in a total ownership stake of 1.9%.

Capital Markets & Factor Investing

• Completed 34 co-investments alongside external fund managers through fiscal 2026, committing approximately C$3,640 million to macro-themed strategies in addition to equity trades in a variety of sectors, including communication services, consumer discretionary, and financials.

Credit Investments

• Committed US$250 million to Lumina Strategic Solutions Fund III and US$200 million to a discretionary Separately Managed Account. Lumina invests at scale in the Latin American special situations market.

• Committed US$1.5 billion to a separately managed account managed by Blackstone, which is designed to invest globally across diversified credit investments, including fund commitments, spanning private corporate credit, asset-based and real estate credit, structured products and liquid credit.

• Invested US$200 million in a preferred equity facility to support ProAmpac’s acquisition of TC Transcontinental Packaging. Headquartered in the U.S., ProAmpac is a leading global provider of flexible packaging serving a diverse range of end markets.

• Participated in a US$500 million senior term loan supporting Sixth Street’s acquisition of Global Lending Services, an auto financing solutions provider in the U.S.

• Invested US$75 million in the first loss tranche of a significant risk transfer issued by a scaled non-bank lender in the U.S.

• Invested US$200 million into a first lien term loan for Global Cellulose Fibers, a leading global producer of bleached softwood fluff pulp, based in the U.S.

• Committed US$205 million as part of a term loan credit facility to Emergent Cold Latin America, the largest cold storage operator in Latin America, operating 112 facilities across 11 countries.

• Invested £190 million in the primary commercial mortgage-backed securities debt issuance of Caister Finance, secured by a portfolio of U.K. holiday parks owned by Haven.

• Invested US$100 million into the preferred equity issuance of CI Financial, a global wealth management and asset management advisory firm headquartered in Canada.

• Invested C$225 million in a loan to construct a hyperscale expansion to a data centre in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, funding 50% of the total construction cost, alongside Deutsche Bank.

• Invested A$300 million (C$264 million) in an Australian commercial real estate debt strategy managed by Nuveen, a global investment manager. The strategy will focus on institutional senior and junior loans secured by prime real estate across major cities in Australia.

• Invested US$300 million in the partial royalty monetization of Leqvio, a cardiovascular drug for the treatment of hyperlipidemia.

Private Equity

• Invested US$50 million in 9fin, alongside Highland Europe. Headquartered in the U.K., 9fin is an AI-enabled credit intelligence and workflow platform serving global debt capital markets.

• Committed JPY 11.75 billion (approximately C$100 million) to Bain Capital Japan Middle Market Fund II, which will target mid-sized companies in diversified sectors across Japan.

• Committed US$63 million to Dragoneer Select Opportunities Fund, which will focus on growth-oriented companies in the technology sector globally.

• Committed a combined US$145 million to Sands Capital’s Global Innovations Fund III, which invests in category-defining technology companies with an emphasis on long-term secular themes.

• Invested US$175 million in Aadhar Housing Finance, the largest affordable housing finance company in India, alongside Blackstone Asia.

• Invested US$27 million in Federal Bank, a private bank in India, alongside Blackstone Asia.

• Committed US$300 million to Francisco Partners VIII, which will focus on technology investments in North America and Europe.

• Committed US$50 million to NinjaOne through a single-asset continuation vehicle with Summit Partners. Based in the U.S., NinjaOne is a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions to outsourced IT managed service providers.

• Committed US$200 million to Thrive Capital X across its Early, Growth and Opportunity funds and invested US$18 million in OpenAI alongside Thrive Capital. Thrive Capital is a New York-based, multi-stage venture capital firm.

• Committed US$135 million to Consumer Cellular through a single-asset continuation vehicle with GTCR. Consumer Cellular is a U.S.-based cell phone provider that focuses on the 55+ demographic.

• Committed US$155 million across a16z’s Late-Stage Venture Fund V, AI Applications Fund X and AI Infrastructure Fund X. Based in the U.S., a16z is a multi-stage venture capital and growth firm that invests in disruptive companies and technologies.

• Committed US$100 million to Accel Leaders 5, which will invest in later-stage rounds of technology companies across the U.S., Europe and India.

• Invested US$100 million in Advent LAPEF VIII, a private equity fund that will pursue control-oriented buyouts and select minority positions across business and financial services, healthcare, industrials, consumer and technology sectors in Latin America, with a primary focus on Brazil and Mexico.

• Committed US$400 million to Bain Capital Asia Fund VI, which will focus on control buyout investments across Japan, India, China, Australia and Korea.

• Committed to invest an additional C$750 million through our established Canadian mid-market private equity program managed by Northleaf Capital Partners, supporting the growth and scaling of domestic private companies.

• Invested approximately US$600 million for a co-control interest in Boats Group, a global provider of online marketplaces for boats and yachts, alongside General Atlantic and existing investor Permira.

• Invested approximately C$60 million in Wealthsimple through a primary and secondary offering at a post-money valuation of C$10 billion. Wealthsimple is one of Canada’s fastest growing money management platforms.

• Acquired a US$135 million limited partner interest in TA Associates Fund XII via a secondary transaction. TA Associates is a global growth private equity firm investing in technology, health care, financial services, consumer and business services.

• Invested approximately C$1 billion in OneDigital, a U.S.-based insurance brokerage, financial services and workforce consulting firm. We invested together with funds managed by Stone Point Capital for a majority position in the company. The transaction will support the company’s continued growth through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions.

• Committed US$100 million to Glenwood Korea Private Equity Fund III, managed by Glenwood Private Equity, which will target mid-market control carve-out opportunities in South Korea.

• Invested approximately €275 million in IFS, acquiring shares from EQT alongside other investors. Headquartered in Sweden, IFS is a leading global provider of cloud enterprise software and industrial AI applications.

• Committed A$150 million (C$135 million) to Pacific Equity Partners PE Fund VII, which focuses on upper mid-market buyout opportunities in Australia and New Zealand.

• Sold our remaining approximate 36% stake in Informatica, an AI-powered enterprise cloud data management company, as part of Salesforce’s acquisition, generating net proceeds of US$2.7 billion. Our original investment was made in 2015.

Real Assets

• Committed US$400 million to Greystar Global Strategic Partners II (GGSP II) managed by Greystar, a global leader in property management, investment management, and development. GGSP II will provide equity to Greystar’s global investment offerings across a diversified portfolio of living sector real estate strategies.

• Committed approximately US$175 million to a real estate portfolio of senior living communities across the U.S.

• Agreed to invest approximately US$1.6 billion for a 60% controlling interest in atNorth, a leading Nordic high-density colocation and built-to-suit data centre provider, in partnership with Equinix who will own an approximate 40% stake.

• Agreed to acquire a 50% ownership interest in Inkia Energy, a private power generation company in Peru, at a total enterprise value of US$3.4 billion, alongside I Squared Capital.

• Committed to initially invest up to JPY 25.4 billion (C$222 million) to a Japan hospitality strategy managed by Singapore-based real estate investment manager SC Capital Partners Group.

• Formed a joint venture with Dream Industrial REIT and Dream Asset Management Corporation to acquire last-mile industrial properties in major markets across Canada. We have allocated C$1.0 billion of equity capital (90%) to the joint venture. The partners have agreed to acquire a portfolio of 12 Canadian industrial assets totaling 3.6 million square feet across Ontario, Quebec and Alberta, for a purchase price of C$805 million.

• Committed a combined US$310 million to U.S.-based Vantage Data Centers (Vantage), which provides data centre campuses to cloud providers and enterprises, as well as an additional US$200 million commitment across Vantage and Yondr, a global developer, owner and operator of hyperscale data centres.

• Invested US$1.0 billion for a strategic minority position in AlphaGen, one of the largest independent power portfolios in the U.S., alongside ArcLight Capital Partners.

