For years the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has been Canada's biggest investor, managing the assets of an assortment of public and private pension funds in Quebec. When it last reported its financial results as of June 30 this year, it had assets under management totalling $135.8-billion.
But the Canada Pension Plan is taking a run at the title. The fund, whose assets are managed by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, reported its financial results Wednesday, disclosing its assets grew by $8.9-billion to $138.6-billion in the fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30. Advantage CPPIB.
But before anyone puts the gold medal around CEO David Denison's neck, we have to wait to see what the Caisse reports for its 2010 returns. Unlike the CPPIB, which reports its results quarterly, the Caisse only opens its books twice a year. That means investors will know early next year where the Caisse's assets stand as of Dec. 31.
Although the CPPIB has the advantage of having new contributions pour in while it does not have to use its assets to fund pensions until 2021, smart money might bet on the Caisse to stay biggest for a while longer. If the Caisse earned the same 6.6 per cent return as the CPPIB in the quarter ended Sept. 30, its asset level would have topped $144-billion by that date.
The year is far from over, and pension funds often earn significantly different returns in the same periods, depending on where they have more and less of their assets invested. So things could change. And the CPPIB can still brag about being Canada's largest single-purpose investment fund, which means it is a single fund and not an agglomeration of various pension plans like the Caisse.
With the S&P/TSX composite index up 14 per cent since June 30 -- and U.S. markets posting their best September returns in 70 years -- it hardly matters which fund stands biggest by Dec. 31. The biggest winners will be the plan members.