Elo Gauthier Lamothe, The Canadian Press
MONTREAL — In its annual report released Sunday, Global SWF named the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) “2022 Fund of the Year” for its impact on the development of the province, its leadership with sovereign investors and as well as for its significant investment activity over the past twelve months.
The firm Global SWF, a world reference which studies the activities of some 400 public investors and pension funds, underlined in a press release that the CDPQ was “unique” because of its management of public capital and pension contributions as well as its its “dual mandate” of achieving optimal financial returns and contributing to the province’s economic development.
“CDPQ has become one of the largest, most active and sophisticated global investors in the world. Over the past ten years, the fund has always been among the top 10 investors and knows how to identify opportunities to monetize assets at the national and international level”, could we read in the press release written in English.
According to data compiled by Global SWF, the CDPQ would have invested approximately US$10 billion in private markets in 2022 alone, in addition to employing more than 1,450 people, 89% of whom sit in Canada and 162 abroad.
Charles Emond, President and CEO of the CDPQ, said he was “very happy” to receive this honor, adding that Global SWF was “a reference in the industry”.
“I would say that our very ambitious climate strategy, our dual mandate and our performance are the three reasons why we received this award, and we are very proud of it,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press. I also think that our target of 100 billion in assets in Quebec by 2026 has been noticed”.
According to the Global SWF press release, the Caisse plans to increase its current investment footprint from US$59 billion to US$74 billion (or C$100 billion) over the next few years. The announcement was made by the president last December.
Mr. Emond pointed out that the CDPQ also provided Quebec companies with “world-class expertise”, in addition to helping them invest massively internationally.
“Our clients have access to recognized expertise, whether in ESG (Environment, Social and Governance), climate and geopolitics or cybersecurity. We have also invested in the technology sector to bring out new companies that are dominant in their respective sectors,” he said.
For the future, the president said he wanted to “stay at the forefront on the climate level”, in addition to “move the industry towards what is anticipated in terms of sustainable investment”.
“We play a leading role in several initiatives, and we are trying to pave the way with some of our peers to live up to the expectations that customers have of us,” concluded Mr. Emond.
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This article was produced with the financial support of the Meta Fellowships and The Canadian Press for News.