2023-11-15 05:00:00
The pandemic break is well and truly over at the Caisse de dépôt. The institution’s travel costs exploded during the first six months of the year.
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From January 1 to June 30, the Fund spent more than $5.6 million on travel, or 69% more than the $3.3 million spent for this purpose during the first half of 2019, before the health crisis.
This increase is significantly higher than the increase in the Fund’s net assets, which reached 30% between June 2019 and June 2023, that of operating expenses (+38%), that of employees working outside of Quebec (+33%) and that of assets held outside Canada (+46%).
Caisse employees made more than 1,300 trips during the first six months of 2023, the institution indicated in response to a request for access to information from the Journal. On average, 3.5 people participated in each trip. Each person spent an average of $1,175 per trip.
Nearly $3.5 million went to the purchase of plane tickets, more than $1.3 million to hotel reservations and nearly $700,000 for “meals and other items.”
The CEO of the Caisse, Charles Emond, alone made eight trips that cost nearly $45,000 in total during the first half of 2023.
“Evolving needs”
To explain the spectacular increase in travel spending, a spokesperson for the institution, Kate Monfette, cited “evolving business needs” and “the meteoric rise in prices of airline tickets and travel.” ‘accommodation”.
The Fund declined to specify how many different people traveled, the destinations visited and the reasons for each trip. Remember that the institution has approximately 1,600 employees.
The institution also remained discreet regarding the amounts spent on alcohol during these trips. According to an internal policy, “reimbursement of alcohol consumption will only be made during representational meals with external partners”.
Michel Magnan, professor of accounting at the John Molson School of Management at Concordia University and specialist in governance, emphasizes that an institutional investor like the Caisse must hold in-person meetings all over the world.
“To establish business partnerships, you have to develop links, relationships, and meet,” he says. […] In some cultures, personal contact is very important. Without forgetting that knowledge of the field, well, on Teams, it is more difficult to acquire it.
Michel Magnan Photo taken from the Concordia University website
Amazing
Mr. Magnan is, however, surprised by the marked increase in travel expenses at the Caisse.
“In 2023, from a management and governance point of view, we are not back like in 2019. We are in hybrid mode in the sense that we have kept certain habits from the pandemic. We realized that many things worked via Zoom or Teams whereas previously, we would have systematically met in person. […] So, we might even expect a reduction in spending to a certain extent.”
Note that among state-owned companies, Hydro-Québec wins the prize for travel expenses. From July 2022 to June 2023, these reached $55.1 million, up 52% compared to the same period of the previous year. Hydro, however, has more than 22,000 employees.
Travel expenses at the Fund
2023 (first six months): $5.63 million 2022: $5.64 million 2021: $551,000 2020: $786,000 2019: $7.0 million
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