• Entered into a definitive agreement to acquire an approximate 13% indirect equity interest in Sempra Infrastructure Partners, a leading North American energy infrastructure company, for approximately US$3.0 billion, alongside affiliates of KKR.

• Invested €234 million to support Nido Living, a European student housing operator, in its acquisition of Livensa Living, a student housing platform operating across Iberia. The acquisition positions the enlarged Nido group as one of the leading student housing operators in Europe, with approximately 13,000 beds. We acquired Nido Living in 2024.

• Committed JPY 192.5 billion (C$1.8 billion) in Japan DC Partners I LP, a data centre development partnership managed by Ares Management following its acquisition of GCP. The partnership will support the development of three large-scale campuses in Greater Tokyo to meet growing demand for scalable computing and AI solutions.

• Completed the sale of our 49.87% stake in Transportadora de Gas del Peru S.A., which operates Peru’s main natural gas and natural gas liquids pipelines under a long-term concession, to EIG.  Net proceeds from the sale were approximately US$820 million. Our original investment was made in 2013.

• Entered into a definitive agreement to sell our 49% stake in Island Star Mall Developers Private Limited, a real estate investment program in India, to joint venture partner The Phoenix Mills Limited and affiliates. Net proceeds will be approximately INR 54.5 billion (C$871 million) before closing adjustments. The joint venture was established in 2017.

• Sold our 50% interest in a portfolio of seven high-quality office properties in Western Canada to Oxford Properties for C$730 million. Our original investments were made in 2005 and 2016.

Transaction Highlights Following the Year-End

• Committed US$104 million indirectly in the acquisition of Zentiva, a leading European generics and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals company, alongside GTCR.

• Invested US$100 million for a minority stake in Sealed Air, a U.S.-based leading global provider of food and protective packaging solutions, alongside CD&R.

• Invested US$100 million in Accuity Healthcare, a leading provider of pre-bill, revenue integrity services to hospital and healthcare systems in the U.S., through a single-asset continuation vehicle managed by Frazier Healthcare Partners.

• Invested US$150 million in the preferred equity of Cerity Partners, a national registered investment advisor in the U.S.

• Committed US$1 billion in financing to Blackstone Private Credit Fund, which is a U.S.-based investment fund focused on providing senior secured loans to large, performing companies.

• Entered into a two-year forward-flow commitment with Global Lending Services, a U.S. auto financing solutions provider, to acquire up to US$1 billion of auto loans.

• Committed US$50 million to Accel Core, which will invest in Accel’s core technology sectors, expected to include artificial intelligence, security, developer tools, fintech, defense and software. Accel is a leading global venture capital firm.

• Sold Greenway Plaza, a mixed-use office property in Texas. No net proceeds were generated from the asset sale. Our original investment was made in 2017.

• Sold a diversified portfolio of 33 limited partnership fund interests in North American and European buyout funds to Blackstone Strategic Partners and Ardian, for net proceeds of approximately C$4.0 billion. The portfolio of interests represents various investments made in funds over the course of approximately 20 years.

To read our fiscal 2026 annual report, please click here.

About CPP Investments

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments™) is a professional investment management organization that manages the Canada Pension Plan Fund in the best interests of the more than 22 million contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build diversified portfolios of assets, we make investments around the world in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, New York City, São Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. At March 31, 2026, the Fund totalled $793.3 billion. For more information, please visit www.cppinvestments.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram or on X @CPPInvestments.

You can download and read CPP Investments' FY2026 Annual Report here.

I had a chance to speak with CPP Investments' CEO John Graham earlier today, but before I get to this discussion, some of my observations on the results.

Before I get to our discussion, take the time to read the president's message below:

In a year of volatility and disruption, the CPP Fund (the Fund) did exactly what it was designed to do: remain resilient, grow steadily and help protect the retirement security of millions of Canadians.

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is one of Canada’s most important public programs and a cornerstone of retirement income for Canadians. Millions rely on it in retirement to provide a dependable monthly benefit that lasts for life and adjusts with inflation.

CPP Investments plays a distinct role in that system: we invest the Fund to help ensure the CPP is there for generations of Canadians. To keep the Plan financially sustainable, we must invest prudently through whatever the world throws our way.

The CPP remains strong and financially sustainable for generations

I’m pleased to report that the CPP Fund delivered strong performance in fiscal 2026 and the long-term financial sustainability of the Fund is secure.

In its latest report released in December 2025, the Office of the Chief Actuary of Canada reconfirmed that the CPP is financially sustainable for at least the next 75 years. The report also found that the funding outlook of the CPP – its expected ability to pay benefits over the long term – has strengthened since the previous assessment. Investment income also exceeded projections; between 2022 and 2024, it was about $80 billion higher than anticipated in the prior report. That independent, forward-looking assessment of the CPP’s ability to meet its obligations through changing demographics and economic conditions speaks to the Plan’s underlying health.

In fact, it is in part because of this underlying health that the federal government, with the support of provincial governments, announced in April 2026 a reduction in the contribution rate of the base CPP from 9.9% to 9.5%. This reduction will be implemented while maintaining benefit levels, supporting a strong, sustainable plan for current contributors and future retirees alike. As a pension fund investor whose role is to prudently grow the Fund so Canadians can rely on the CPP for generations, it is especially meaningful that we have been able to contribute to this outcome.

Strong long-term returns

The world is adjusting to a more fragmented global order, where trade and investment rules can shift quickly and uncertainty remains elevated. Market gains have been, at times, concentrated in a handful of large U.S. technology stocks, conflicts in Europe and the Middle East disrupted energy markets and renewed inflation concerns and shifting trade rules added to volatility. At the same time, artificial intelligence continued to move at pace from experimentation to production, reshaping capital spending and market leadership. These forces will influence investment opportunities and risks for years to come.

In fiscal 2026, the Fund delivered a net return of 7.8%, earned $56.9 billion in net income and ended the year at $793.3 billion, up $78.9 billion from last year. Public equities were a key driver of results, particularly in information technology in the first half of the year. Infrastructure, energy assets, and credit also contributed meaningfully. These gains were partly offset by foreign exchange losses as the Canadian dollar strengthened against the U.S. dollar, and by losses in government bonds, as central banks moved more cautiously on interest rate cuts.

For a pension fund designed to support generations of Canadians, long-term results matter most.

Over the past decade, the Fund delivered an annualized net return of 8.8%. Over that period, all our investment departments contributed positively to returns across very different market environments. This includes areas such as private equity, which is facing a more challenging period today, but has been a strong driver of absolute performance for the Fund over the longer term.

Over time, cumulative investment income has become a significant part of the Fund. At $549 billion, about 70% of the Fund today is a direct result of investment activity. That is compounding at work: patient capital invested across global opportunities with discipline around risk, liquidity and cost.

To understand performance, we look at it through more than one lens. The actuarial report provides an independent view of long-term financial sustainability. Absolute returns grow the Fund and help pay pensions. We also compare long-term results with global peers; Global SWF again ranked the CPP as the second best-performing pension fund globally on a 10-year basis. And we use sector and geography relevant benchmarks to assess relative investment performance. Together, these perspectives give a fuller picture of how the Fund is supporting the CPP for generations of Canadians.

Performance versus benchmarks

For the past three years, the benchmarks used to measure relative performance have advanced faster and higher than our more diversified portfolio built for long-term financial sustainability.

A component of the gap reflects a period in which large-cap, U.S. equities outperformed smaller companies and other geographies by a wide margin, while a relatively small number of technology and AI-related heavyweights drove a disproportionate share of benchmark returns. In addition, some parts of the Fund’s private-market portfolio – including private equity and real estate – faced cyclical headwinds, which weighed on more recent relative performance.

