2023-12-18 05:00:00
About $53 billion. This is the colossal sum that the Caisse de dépôt et placement holds in private funds. However, it is impossible to know in which companies the money ended up.
• Read also: $1.5B of our money invested in secret
• Read also: Foreign managers help the Fund
The institution flatly refuses to say how many different funds it has investments in and how much money in total is there.
“The disclosure sought would likely result in revealing strategic positions and might […] place the Fund in a position of vulnerability, thus causing it significant harm,” argues Claude Mikhail, responsible for access to information, in his response to a request from the Journal.
More than 400 funds
The Fund’s annual report does not include any section dedicated specifically to these funds. But going through the institution’s list of investments, we identified more than 400 funds in which approximately $53 billion was invested at the end of 2022 (real estate, stock, bond, hedge funds, etc.) .
This represented approximately 13% of the Fund’s total assets, which then amounted to $402 billion. The proportion is the same as in 2018, when the institution held around $40 million in funds.
How many companies have these funds invested in? What are they? How have the external managers performed? Their management fees? For the Caisse, Quebecers are not entitled to this information.
“It’s a shame that it’s not public because there are still issues,” laments Ivan Tchotourian, professor at Laval University and governance expert.
Ivan Tchotourian Photo taken from the Laval University website
Funds demand silence
“For reasons of confidentiality agreements signed, at the request of the funds (a common industry practice), we cannot reveal the underlying assets of each of these funds,” explains a spokesperson for the Caisse. , Jean-Benoît Houde.
Raphaël Duguay, assistant professor at Yale University and specialist in transparency in the financial sector, maintains, however, that the constraints mentioned by the institution are not as widespread as it suggests.
“I think in many cases they have the freedom” to reveal more information regarding fund investments, he said.
Raphaël Duguay Photo taken from the Yale University website
Virtuous or embarrassing companies?
The Caisse would benefit from putting forward certain “virtuous” investments that it makes through external funds, notes Mr. Tchotourian.
More transparency might also allow it to confront activists who regularly call its reputation into question by suspecting it of investing in companies that are “polluting or disrespectful of human rights,” he says.
Bernard Morency, a former vice-president of the Caisse, believes that the Caisse is right to call on external funds. “These people have a network, therefore access to investments that the Caisse does not necessarily have, especially outside of Canada,” he emphasizes.
Rules to review
On the other hand, Mr. Morency believes that the time has perhaps come for the government to review the Caisse’s disclosure rules. These date back at least 20 years, well before the institution invested massively in private funds and companies not listed on the stock exchange.
“The Fund is reasonably transparent […] but it’s certain that we live with rules that are more than 20 years old,” he says.
Bernard Morency Photo taken from the Laval University website
In the United States, the market policeman, the Securities and Exchange Commission, tightened the supervision of private funds in August. The latter immediately responded by launching a legal challenge to the new rules.
The Fund’s five most popular firms
Source: Caisse de dépôt et placement (approximate amounts)
Fees paid by the Caisse to external managers
In 2022: $845 M
In 2021: $999 M
Source: Caisse de dépôt et placement
Do you have any information to share with us regarding this story?
Write to us at or call us directly at 1 800-63SCOOP.
1702888626
#Caisse #refuses #lift #veil #tens #billions #dollars #funds
