Quebec's Caisse returns 12% in 2014, surpassing its benchmark

Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Montreal, on Wednesday reported a 12% investment return in 2014, generating C$23.3 billion (US$18.7 billion) in net assets.

The returns, combined with C$1.9 billion in contributions, raise Caisse's overall assets under management to C$225.9 billion, up 12.9% from the end of 2013.

The investment return at Caisse, which manages assets for provincial, municipal and other pension funds in Quebec as well as other provincial entities, was above its 11.4% custom benchmark for the year.

Caisse's 47% overall public and private equity allocation returned 13.9% in 2014, above the 12% benchmark; within the allocation, public equity, which makes up 37% of total assets, returned 14.4% vs. its 11.9% benchmark, while private equity, at 10% of total assets, returned 12.1% vs. its 12.5% benchmark.

Inflation-sensitive investments — real estate, real return and infrastructure — was 17% of total assets and returned 11%, below its benchmark return of 13.9%. Within the allocation, real estate, at 10% of assets, had a 9.9% return vs. the 11.1% benchmark; infrastructure, at 5%, returned 13.2% vs. the benchmark 21.5%; and real return, at 2% of assets, had a 13.2% return, the same as its benchmark.

Its 36% fixed-income portfolio returned 8.4%, compared to its 8.5% custom benchmark.

The annualized return for the five years ended Dec. 31 was 10.4% and for the 10 years ended the same date, 6.5%.