We did not design the Fund to mirror increasingly concentrated markets. Rather, we build resilience into the portfolio even as it is also designed to produce healthy returns over the long haul. Our investment portfolio is diversified by region, sector, and asset type, and actively managed to adjust to changing conditions. When market gains are largely driven by a single sector, our approach can lag for a period, but it is designed to reduce downside risk and keep the Fund resilient through many market cycles. That matters for a pension fund because the CPP must support contributors and beneficiaries through both strong markets and downturns.

Over 10 years, value added versus the benchmarks remains positive at 0.7%.

We remain focused on improving both the absolute and relative returns of the portfolio. Over the past year we reviewed the forces driving performance, challenged our assumptions and tested alternatives – including higher equity concentration, less diversification and different geographic mixes – to see whether they could improve outcomes without taking undue long-term risk. Some alternatives would likely have improved short-term results, but to the detriment of long-term risk-adjusted performance.

We have also taken a number of actions in response to recent performance, including sharpening how we assess and manage AI-related exposures, refining how we characterize private equity exposures and reviewing geography and sector positioning. All to help improve investment performance while maintaining the diversification and resilience required for a long-term pension fund. We believe that these new market conditions have revealed new opportunities to apply our enduring advantages: the ability to invest at scale, to partner with the best investors and operators, and to allocate capital flexibly across asset classes and geographies.

We remained disciplined on risk and liquidity. We have maintained an elevated level of liquidity in recent years, and that has served the Fund well during periods of market volatility.

Although markets have recently rewarded concentration, our conviction in diversification remains unchanged. We see diversification as both essential and an act of humility: no investor can reliably predict which narrow slice of the market will lead in any given cycle. While benchmarks matter because they hold us accountable and push us to keep improving, our goal is to build a portfolio that delivers the highest long-term absolute returns, with resilience, across changing market conditions.

Our investing activity, in Canada and beyond

Canadians rightly ask how the Fund invests at home. We apply the same return-and-risk discipline in Canada as we do globally, and we invest when opportunities meet our requirements.

At fiscal year end, we had $119.2 billion invested in Canada – an all-time high in dollar terms. We are encouraged by the attractive investment opportunities we are seeing in our home market.

This year we made a number of significant investments in Canada: we expanded our Canadian mid-market private equity program with Northleaf Capital Partners through an additional $750 million commitment; formed a joint venture with Dream Industrial REIT and Dream Asset Management to acquire last-mile industrial properties in major Canadian markets, allocating $1.0 billion; and invested $60 million to Wealthsimple, one of Canada’s fastest-growing money management platforms.

These investments reflect the same approach we use globally: backing strong businesses and assets, partnering with experienced operators and managers, and investing where we believe we can earn attractive returns without taking undue risk.

Around the world, our teams also continued to make investments that we believe will strengthen the Fund over the long term. This year, those included investments in atNorth, a leading Nordic built-to-suit data centre provider; Inkia Energy, a power generation company in Peru; and Hitachi,a Japanese technology conglomerate.

How we run CPP Investments: cost discipline, efficiency and governance

Managing a pension fund at this scale requires strong governance, clear accountability and careful risk management. CPP Investments operates with an independent, arm’s-length governance model. We manage market, credit, liquidity and operational and technology-enabled risks, including those arising from AI adoption, through robust frameworks and oversight built for a long-horizon investor.

We continued to focus on operating discipline. We now manage approximately $220 billion more in net assets with fewer employees than at the end of fiscal 2023, while investing in technology, data, and ways of working that allow the organization to scale efficiently.

Cost discipline matters because every dollar spent is a dollar not invested on behalf of CPP contributors and beneficiaries. As the Fund has grown, we have built a scalable model focused on doing more with the same base rather than simply growing our cost footprint. That discipline supports net performance.

Positioning the Fund for a changing world

The investment environment is changing in ways that matter for long-term returns. Conflicts, fragmentation, shifting trade and capital flows, the build-out of AI infrastructure, digital sovereignty and the whole-economy energy transition are reshaping investment conditions. We respond by building a portfolio that can perform across many scenarios and by investing where long-term fundamentals remain durable.

Conflicts, fragmentation and supply chains

Tariffs, trade disputes and geopolitical tension shape costs, supply chains and investment conditions across many sectors. Conflicts in Europe and the Middle East have also affected energy markets, shipping routes and inflation expectations. These pressures can create market dislocations and widen differences across countries and sectors. We invest through that reality by diversifying by country, sector and currency, and our global platform and long-standing relationships help us evaluate opportunities with local insight and partner with operators who understand their markets.

AI, infrastructure and digital sovereignty: investing behind the backbone

Data growth is increasing demand for data centres and the power and grid capacity behind them. Governments and companies are also paying more attention to digital sovereignty – the ability to store, process and move data within trusted systems and jurisdictions. We are increasing our focus on the infrastructure that supports the digital economy, including power generation and storage, transmission and grid upgrades, data hubs and related infrastructure, where long-term contracts and strong counterparties can provide stable returns.

Climate: protecting value through a whole-economy transition

Climate change affects risk and opportunity across the portfolio through physical impacts, regulation, technology shifts and changes in energy systems. Progress is not linear. We embed climate considerations into investment decisions across the Fund as we invest for a whole-economy transition. That means we stay invested across sectors and work with companies to reduce risk and protect value over decades rather than relying on blanket divestment.

Within each of these themes, the thread is the same: long-term investing requires patience, diversification and prudent risk management. It also requires learning and adapting as conditions change, without letting the latest narrative become the strategy.

Looking ahead

The CPP remains financially sustainable for generations, and the Fund continues to grow through disciplined long-term investing. In a world that will keep testing investors, CPP Investments will stay focused on what matters for a pension plan: resilience, sound risk management and strong long-term returns.

None of this happens without the dedication of our people. I want to thank all my colleagues across CPP Investments, including our Senior Management Team (SMT), for their hard work this year in pursuing our mandate with focus and care.

This year, we welcomed David Colla to the SMT, succeeding Andrew Edgell as Global Head of Credit Investments, following Andrew’s decision to become a Senior Advisor with CPP Investments. I want to thank Andrew for his leadership and contribution.

Uncertainty will persist. But the CPP was designed for exactly this kind of environment: to provide a dependable benefit, paid for life and indexed to inflation, through many market cycles. Contributors and beneficiaries can continue to rely on the CPP as a stable foundation of retirement income, and CPP Investments will keep investing the Fund with discipline so that foundation remains strong.

Now, before I get to my discussion with John Graham, I think it's critically important to go over some items in the Fiscal 2026 Financial Results Overview, which is available to download here.

I will not go over all the slides in this presentation, so take the time to read it here. 

One of the most important slides is this one on funding: 

The base CPP funding ratio improved (and the bulk of the assets remain there), allowing for a proposed cut in the contribution rate from 9.9% to 9.5%. This was attained because of stronger-than-expected investment income.

Next, performance relative to benchmark over a 1, 5, and 10-year period:

As you will see below, I got into this quite a bit with John Graham because critics will be focusing on 1-year underperformance of the Fund (-5.4%) relative to benchmark and we discussed this at length. 

Importantly, when you look at pension fund returns, you have to look at long-term returns to evaluate its performance and on this basis the Fund is still doing well.

The key culprits for the underperformance are well-known, concentration risk in US equity indexes remains very elevated, and that impacted relative performance, especially in private equity:

Despite the relative underperformance over the last 1 and 3 years, the Fund is not chasing returns and remains highly diversified to maintain its resilience over the long run:

 

 

And they are very careful about how they manage exposures:

 

  

This is critically important to remember because critics will focus on short-term performance and ignore the inherent risks of investing in passive equity indexes when concentration risk is high.

Again, I went over this with John, but I want to make it clear in my post that CPP will not/ cannot beat its benchmark every single fiscal year, especially when concentration risk is high and stocks are ripping higher. This is by design; the focus is on maintaining a globally diversified portfolio to maintain resilience over the long run.

The Fund also needs to manage its liquidity properly to make sure it can access funds when market dislocations occur and take advantage of them.

