Faced with the rout of the markets, the Caisse de depot et placement fared well last year, posting a return of -5.6%, which largely beats that of its benchmark index.
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This negative return translated into a loss of $24.6 billion which helped to reduce its net assets to $401.9 billion.
“A negative return, we never rejoice,” agreed the CEO of the Caisse, Charles Emond, at a press conference Thursday in Montreal.
The return of -5.6% recorded by the Caisse is still higher than that of the “benchmark portfolio” to which it is compared, which posted a return of -8.3% in 2022.
Over five years, the Caisse’s annualized return is 5.8% (compared to 4.9% for the index) while over 10 years, it is 8.0% (7.0% for the index). ).
It was the fixed income sector (bonds and loans) that experienced the most difficulties last year, with a return of -14.9% and investment losses of $20.1 billion. The index did even worse with a return of -16.4%, according to the Caisse.
Tough year on the stock market
The listed equity portfolio also fared poorly with a return of -11.3% and investment losses of close to $14 billion. The Caisse narrowly beat its index, which posted a return of -11.4%.
Note that the institution completed its withdrawal from the oil sector in 2022, which negatively affected its performance.
The Caisse was more successful with its private placements, made up of shares in unlisted companies and investments in funds. The Caisse outperformed the market with a return of 2.8% in this sector, compared to 0% for the benchmark index.
The real estate subsidiary, Ivanhoé Cambridge, had a good year with a return of 12.4%, while the index posted a gain of 9.2%.
Infrastructure investments performed even better with a return of 11.5%, well above the index’s 0.8% increase.