Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is aiming to invest an additional $10-billion in Canada by the end of 2027, increasing the size of its $100-billion domestic portfolio.
The $303-billion pension fund announced Friday that it intends to add new investments in both publicly traded equities and private assets.
Early next week, hundreds of the world’s top financial sector CEOs and senior executives will gather in Toronto for the inaugural Canada Investment Summit, where Prime Minister Mark Carney will try to attract more foreign investment to the country.
“With about one third of our portfolio in Canada today, we know first-hand the appeal of Canada as an investment destination,” Teachers chief executive officer Jo Taylor said in a statement.
Canada’s largest pension funds have been under pressure from politicians and business leaders to invest more domestically, but have defended their independence and their mandates to invest wherever in the world they can get the best returns for plan members with the least risk.
Teachers said Friday that its new Canadian investments will “meet its return objectives.”
More recently, however, major pension funds have shown more interest in adding to their Canadian portfolios.
In April, the $152-billion Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) said it is looking to add at least $10-billion in new domestic investments over the next five years.
And earlier this week, the $321-billion Public Sector Pension Investment Board said it is aiming to increase its investments in the country by roughly one-third, from $72.4-billion to $100-billion, over the next few years.