I am giving you important context to keep in mind before you read my discussion with John Graham below.

A few minor points of criticism that I shared with John and Frank Switzer during our discussion:

• CPP Investments needs to have a table next year where it discloses  its 1, 5 and 10 year returns by asset class relative to the benchmarks as well as total Fund level. This has to be in the press release and if possible, also do one by calendar year (I know, I'm asking for a lot).
• Next, CPP Investments invests in top hedge funds all over the world and also invests in emerging hedge fund managers. We need more transparency on the performance of this external manager portfolio (performance, etc.) 

Alright, long preamble but there is a lot to cover before I get to my conversation with John.

Discussion With CPP Investments CEO Going Over Fiscal 2026 Results

Earlier today, CEO John Graham called me to go over fiscal year results.

I want to begin by thanking him and Frank Switzer for setting up the call and sending me material early this morning.

John began by giving me an overview of total portfolio results:

The 10-year return of 8.8% which continues to be very strong, and I'd say comps well to global institutional investors. One-year return at 7.8%. Put that into context, we started the year this time last year we spoke, we were probably right into the kind of volatility of Liberation Day. We ended the year with the invasion of Iran, which obviously put the markets down for the last few weeks of the fiscal year, and through that, we had a market that rewarded concentration. 

We had a market that rewarded concentration, and I think continues to reward concentration, and continues to have valuations that in certain parts of the market, to be blunt about it, that we struggle with. 

So, we sit here today, and we sat there through the year. We have a pretty profound belief in diversification, even though diversification isn't paying off right now. And at a time when the range of potential outcomes is as big as it is today, we actually think it's time to lean into diversification and not lean out of it. 

I would say the results were from having a well-diversified portfolio across asset classes and geographies, and in some ways, trying to be less concentrated in the broader markets. 

I completely agree with him and noted in his message that he mentioned they looked at alternatives for taking more concentration risk in their public equity exposure: "Some alternatives would likely have improved short-term results, but to the detriment of long-term risk-adjusted performance."

I asked him to explain:

That's a little bit of what I was referring to. We spent a lot of time looking at some of the themes that were driving the market, and let's say the AI theme, and while we do have exposure to it, I think it's fair to say we're probably underweight compared to the broader markets. So, thinking about are there ways we would actually put in kind of a more concentrated exposure in, and if we did, how much would we want at the end of the day, you know, again we do have some exposure, but we're probably not at market weights. 

At the end of the day, we have a view that if we take a step back and say who we are and what we're actually solving for, and that's to contribute to the financial security and retirement of 22 million Canadians. There are times when you have to let the market run away from you. There are times when, if you look at the dispersion of outcomes, you know our mandate is to maximize return with that undue risk of loss, and you have to pay attention to that second point of the undue risk of loss. 

Now, we're not immune to a big market sell-off in any way, so I wouldn't want to give you that impression. But there are times when you think you know valuations are astronomical and you've got to make a decision that, as I wouldn't say we're a deep value investor, but we certainly believe in cash flows, and certainly believe in the long run you need to see cash flows that we'd rather be more diversified than concentrated.

That makes perfect sense to me. In fact, I told John this is how I read it. On a funding level, CPP is in great shape. The latest report from the Chief Actuary of Canada confirms this. 

But I told him, over the short-term, CPP Investments and other Canadian pension funds have been criticized for not keeping up with their benchmarks, and we know that there are benchmark issues, especially in this type of market where the share of the semiconductor sector reached a high of maybe 18 or 19% of the S&P and MSCI ACWI recently. 

I also noted hedge funds are driving these hot money flows, so he's right, chasing these stocks to keep up with the benchmark without consideration of risk is just plain stupid and dangerous.

So, I asked him point blank: "I think what you're telling me is you don't want to chase performance here, right?"

He replied:

Yes, that's right. So the way we think about performance is that we're close to CAD $800 billion AUM now, and you have to think about what that actually means from how you think about various alternatives. But there is a desire in this industry to reduce performance to a single number, and it's a little bit more complicated than that.

What I do is look at absolute returns, because you need to grow the fund. Relative performance is an important accountability framework, and it also provides a lot of insight into how your various programs are performing, but you can never lose sight of the purpose of the organization, and what the organization was actually created to do, and we're trying to jointly solve those three things, but it doesn't mean we put equal weight on each one at all time.

And you mentioned the funding ratio. The funding ratio is at 40%. It's what allowed the feds and the provinces to cut the contribution rate by 40 basis points, which is real money back into the pockets of Canadians, which is ultimately why we're here. 

So we jointly solve for absolute, relative and kind of the sustainability of the plan, but they aren't equally weighted. And in times like this, I'll say it to you, if somebody really outperformed their benchmark over the past year, I think you'd have to look hard at how they did it and what risk they took to do it. 

Again, I completely agree. I told him I have very close friends of mine who keep throwing in my face that the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund has outperformed all of the Canadian pension funds in recent years as the AI theme took off, at a fraction of the cost of Canada's Maple 8.

I told my friends that I know, I covered their 2025 results here, Norway's GPFG gained 15.1% in calendar year 2025, far outpacing all of Canada's pension funds but even that mighty fund, which has huge tech exposure and a different objective function, underperformed its benchmark last year.

All this to say, whenever I look at the performance of any fund, I look at the asset mix and the embedded risks in the portfolio, and try to understand it at that level.

I also stated the importance of looking at long-term performance for the Fund as a whole and by asset class where John remarked:

One of the things we did in this annual report is we put in 10-year returns, so maybe you planted the seed last year, but one thing in this annual report you will see is 10-year returns. I agree it's one thing that we've been trying to get more and more long-term, because that's what matters. 

If it didn't come out clearly in the report, I can take that away, but you will see when you get into the report that we did actually add commentary on 10-year returns, and I think that's a great segue to private equity (PE). Look, diversification means that some things are firing and some things aren't. If everything is firing, you're probably not diversified. 

The PE portfolio has been a long-term kind of contributor to performance. You get 10-year returns probably close to 12% for PE, but the short-term returns are challenged. And they're challenged in that you had a period of low distributions in the PE industry, and then the software challenges that in an asset class that had kind of gone overweight software.

PE, the way I think about it, is you have a, you have the stock in the flow, right? You have the portfolio that's in the ground, and then you have the new opportunities, and the stock has to be worked through. And broadly, in the industry, there are some challenges with the stock, but the flow is pretty interesting, and you've got to make sure you're not cutting off the flow because of decisions that you made five years ago around valuation.

What our PE team is doing -- and I'd be happy to have you spend time with Caitlin at some point -- they're actively managing the stock. You would have seen the press release about a $5 billion disposition to Blackstone and Ardian. 

This is all about managing the stock, and I've been pushing on the whole organization, even real assets, real estate, for the past five years, and it's probably my credit background. You've got to actively manage these portfolios, you got to embrace a relative value perspective.When the investment thesis is played out, even if it's a good asset, sell it and find a better place to put the money. So one thing is, over the past year, there was a lot of turnover in the portfolio, which is going to serve as well going forward, but it's, it's a lot of work. 

So, PE is definitely working through the working through the stock right now. I don't know, anything else I want to talk about PE. I can move on to the other asset classes. 

Indeed,CPP Investments has the biggest private equity portfolio in the world. It is selling C$4 billion in fund stakes to Blackstone and Ardian on the secondary market, creating liquidity in that portfolio to invest in better opportunities going forward. Y

Yes, they're taking a little bit of a haircut as they sell at a small but it doesn't matter over the longer term, as they are investing the money where they see better opportunities. 

I told John the thing with PE that scares me is whether there a profound structural change going on. Higher rates for longer, margin compression, much lower distributions, intense competition for assets throughout the industry, continuation funds to extend and pretend instead of taking a loss on an asset. It all makes me wonder whether the good old glory years are over for a very long time. 

