Canada Pension Plan Investment Board returned a net 1.3% for the fiscal year ended March 31, the Toronto-based board said in a news release Wednesday.
CPPIB, which manages the assets of the Canada Pension Plan, said the pension fund's net assets increased to C$570 billion ($420.8 billion) from C$539 billion a year ago. The fund added that the C$31 billion increase comprised $8 billion in net income and $23 billion in net transfers from the plan.
The one-year fiscal 2023 return compared to an aggregate 0.1% net return by Reference Portfolios, a group of benchmarks of passive, public-market indexes established by CPP.
For the 10-year period through March 31, the portfolio delivered an annualized net return of 10%.
In the prior fiscal year, CPP returned a net 6.8%.
CPP partly attributed the fiscal 2023 results to "returns on investments in infrastructure and certain U.S. dollar-denominated private equity and credit assets, which benefited from foreign exchange."
The fund's performance was partially offset by "significant declines in both equities and fixed income across major markets as high inflation and rising interest rates weighed heavily on both asset classes," CPP noted in the release.
Moreover, the Canadian dollar "depreciated against the U.S. dollar and other major currencies during the year, influenced by the impact of evolving monetary and fiscal policies across global economies," CPP added.
By asset class, as of March 31, 2022, the plan's allocation comprised 33% in private equities, 24% in public equities, 13% in credit, 12% in fixed income and 9% each in infrastructure and real estate, the release noted.
According to the annual report issued in conjunction with the release, the top performing asset classes for fiscal 2023 were private equities, credit and infrastructure, which delivered net returns of 6.8%, 6% and 5.6%, respectively. Public equities rose a net 0.3% for the year, while fixed income and real estate declined a net 0.8% and net 1.2%, respectively.
By geography, as of March 31, 2022, the plan's allocation comprised 36% in the U.S., 26% in Asia-Pacific, 18% in Europe, 14% in Canada and 6% in Latin America, the release added.
The top performing geographical region for the fiscal year was Latin America, up a net 8.4%, followed by the U.S. (3.6%), Europe (1.5%), Asia-Pacific (1.3%) and Canada (0.3%).
The release also included a lengthy list of financial commitments that CPP made in fiscal 2023. Among the largest commitments were $1 billion to Blackstone Capital Partners IX, the flagship fund of Blackstone, which focuses on large-scale, control buyouts in North America, Europe and Asia; €400 million ($431 million) to Sweden-based EQT X, which will pursue investments in high-quality companies operating in attractive sub-sectors within health care, technology, media and telecommunications, services, and industrial technology; $400 million to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Fund XII, which focuses on upper middle market and large value-oriented buyouts, as well as build-ups in North America and Western Europe; $400 million to Carlyle Asia Partners VI, which focuses on control buyouts and minority investments in mid-to-large companies across Asia; and $350 million to Blackstone Credit's BGreen III fund, an energy transition-focused private credit fund that targets global opportunities in a variety of sub-sectors including renewable power generation and storage, energy efficiency services, and critical energy infrastructure.
