Home > News > Pensions > CDPQ, FTQ Invest $424M in Québec Energy Provider
Pensions

CDPQ, FTQ Invest $424M in Québec Energy Provider

The financing will assist Énergir in developing renewable energy projects.
By Matt Toledo



The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the public pension fund of Québec, announced on Friday that the fund has invested C$575 million ($424.10 million) alongside capital network Fonds de solidarité FTQ in Énergir, a Québec-based provider of energy.

The investment will support the provider’s transition to decarbonizing its energy production through developing renewable energy projects and renewable natural gas production plants. 

The company supports 535,000 customers across Canada and the U.S, where the company is the sole distributor of natural gas in Vermont, according to a news release. The firm mainly generates energy from natural gas and is the largest gas distributor in Québec.

In April, Fonds FTQ announced that all new customers that want to connect to its network for the first time must be powered by 100% renewable energy through renewable natural gas. The company aims to achieve carbon neutrality in all of its buildings by 2040 and in the energy it distributes by 2050.

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In January 2022, CDPQ and FTQ had increased their stakes in Trencap LP, the owner of Énergir, to 80.9% and 19.1%, respectively.

“Supporting the growth and energy transition of our portfolio companies, particularly those in Québec, are central elements of CDPQ’s strategy, and our backing of Énergir since 2004 is a good example of that,” said Emmanuel Jaclot, executive vice president and head of infrastructure at CDPQ, in a statement.

CDPQ, with C$453 billion in assets under management, is among the largest public pension investors in Canada. The fund’s infrastructure portfolio has returned an annualized 9.5% over the past five years through the end of 2023. In its 2023 annual report, the fund noted that infrastructure’s value add to the fund was “largely due to favorable positioning in promising sectors such as renewable energy.”

According to the fund’s 2023 sustainable investing report, CDPQ aims to reach a net-zero portfolio by 2050 and, so far, has achieved C$53 billion in low-carbon assets, including C$15 billion of assets based in Québec.

FTQ, with C$20 billion in assets, is a development capital network which invests in Québec-based companies and projects.

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Home > News > Pensions > Global Pension Assets Rebounded in 2023 With 10% Gain
Pensions

Global Pension Assets Rebounded in 2023 With 10% Gain

Assets of the largest 300 pension funds reached $26.2 trillion, according to WTW.
By Matt Toledo



Pension funds worldwide regained lost ground in 2023, following a year of poor returns in 2022. Assets of the largest 300 pension funds grew 10% to $26.2 trillion at the end of last year, according to WTW’s Thinking Ahead Institute in the firm’s “Global Top 300 Pension Funds” report.  

Despite strong returns in 2023, pension assets have not returned to all-time highs yet, due to their 12.9% decline in 2022

Across the 300 funds tracked by WTW, which include defined benefit, defined contribution, hybrid plans and reserve funds, 144 were based in the U.S., making up 37.9% of all AUM.  

The Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan took the top spot as the largest asset owner on the list with $1.593 trillion in assets at the end of 2023, followed by Norway’s Government Pension Fund at $1.584 trillion, South Korea’s National Pension Fund at $801.864 billion, the U.S. Federal Retirement Thrift with $782.835 billion and the Netherlands’ ABP with $552.376 billion. 

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Defined benefit plans made up 60.8% of all assets, while defined contribution plans made up 26.4% of assets at the end of 2023. Reserve funds—those set aside by governments to guarantee pension payouts into the future—made up 10% of assets. Hybrid plans that incorporate both DB and DC components made up 3% of assets.  

The 20 largest funds by size had a weighted average allocation of 40.8% to equities, 42.2% to bonds and 17% to alternatives and cash. 

In North America and the Asia Pacific region, defined benefit plans accounted for a majority of pension assets at 72% and 62.5%, respectively. In Asia Pacific, defined contribution plans accounted for 29.1% of assets, and reserve funds accounted for 8.4%. 

In North America, defined contribution plans accounted for 28% of all assets. There were no reported hybrid or reserve funds in this segment. In Europe, defined benefit plans made up 45.8% of all assets, while defined contribution plans accounted for 12.8%, reserve funds 36.9% and hybrid plans 4.6%.  

Other key findings of the study include: 

  • The 20 largest funds made up 42.1% of AUM in 2023, up from 41.5% in 2022; 
  • Latin American and African funds reported the highest five-year annualized returns, at 7.7%, compared with Asia-Pacific (5.2%), European (4.5%) and North American (4.2%); and  
  • The 300 largest pension funds represented 40.7% of global pension assets. 

 

Related Stories: 

US Remains Biggest Force in Pension Realm, per Study 

Pension Assets in Largest Markets Climbed Almost 11% in 2023 

World’s Largest Asset Managers Lost $18T in 2022, According to WTW 

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