John replied:

Yes, it's a good question. I think you got to go back to first principles with PE, and ask why do you invest in PE? Do you believe it actually can add value?  I think our kind of fundamental assumption is the governance model of PE allows the investor to get kind of right up close to the management team, and then drive some value creation through the organization. 

Undoubtedly, the industry benefited from multiple expansion and kind of cheap leverage for a long time, and going forward, those are not two sources of return that you should really be baking into any projections. And it's going to come down to who really has the ability to drive value through the through the organization, and if there is multiple accretion, is because the fundamental quality of the business. 

I think the asset class will come out in better shape from these challenges as they usually do, but there's going to have to be a bit of a shakeout. I think one of the questions that people have to ask themselves with private assets, like I think the institutional investor base also has to ask themselves, that when you have technology evolving at a quicker pace than your old period, what do you have to pay?Get paid for liquidity. What do you get paid to hold an asset for six to eight years with no liquidity on it? And I think we could have a debate as to whether or not liquidity has been properly priced in the market over the past few years or I should say, illiquidity. 

Another excellent point. I asked him whether they are happy here with 22% exposure to private equity or whether they are looking to lower it going forward.

He replied:

One of the reasons PE got to that size is because it had good returns for a long time. From an allocation perspective, it's probably pretty close. It is higher than what we would have liked, because you don't want to do anything unnatural with these illiquid assets. At 22%, it's probably at the high end, but we would never do anything unnatural to bring it down. 

I told him the reason why I ask him about PE exposure is that I see more opportunities in infrastructure right now, and from what I'm reading in their annual report, and in his message, particular data centers, energy, and so in the real asset classes. 

John responded:

I  think our appetite for PE and broader infrastructure are pretty similar, as long as we're getting paid for it in the real asset space. Energy is probably the one area that we've been pretty keen on for a while, and as you know, we have continued to invest across the entire energy spectrum. 

Our oil and gas portfolio did great over the past year, our LNG portfolio did great, our renewables portfolio did great. Energy is something that the world needs more of. The world needs more electrons, and so we're keen on growing that portfolio, and we're seeing lots of opportunities there, but I still like PE, and I still think on the flow side, there continues to be good opportunities. 

We have to take the long-term perspective here, looking at this market. I may have shared this with you before, it's been my experience in investing that this time is different, is over 10, and you  have to continue to maintain that long-term perspective. 

I asked if that is the same for real estate as well and he replied:

Look, we took some hits on real estate, and our real estate portfolio dealt a positive gain this year, but again, some of the data centers actually sit in our real estate portfolio and logistics has been good. We've got through the office and the retail pain. Our real estate portfolio, as you know, is smaller than some of the others, kind of six 7% and they're still active, looking for opportunities. 

There's a new global head of real estate there, Sophie van Oosterom, and she seems to be doing a great job thus far but that portfolio is still in transition and fundamentals there are improving. 

The other portfolio I asked John about was absolute returns, their massive external hedge fund portfolio made up of top global hedge funds and emerging managers. Heather Tobin, Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Capital Markets and Factor Investing, oversees that portfolio, and I wondered why they don't share a lot more public information on it.   

John replied:

I think we do disclose every manager on our website now, so I think every manager is disclosed on the website (some are listed here). I don't have a great answer for you. I'd have to look exactly what we put, because it's part of our CMF department, so we have a small systematic strategies group, but the CMF department that you see there, is almost entirely our external portfolio management team, which is the external hedge funds, and they had a great year. 

They've had a great few years. I think it's also fair to say that the hedge fund industry had its best year ever in the past year. 

[...] You should talk with Heather and Caitlin. I mean, PE and CMF, or the hedge funds. If we've had this conversation five years ago, everybody would have been gung-ho on PE and negative on hedge funds.

I will cover hedge funds tomorrow when I go over my quarterly activity but fair to say most of them jumped on the semiconductor trade in early April and are still riding it. 

I circled back to benchmarks and said benchmarks matter a lot, especially for compensation. I said comp was based on five-year returns (maybe four-year), so you can underperform your benchmark in any given year but if you underperform over a 5-year period, compensation will be impacted.

And this AI investment cycle/ bubble can last for another three years, nobody really knows so I asked how they will handle this. 

John responded:

So, as I look at this year, we've underperformed the benchmark three years running, and you know, and I think we got a good understanding why, and I think we have the conviction to maintain our current approach.

But as you know, markets can stay in their current state for a very, very long time, and if the markets continue to be concentrated like this, there's a good chance we'll underperform again if you get another 20% run by driven by a handful of companies. Institutional investors are not meant to keep up that way. It's a fact. I think that your math is correct, but you know that that's part of the part of how the industry works, right? 

I said that's the only fear I have with this concentration risk. It can last, "markets can stay irrational longer than you could stay solvent", is an old famous expression, and the markets can stay irrational, especially in investment-led AI fuel bubbles. 

That's one thing I realize, and we talk a lot about this throughout the industry, but you have to also remain disciplined. That's part of your focus. You can't just chase returns. It's going back to our initial conversation. You're going to get criticized by the Andrew Coynes of this world, but at the same time, you have to be very risk-conscious, a responsible fiduciary. 

I told him you have a responsibility to be highly diversified. 

John replied:

You mentioned something earlier, which I think is important to circle back to, when you brought up Norges. They run a very public strategy, so they're going to have a more kind of up and down portfolio by definition, but one of the things that gets forgotten in this, and you highlighted it, is pension plans have liabilities, and pension plans are created because of that liability, not because of the asset side.

You manage the assets to meet the liabilities, where sovereign wealth funds don't have liabilities, and that gets forgotten sometimes when people talk and mingle a sovereign wealth fund in a pension plan. To your point about comparing strategies, and even within the Maple 8, you have very different approaches to investing, because we have different liabilities and we have different kind of cash flow profiles. As we mature as an organization, now we're 27-28 years old, you see it, our approach is evolving based on what our liability stream looks.

I noted that additional CPP is much more diversified and much more risk-focused, because the liabilities are going to be changing, the profiles are going to be changing, and that additional CPP reminds me more, of what other Maple 8 pension funds are doing. I said base CPP is much more equity focused, private and public. 

He replied:

That's because base CPP is a partially funded plan, and so as base CPP becomes more funded, when we started out as about 15% funded, and now it's 40% funded. As it becomes more funded, one would expect that it will kind of converge to look like other plans. 

The additional CPP, for reasons of generational fairness, was set up as a fully funded plan with a really tight collar around it, so there's no real incentive to get it into a very overfunded status. That's why it has a very different risk profile, because it's 103% funded. 

I interjected, saying "so you don't want to get to 125% funded" and he added:

It actually can't, the way they set it up, it can't, because, but they didn't want that. They really wanted it to have a tight collar around it, and so to say to us, like, just keep this around 100 don't try to get it to 120 you're not being incentivized to do that.

I switched the conversation to discuss Canada, stating I know everybody's patriotic this year but I personally don't care if investments in Canada are increased unless it's in the right area (like infrastructure). 

I understand it makes a lot of people happy. What I care about is the CPP Fund is taking the appropriate risks globally, and focuses on global investments, and I want it to do well over the long run.

I asked John where they are in their discussions in terms of infrastructure opportunities opening up, and what he can share with my readers on this front.

He replied:

Sure. I think you got to remember that Canada is still our second biggest investment destination after the US. We have on a growth basis C$120 billion invested domestically. It's a big portfolio. I would share that our pipeline in Canada is probably the deepest it's been in my memory. 

We'll see what comes to fruition, and we'll see what really kind of plays out. Some of that is due to the ambition from the provinces and the federal government to actually do big things, and when you want to do big things, it attracts big money.

So, whereas we're seeing opportunities in de novo development, recycling of assets that we haven't seen before, but I would say it's very formative at this time, and I think you know various governments across the country need to figure out what they're solving for. Are they solving for privatization, are they solving for recycling capital, are they solving for improvement in operations, are they solving for someone taking over a capex program? 

