CAAT Pension Plan hunting for more private investments at home

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CAAT Pension Plan is searching for Canadian real estate and infrastructure investments, continuing its strategy of investing for the long term as President Donald Trump’s erratic trade policy disrupts public markets.

Canadian investments comprise about a quarter of the Toronto-based fund’s C$23.3 billion of assets, CAAT said in a statement Tuesday, when the pension reported a 15.2% return for 2024.

“We are very interested in continuing to invest in our own country,” Chief Investment Officer Asif Haque said in an interview, adding that the firm is also “intrigued” by opportunities in European private markets and Asian investments.

Canadian pension fund managers are grappling with a new reality this year amid Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, which has disturbed public markets and weakened the outlook for US private equity deals. While the market volatility concerns Haque, he said he also sees “pockets of opportunity” across public and private markets.

The fund’s returns were driven by investments in public equity such as stocks and private equity, which gained 29% and 16%, respectively. Real assets returned 4.6%, while commodities earned about 17%. Credit advanced 11%.

The pension plan will continue building out its real estate and infrastructure portfolio this year after making some investments in energy transition, industrial real estate and multiresidential properties. Real assets comprise 17% of the pension’s total, and CAAT aims to boost that to 25%.

Originally created for the Ontario college system, CAAT now invests pension assets for 700 employers and more than 110,000 members in various industries.