CPPIB surpasses $200 billion of net assets, with 5.9 per cent return in Q3

TORONTO – The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board earned a 5.9 per cent return in the third quarter ended Dec. 31, as it saw gains in equities and invested in a number of land and real estate deals.

CPPIB says it had net assets of $201.5 billion at the end of December, up from $192.8 billion at the end of September.

This is the first time the board has surpassed $200 billion in net assets, which included $11.1 billion in net investment income.

CPPIB, one of Canada’s biggest pension fund managers, invests money not currently needed by the Canada Pension Plan to pay benefits for some 18 million current and retired contributors.

Among CPPIB’s major deals in the third quarter, it acquired Assiniboia Farmland LP, a fund manager that owns a portfolio of agricultural lands in Saskatchewan, for $128 million.

It also spent $468.2 million for a 15 per cent stake in ORPEA SA, a European long-term care provider and acquired a half-interest in an Australian property portfolio valued at $2.74 billion.

Earlier this week, the board announced that it has committed US$250 million to a fund that will provide debt financing for residential projects in India’s largest cities. The fund will focus on developments in the Delhi national capital region, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai.

CPPIB’s president and chief executive, Mark Wiseman, said it will open new offices in New York and Sao Paulo, Brazil, as it continues to grow its global presence and focus on international investments in 2014.

“With an investment horizon that extends over multiple generations, we remain focused on our long-term growth plans rather than performance during any particular quarter,” Wiseman said Friday.

“It is with that focus in mind that we continued to diversify the portfolio globally with a number of notable investments during the recent quarter carried out in multiple markets,” he said in a statement.