Some of these details have to be worked out, and that'll be, but I think we're hopeful, Leo, that we're going to see some good opportunities. My view on it, for what it's worth, I'm a big believer that you need to have competitive capital, and if there are opportunities in Canada or any country in the world, you should have global and domestic capital looking at those opportunities, and competition is what drives better outcomes. 

Trapping capital doesn't lead to better outcomes. Having a competitive market leads to a more competitive economy

I noted CPP and PSP are hosting this conference on investing in Canada with global peers in September, and that is positive.. Yeah, so I think that's part of what you're getting at as well. It should be global and open to all the funds. It should be global, and it should be the biggest investor in the world. 

John added: 

I'll just say one last thing on it. We obviously have an opportunity to meet with investors all over the world, and one of the questions I always ask is, how much do you have invested in Canada, and the answer is typically less than 1%, which you could argue maybe is underweight based on the market cap basis, because Canada just hasn't been on the investment community's radar for a long time, 

But people are curious about Canada right now. I mean, people are more curious about Canada than they've ever been, and how do we turn that curiosity into interest? And that's a big job, right? I think it's better for us because it'll unlock opportunities. I think it's better for CPP investments. 

So, this summit is essentially one way for the country to showcase what it has to offer to the world, and I think in the longer term it'll increase the opportunity set for CPP Investments. 

I agree, we need global capital to enter Canada and this summit will be an opportunity for global investors to take a real hard look at what our country has to offer.

I ended our discussion on Credit investments, noting David Colla took over the helm of that important portfolio in February and asked him if he has any insights to share.

I said that despite all the negative press all year long about private debt funds being illiquid, and there being a liquidity mismatch going with retail investors, it remains an important asset class.

He replied: 

Credit is always close to my heart, and it's done great. I mean, we could talk probably a while, but you touched on the exact issue. You have to unpack it and say, if you take software out, yields basic or spreads, basically ended the year where they started. You definitely have some of the software challenges, which is coming from private equity, but with the retail and high net worth participation, you have a mismatch in the duration of the capital with the duration of the asset, and this is the growing pains of bringing high net worth and retail into illiquid asset classes. I think people got the reminder that semi-liquid means that you have liquidity when you don't want it, and no liquidity when you want it. 

We ended it there, I could have easily gone for another half hour but John and Frank had a very busy day.

Once again, I thank John for another insightful discussion, really enjoy talking to him because he explains things very clearly and carefully and doesn't avoid hard topics.

The key thing I got out of this discussion is the Fund is in great shape, it has more than enough assets to meet its future liabilities, they aren't chasing tech shares that are going parabolic, they prefer playing the AI theme in private markets via energy, data centres and other investments. 

Most importantly, despite underperforming its benchmark for a third straight year, the Fund remains globally diversified across public and private markets, sectors and geographies and will remain this way to make it resilient for decades to come.

Below, the CPP Fund increased by $78.9 billion, ending the year at $793.3 billion in net assets. CEO John Graham and other members of the team discuss results and \john even speaks French in this clip.

Also, Manroop Jhooty, Senior Managing Director & Head of Total Fund Management at CPP Investments, discusses fiscal 2026 year-end results, recent market activity and the year ahead. 

Lastly, Scott Sperling, THL Partners co-CEO, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the latest market trends, state of the private equity landscape, dealmaking activity outlook, and more. I recommended this clip to John and think you should all watch it.

Hedge funds have been trimming positions in U.S. semiconductor companies following the sector’s outsized gains, choosing to secure profits while still maintaining strong exposure to artificial intelligence investments, according to Goldman Sachs data referenced by Bloomberg on Thursday.

Information from Goldman’s prime brokerage unit reportedly indicated that semiconductor and semiconductor equipment stocks were the most heavily net-sold U.S. subsector over the past month. The activity was driven primarily by investors reducing long exposure rather than building significant short positions against chipmakers.

That shift has pushed the sector into a net-selling position for the year to date.

The profit-taking follows a steep rally across AI-linked chip stocks. Goldman Sachs’ AI semiconductor basket has outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 50% in 2026, while the broader index itself gained over 18% between late March and a recent three-day pullback.

South Korea’s Kospi index — often used as a gauge of worldwide demand for AI infrastructure — briefly rose above 8,000 points for the first time in mid-May after climbing more than 80% year to date before later retreating.

Goldman’s prime brokerage team reportedly said the recent moves reflected portfolio adjustments rather than declining confidence in the AI trade. Exposure to U.S. artificial intelligence shares within the bank’s technology, media and telecommunications basket remains near all-time highs.

Meanwhile, hedge funds have expanded short positions in broad equity indices and ETFs as a hedge against broader market risks, with those bearish positions now sitting at their highest levels in about ten years.

Goldman analysts added that gross leverage across hedge fund portfolios reached a new five-year high this month, while net leverage stayed relatively unchanged — a setup the bank said does not resemble the kind of speculative frenzy currently evident among retail traders.

Jared Blikre of Yahoo Finance also reports chip stocks are hitting fresh records, but Nvidia isn't the driver:

Chip stocks are back to hitting intraday record highs after a fast round trip. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) pushed to its first intraday record high since May 11 on Friday, extending a three-day rally that followed a three-day slide that started late last week.

Qualcomm (QCOM) led the move, jumping more than 12% on Friday and rising nearly 20% over the last three sessions.

What’s behind the move: The rally is notable because it is not being driven by Nvidia (NVDA).

Nvidia has been selling off since its Wednesday earnings report, even after the company topped estimates and gave an upbeat outlook on strong chip demand. The stock fell again Friday and has lost more than $100 billion in market value over the last three sessions.

That makes the rebound look less like another Nvidia-led AI surge and more like buyers broadly rotating across the rest of the semiconductor complex.

By the numbers: The biggest value creation over the last three sessions has come from the next tier of chip leaders. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has added nearly $100 billion in market value, while Arm Holdings (ARM) and Micron Technology (MU) have each added close to $90 billion.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) and ASML (ASML) have each added more than $70 billion, while Intel (INTC) has added more than $50 billion.

What else you need to know: The move also reached the higher-beta end of the chip trade. Navitas Semiconductor (NVTS) surged nearly 18% Friday, Vishay Intertechnology (VSH) jumped over 10%, and Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) rose nearly 10%.

Broadcom (AVGO) was a big exception, slipping Friday and remaining lower over the three-day rebound.

The test now is whether SOXX can hold the reclaimed record zone. If it can hold above it, the chip rally looks repaired after a brief hiccup.

It's Friday, the S&P 500 notched its longest weekly win streak since 2023, the Dow climbed to record high and all seems wonderful in Equity La La Land.

The parabolic moves in stocks continued this week, with quantum stocks (IONQ, RGTI, QBTS, etc), IBM (IBM), Dell (DELL) and many others all soaring. Even BlackBerry (BB) and Nokia (NOK) joined in on the fun today, with their own big moves up.

These days, it seems like anything AI/ quantum related just explodes up. 

Just have a look at the top-performing US large cap stocks this week (full list here): 

And here are the top performing US large caps year-to-date (full list here):

Since AI is the theme of our times, I added a new fund, Situational Awareness LP, a prominent, San Francisco-based hedge fund launched in 2024 by Leopold Aschenbrenner, a former OpenAI researcher (replaced Kynikos, which closed a few years ago at number 37 in the L/S hedge funds below).

I've never heard of Leopold or his fund, but his first name suggests he must be very intelligent (/sarc).

Jack Inabinet of Bankless reports Leopold Aschenbrenner's 'Situational Awareness' files 13F quarterly investment disclosure:

Situational Awareness LP, a $13.7B tech mega fund managed by Gen Z AI savant Leopold Aschenbrenner, has filed its 13F quarterly disclosure with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, providing the investing public with a moment-in-time snapshot of its portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2026.

What's the Scoop?

