What this module covers
Canada's largest public pension plans hold a substantial part of their portfolios in private assets. This module describes what three of them hold and the features of their structure that allow it. It then sets out the three reasons usually given for holding private assets: the illiquidity premium, diversification, and different sources of return. It ends with how institutional portfolios differ from individual ones, and why.
- Three plans and their asset mix
- What the plans' structure allows
- The illiquidity premium
- Diversification and appraisal-based valuation
- Different return drivers
- Institutional and individual portfolios
Three plans and their asset mix
CPP Investments manages the assets of the Canada Pension Plan. It reported net assets of $793.3 billion at the end of its fiscal year on March 31, 2026 (CPP Investments, fiscal 2026 results news release, May 2026). It reports its portfolio in six asset classes: public equities, private equities, government bonds, credit, real estate and infrastructure. Private equities, real estate and infrastructure are held mainly in private form, not bought or sold on a stock exchange, and part of the credit portfolio is private lending. Together these make up a large share of the fund.
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), which manages assets for Quebec's public pension and insurance plans, follow the same broad pattern. Each holds a large share of its portfolio in private equity, real estate, infrastructure and private credit, alongside listed stocks and bonds. Each publishes its asset mix in its annual report.
Two cautions apply to any comparison of their figures. The proportions change from year to year, with market prices and with each plan's own decisions. And each plan defines its asset classes differently, so a percentage from one plan's report is not directly comparable with a percentage from another's.
The plans operate with actuaries, risk managers, investment committees and boards, and they report publicly on their holdings and results. Their allocations to private assets are deliberate policy, and the reasons usually given for them fall into three groups, described below.