OTTAWA: Canada’s largest pension is planning to roughly double the money it invests in hedge funds over the next five to seven years, a bullish signal from one of the industry’s most important backers.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) plans to boost its total hedge fund allocation to about US$160bil in the coming years, according to people familiar with the matter.
It is particularly interested in gaining exposure to hedge fund giants it doesn’t currently invest with, including Izzy Englander’s Millennium Management, said the people, asking not to be named discussing internal deliberations.
The C$866bil (US$608bil) pension currently has about US$80bil invested in hedge funds, according to the people.
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• The move aligns with CPPIB’s expectation that its total assets will also roughly double in the same period, and follows hedge‑fund contributions that generated US$3.4 billion of net income for its Capital Markets and Factor Investing segment in the year to March.
• CPPIB is targeting new relationships with large managers it does not yet use, notably Millennium Management led by Izzy Englander, signalling a broader diversification strategy.
• If successful, the expanded allocation could boost overall portfolio returns and reinforce CPPIB’s role as a key backer of the hedge‑fund industry, while increasing market demand for top‑tier funds.