The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board started off the new year by selling stakes in two joint ventures – one in North America and the other in China.
The first is its 45% interest in Goodman North American Partnership, for US$2.2 billion. CPP Investments had held its stake in the logistics and industrial property joint venture with Australia’s Goodman Group since 2012.
The pension fund giant said it will continue to work with Goodman. The two organizations have partnered in several markets.
“The proceeds from this transaction… give us the ability to redeploy capital towards new investment opportunities,” said Max Biagosch, global head of real assets & head of Europe for CPP Investments.
CPP Investments announced separately that it will sell its 49% stake in four real estate projects held jointly with Longfor Group Holdings. The sale, to an affiliate of Dajia Insurance Group, will garner the fund $235 million.
The holdings include four retail malls, and connected office and rental housing properties in Shanghai, Suzhou, Chengdu and Chongqing.
China’s government announced plans to enact “moderately loose” monetary policies in December to stabilize the domestic real estate market.
The Asia-Pacific region made up 21% of CPP Investments’ holdings as of Mar. 31, according to its annual report. Those placements earned a net return of just 0.1% in fiscal 2024.
The fund held assets valued worth $675.1 billion at the end of September. The Canadian federal government is exploring ways to encourage pension funds to invest more at home. Ottawa removed the 30% cap on voting shares that Canadian pension funds can hold in domestic companies.
About 12% of CPP Investment’s portfolio was invested domestically as of Mar. 31.