The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board squeaked out a positive return in its second fiscal quarter, with private assets providing a buffer against declining stocks and bonds.
CPP Investments posted a net return of 0.1% for the three months ended Sept. 30 after reporting a small loss in the previous quarter. For the first half of its 2024 fiscal year, the fund’s net return was negative 0.7%.
Net assets for Canada’s largest pension fund totalled $576 billion on Sept. 30, up from $575 at the end of the previous quarter. The increase came from a $488-million gain in net income and $700 million in net transfers from the Canada Pension Plan.
Private equity and credit investments drove quarterly returns along with gains in U.S. dollar–denominated assets, CPP Investments said, as the U.S. dollar strengthened against the loonie. The fund saw losses in fixed income and public equities as markets reacted to higher interest rate expectations.
“Our diversified portfolio remains resilient, and while we expect these challenging investing conditions to persist for the near term, we are confident that our active management strategy will continue to deliver positive long-term results for CPP contributors and beneficiaries,” CPP Investments president and CEO John Graham said in a release.
The fund’s 10-year net annualized return is 9.6%.
Earlier this week, CPP Investments said it sold a $2.1-billion portfolio of private equity investments to Ardian, a private investment firm based in France. Ardian opened a Montreal office last month.
The sale involved a portfolio of 20 limited partnership fund interests in mostly North American and European buyout funds.