PSP Investments posts 4.4% return despite 'challenging' markets

financialpost.com:

The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) generated a net portfolio return of 4.4 per cent for the fiscal year that ended March 31 despite “challenging” markets, with officials crediting a combination of private market investments, international expansion and currency exposure.

Net assets under management grew to $243.7 billion from $230.5 billion, including $10.2 billion in net income and net transfers from the federal government of $2.9 billion, with double-digit one-year returns in asset classes including infrastructure, credit investments and natural resources.

While overall 2023 results did not reach the double-digit return of 10.9 per cent achieved in fiscal 2022, PSP Investments met a handful of financial objectives, including beating the 10-year return of a reference portfolio after costs. At the end of the most recent fiscal year, PSP’s 10-year net annualized return of 9.2 per cent exceeded the reference portfolio return of 7.6 per cent. 

It was a “challenging year for both equities and fixed income” investments, said Deborah Orida, who took over as chief executive of PSP Investments on Sept. 1, 2022 after 13 years at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, where her roles included running CPPIB’s real assets department, encompassing infrastructure and real estate, and a six-year stint in Hong Kong.

“These results are indicative of the resilience of our diversified portfolio, the quality of our people, and our track record of entrepreneurialism that has supported the development of market-leading capabilities in areas such as infrastructure, natural resources, and private credit,” she said.

Orida credited “forward thinking and smart execution” for the pension’s performance and said these