• Chipmaker Shorts: At the end of the first quarter, Aschenbrenner's Situational Awareness held an astonishing $8.46B worth of notional put exposure against a wide array of chipmaker stocks, including $2B of notional put exposure against the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SMH) and $1.6B of notional put exposure against AI mega cap Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). Compounding on these broader bets, the fund also opened put positions against Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD), Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU), ASML Holdings (NASDAQ: ASML), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Corning Glass Works (NYSE: GLW), and Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM).

• Bullish Bets: California-based biofuel company Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE) remained Aschenbrenner's largest bull bet, with Situational Awareness holding 6.5M shares worth $879M and call options to 409k shares with a notional value of $55M. The fund opened calls in memory darling Sandisk (NASAQ: SNDK) to complement its existing 1M+ common stock position, alongside calls on chipmakers Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) and Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM), signaling it is making selective bets in the sector intended to monetize volatility. Further, Situational Awareness increased its positions in crypto mining/data center operators CleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK), Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT), Applied Digital (NASDAQ APLD), and IREN Limited (NASDAQ: IREN).

• Late Filing: Although 13F filings were due on Friday (all institutional investment managers with over $100M of securities holdings must file the disclosure with the SEC within 45 days of quarter end), Situational Awarness failed to file until this morning. Late or missed 13F filings can trigger civil penalties at the discretion of the SEC, ranging from minor fines to as much as $750k.

  What's the Take?

  Although much of the attention has centered on Aschenbrenner’s massive semiconductor put positions, Situational Awareness remains heavily exposed to a basket of highly volatile tech names and continues making selective bets across compute, memory, and data center infrastructure.

  Still, many of the chip stocks the fund bet against have staged sharp rallies since the end of Q1 — the snapshot date captured in the filing — leaving it unknown how severely the run-up impacted net fund performance, even as some of its highest-conviction longs emerged as standout winners over the past month. Additionally, the current makeup of the portfolio remains unknown, as some positions may have been reduced, exited, or reversed entirely after the filing period ended.

Anyway, you can view Leopold's top positions here (he's definitely losing money on his short positions).

Forget Leopold, Leo, what are Stanley Druckenmiller's top positions as at last quarter?

They're right here and you can view them below:

What about David Tepper's top positions? You can view them here and see below:  

It looks to me like the top fund managers are loaded to the hilt on semis but the data is lagged, so take it with a grain of salt.

Chasing parabolic moves is fun if you catch them early and ride the wave, not so fun when the top hedge funds exit and leave the retail crowd holding the bag.

Ok, let me wrap this up, time to enjoy my weekend. 

The links below take you straight to the top holdings of top money managers and then click to see where they increased and decreased their holdings.

Top multi-strategy, event-driven hedge funds and large hedge fund managers

As the name implies, these hedge funds invest across a wide variety of hedge fund strategies like L/S Equity, L/S credit, global macro, convertible arbitrage, risk arbitrage, volatility arbitrage, merger arbitrage, distressed debt and statistical pair trading. Below are links to the holdings of some top multi-strategy hedge funds I track closely:

1) Appaloosa LP (David Tepper)

2) Citadel Advisors (Ken Griffin)

3) Balyasny Asset Management

4) Point72 Asset Management (Steve Cohen)

5) Millennium Management (Izzy Englander)

6) Farallon Capital Management

7) Shonfeld Strategic Partners 

8) Walleye Capital 

9) Verition Fund Management 

10) Peak6 Investments

11) Kingdon Capital Management

12) HBK Investments

13) Highbridge Capital Management

14) Highland Capital Management

15) Hudson Bay Capital Management

16) Pentwater Capital Management

17) Sculptor Capital Management (formerly known as Och-Ziff Capital Management)

18) ExodusPoint Capital Management

19) Carlson Capital Management

20) Magnetar Capital

21) Whitebox Advisors

22) QVT Financial 

23) Paloma Partners

24) Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisors

25) York Capital Management

Top Global Macro Hedge Funds and Family Offices

These hedge funds gained notoriety because of George Soros, arguably the best and most famous hedge fund manager. Global macros typically invest across fixed income, currency, commodity and equity markets.

George Soros, Carl Icahn, Stanley Druckenmiller, Julian Robertson  have converted their hedge funds into family offices to manage their own money.

1) Soros Fund Management

2) Icahn Associates

3) Duquesne Family Office (Stanley Druckenmiller)

4) Bridgewater Associates

5) Pointstate Capital Partners 

6) Caxton Associates (Bruce Kovner)

7) Tudor Investment Corporation (Paul Tudor Jones)

8) Discovery Capital Management (Rob Citrone)

9) Moore Capital Management

10) Rokos Capital Management

11) Element Capital

12) Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust (Michael Larson, the man behind Gates)

Top Quant and Market Neutral Hedge Funds

These funds use sophisticated mathematical algorithms to make their returns, typically using high-frequency models so they churn their portfolios often. A few of them have outstanding long-term track records and many believe quants are taking over the world. They typically only hire PhDs in mathematics, physics and computer science to develop their algorithms. Market neutral funds will engage in pair trading to remove market beta. Some are large asset managers that specialize in factor investing.

1) Alyeska Investment Group

2) Renaissance Technologies

3) DE Shaw & Co.

4) Two Sigma Investments

5) Cubist Systematic Strategies (a quant division of Point72)

6) Man Group

7) Analytic Investors

8) AQR Capital Management

9) Dimensional Fund Advisors

10) Quantitative Investment Management

11) Oxford Asset Management

12) PDT Partners

13) TPG Angelo Gordon

14) Quantitative Systematic Strategies

15) Quantitative Investment Management

16) Bayesian Capital Management

17) SABA Capital Management

18) Quadrature Capital

19) Simplex Trading

Top Deep Value, Activist, Growth at a Reasonable Price, Event Driven and Distressed Debt Funds

These are among the top long-only funds that everyone tracks. They include funds run by legendary investors like Warren Buffet, Seth Klarman, Ron Baron and Ken Fisher. Activist investors like to make investments in companies where management lacks the proper incentives to maximize shareholder value. They differ from traditional L/S hedge funds by having a more concentrated portfolio. Distressed debt funds typically invest in debt of a company but sometimes take equity positions.

1) Abrams Capital Management (the one-man wealth machine)

2) Berkshire Hathaway

3) TCI Fund Management

4) Baron Partners Fund (click here to view other Baron funds)

5) BHR Capital

6) Fisher Asset Management

7) Baupost Group

8) Fairfax Financial Holdings

9) Fairholme Capital

10) Gotham Asset Management

11) Fir Tree Partners

12) Elliott Investment Management (Paul Singer)

13) Jana Partners

14) Miller Value Partners (Bill Miller)

15) Highfields Capital Management

16) Eminence Capital

17) Pershing Square Capital Management

18) New Mountain Vantage  Advisers

19) Atlantic Investment Management

20) Polaris Capital Management

21) Third Point

22) Marcato Capital Management

23) Glenview Capital Management

24) Apollo Management

25) Avenue Capital

26) Armistice Capital

27) Blue Harbor Group

28) Brigade Capital Management

29) Caspian Capital

30) Kerrisdale Advisers

31) Knighthead Capital Management

32) Relational Investors

33) Roystone Capital Management

34) Scopia Capital Management

35) Schneider Capital Management

36) ValueAct Capital

37) Vulcan Value Partners

38) Okumus Fund Management

39) Eagle Capital Management

40) Sasco Capital

41) Lyrical Asset Management

42) Gabelli Funds

43) Brave Warrior Advisors

44) Matrix Asset Advisors

45) Jet Capital

46) Conatus Capital Management

47) Starboard Value

48) Pzena Investment Management

49) Trian Fund Management

50) Oaktree Capital Management

51) Fayez Sarofim & Co 

52) Southeastern Asset Management 

Top Long/Short Hedge Funds

These hedge funds go long shares they think will rise in value and short those they think will fall. Along with global macro funds, they command the bulk of hedge fund assets. There are many L/S funds but here is a small sample of some well-known funds.

