Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec’s (CDPQ) real estate portfolio, particularly in the US office sector, continued to weigh on the firm’s overall performance in 2024, whilst its infrastructure portfolio remained a strong performer during the period.
CDPQ’s C$41.87bn (€27.9bn) real estate portfolio recorded a one-year return of -10.8% and an annualised five-year return of -2.2%, significantly below its index’s 1% and 0.7%, respectively. This underperformance was attributed to a concentration in US offices and an initial overexposure to shopping centres.
However, the exposure to logistics, which has increased over five years, was profitable during the period, the Canadian investor said.
CDPQ held the number six position in the IPE Real Assets Top 150 Real Estate Investors 2024 rankings.
CDPQ said its C$64bn infrastructure portfolio delivered a 9.5% return in 2024, a performance driven by port and energy assets and high current yield. Its benchmark index recorded a return of 15%, which was heavily influenced by public energy and electricity stocks, particularly those boosted by AI-related demand.
Over five years, the infrastructure portfolio recorded a 10% annualised return, surpassing the index’s 5.4%.
CDPQ ranked second in the IPE Real Assets Top 100 Infrastructure Investors 2024 list.
For the year ending 31 December 2024, the C$473bn Canadian fund reported a 9.4% weighted average return on depositors’ funds, falling short of its benchmark portfolio’s 11.8% return. However, its five-year annualised return of 6.2% outperformed the benchmark portfolio’s 5.9% return.
Charles Emond, president and CEO of CDPQ, said: “The 2024 market environment was characterised by the vitality of the US economy, rising long-term bond yields and a historic level of concentration in the main stock indexes, boosted by technology companies.
“During this period, our performance was driven by our equity market, private equity and infrastructure activities, but was affected by persistent headwinds in real estate, particularly in the US office sector.”
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