1) Adage Capital Management

2) Viking Global Investors

3) Greenlight Capital

4) Maverick Capital

5) Pointstate Capital Partners 

6) Marathon Asset Management

7) Tiger Global Management (Chase Coleman)

8) Coatue Management

9) D1 Capital Partners

10) Artis Capital Management

11) Fox Point Capital Management

12) Jabre Capital Partners

13) Lone Pine Capital

14) Paulson & Co.

15) Bronson Point Management

16) Hoplite Capital Management

17) LSV Asset Management

18) Hussman Strategic Advisors

19) Cantillon Capital Management

20) Brookside Capital Management

21) Blue Ridge Capital

22) Iridian Asset Management

23) Clough Capital Partners

24) GLG Partners LP

25) Cadence Capital Management

26) Honeycomb Asset Management

27) New Mountain Vantage

28) Penserra Capital Management

29) Eminence Capital

30) Steadfast Capital Management

31) Brookside Capital Management

32) PAR Capital Capital Management

33) Gilder, Gagnon, Howe & Co

34) Brahman Capital

35) Bridger Management 

36) Kensico Capital Management

37) Situational Awareness LP

38) Soroban Capital Partners

39) Passport Capital

40) Pennant Capital Management

41) Mason Capital Management

42) Tide Point Capital Management

43) Sirios Capital Management 

44) Hayman Capital Management

45) Highside Capital Management

46) Tremblant Capital Group

47) Decade Capital Management

48) Suvretta Capital Management

49) Bloom Tree Partners

50) Cadian Capital Management

51) Matrix Capital Management

52) Senvest Partners

53) Falcon Edge Capital Management

54) Park West Asset Management

55) Melvin Capital Partners (Plotkin shut down Melvin after reeling rom Redditor attack)

56) Owl Creek Asset Management

57) Portolan Capital Management

58) Proxima Capital Management

59) Tourbillon Capital Partners

60) Impala Asset Management

61) Valinor Management

62) Marshall Wace

63) Light Street Capital Management

64) Rock Springs Capital Management

65) Rubric Capital Management

66) Whale Rock Capital

67) Skye Global Management

68) York Capital Management

69) Zweig-Dimenna Associates

Top Sector and Specialized Funds

I like tracking activity funds that specialize in real estate, biotech, healthcare, retail and other sectors like mid, small and micro caps. Here are some funds worth tracking closely.

1) Avoro Capital Advisors (formerly Venbio Select Advisors)

2) Baker Brothers Advisors

3) Perceptive Advisors

4) RTW Investments

5) Healthcor Management

6) Orbimed Advisors

7) Deerfield Management

8) BB Biotech AG

9) Birchview Capital

10) Ghost Tree Capital

11) Soleus Capital Management

12) Oracle Investment Management

13) Palo Alto Investors

14) Consonance Capital Management

15) Camber Capital Management

16) Redmile Group

17) Casdin Capital

18) Bridger Capital Management

19) Boxer Capital

20) Omega Fund Management

21) Bridgeway Capital Management

22) Cohen & Steers

23) Cardinal Capital Management

24) Munder Capital Management

25) Diamondhill Capital Management 

26) Cortina Asset Management

27) Geneva Capital Management

28) Criterion Capital Management

29) Daruma Capital Management

30) 12 West Capital Management

31) RA Capital Management

32) Sarissa Capital Management

33) Rock Springs Capital Management

34) Senzar Asset Management

35) Paradigm Biocapital Advisors

36) Sphera Funds

37) Tang Capital Management

38) Thomson Horstmann & Bryant

39) Ecor1 Capital

40) Opaleye Management

41) NEA Management Company

42) Sofinnova Investments 

43) Great Point Partners

44) Tekla Capital Management

45) Van Berkom and Associates

Mutual Funds and Asset Managers

Mutual funds and large asset managers are not hedge funds but their sheer size makes them important players. Some asset managers have excellent track records. Below, are a few funds investors track closely.

1) Fidelity

2) BlackRock Inc

3) Wellington Management

4) AQR Capital Management

5) Sands Capital Management

6) Brookfield Asset Management

7) Dodge & Cox

8) Eaton Vance Management

9) Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co.

10) Geode Capital Management

11) Goldman Sachs Group

12) JP Morgan Chase& Co.

13) Morgan Stanley

14) Manulife Asset Management

15) UBS Asset Management

16) Barclays Global Investor

17) Epoch Investment Partners

18) Thornburg Investment Management

19) Kornitzer Capital Management

20) Batterymarch Financial Management

21) Tocqueville Asset Management

22) Neuberger Berman

23) Winslow Capital Management

24) Herndon Capital Management

25) Artisan Partners

26) Great West Life Insurance Management

27) Lazard Asset Management 

28) Janus Capital Management

29) Franklin Resources

30) Capital Research Global Investors

31) T. Rowe Price

32) First Eagle Investment Management

33) Frontier Capital Management

34) Akre Capital Management

35) Brandywine Global

36) Brown Capital Management

37) Victory Capital Management

38) Orbis Allan Gray

39) Ariel Investments 

40) ARK Investment Management

Canadian Asset Managers

Here are a few Canadian funds I track closely:

1) Addenda Capital

2) Letko, Brosseau and Associates

3) Fiera Capital Corporation

4) West Face Capital

5) Hexavest

6) 1832 Asset Management

7) Jarislowsky, Fraser

8) Connor, Clark & Lunn Investment Management

9) TD Asset Management

10) CIBC Asset Management

11) Beutel, Goodman & Co

12) Greystone Managed Investments

13) Mackenzie Financial Corporation

14) Great West Life Assurance Co

15) Guardian Capital

16) Scotia Capital

17) AGF Investments

18) Montrusco Bolton

19) CI Investments

20) Venator Capital Management

21) Van Berkom and Associates

22) Formula Growth

23) Hillsdale Investment Management

Pension Funds, Endowment Funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds and the Fed's Swiss Surrogate

Last but not least, I the track activity of some pension funds, endowment, sovereign wealth funds and the Swiss National Bank (aka the Fed's Swiss surrogate). Below, a sample of the funds I track closely:

1) Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMco)

2) Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan

3) Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

4) Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

5) OMERS Administration Corp.

6) Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP)

7) British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI)

8) Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments)

9) PGGM Investments

10) APG All Pensions Group

11) California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS)

12) California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS)

13) New York State Common Fund

14) New York State Teachers Retirement System

15) State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System

16) State of Wisconsin Investment Board

17) State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund

18) Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

19) STRS Ohio

20) Teacher Retirement System of Texas

21) Virginia Retirement Systems

22) TIAA CREF investment Management

23) Harvard Management Co.

24) Norges Bank

25) Nordea Investment Management

26) Korea Investment Corp.

27) Singapore Temasek Holdings 

28) Yale Endowment Fund

29) Swiss National Bank (aka, the Fed's Swiss surrogate)

Below, Berkshire Hathaway's first 13F under CEO Greg Abel suggest more willingness to commit to tech stocks than under Warren Buffett, with a purchase of roughly $12.5 billion in Alphabet stock. This is likely to add volatility but add exposure to potential gains from AI and other emerging technologies.

Next, Leopold's Situational Awareness 13F is out and you can see the summary below (around minute 6:29).

Lastly, legendary macro investor Stan Druckenmiller joins Hard Lessons for a conversation with Iliana Bouzali, Global Head of Derivatives Distribution and Structuring at Morgan Stanley. 

Druckenmiller reflects on his early career and how he learned to act decisively and change course quickly when the facts on the ground shift. Hear how he would construct a portfolio if he had to start over today, why contrarianism is overrated, and which stock he regrets selling too early. 

Fantastic interview with the best money manager in the world. Take the time to watch it. 

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