CDPQ’s continued commitment to infrastructure made it a shoo-in for the Institutional Investor of the Year in North America.

Judges said: “CDPQ has remained an active investor globally and has invested in a broad range of infrastructure.” 

They added: “CDPQ has evolved into being one of the leading direct infrastructure investors globally demonstrating an increasing appetite for risk and diversification.” 

Indeed, CDPQ remains the world’s largest institutional investor in infrastructure.

At the end of 2023, CDPQ’s assets under management were C$434.2 billion ($245.5bn) with about C$59.8 billion invested in infrastructure.

In 2023, CDPQ’s infrastructure portfolio continued its good performance of recent years, generating a 9.6% return against an index at 0.3%. Assets in essential sectors such as transportation and renewable energy were among the major performance drivers, as was the current return.

Over the past 5 years, the annualized return was 9.5%, (index 5.9%), primarily due to investments in renewable and transition energy and in port and telecommunications assets.

The submission said: “With slower transaction activity in 2023, the team remained disciplined in managing its portfolio, both in selecting acquisitions and in sales and syndication activities.

“The global economic environment has been volatile, with fluctuating interest rates and inflationary pressures impacting investment strategies. Despite these hurdles, our team has demonstrated resilience and adaptability, ensuring the stability and growth of our portfolio.”

CDPQ has positioned itself across a wide range of sectors, and geographies, leveraging its teams local experience and network in various markets to realize various bespoke and auction transactions.

The investor’s major infrastructure accomplishments:

• Achievement of a milestone in delivering the REM with the commissioning of the South Shore Branch on 31 July 2023. Once completed, the 67-km project will represent the longest automated light metro line in the world.
• A C$355 million investment to acquire 50% of A25 Concession, a 7.2-km network comprised of a toll road and bridge in Montréal from Transurban
• A consortium that includes CDPQ Infra, qualified for the procurement process of the High Frequency Rail project between Québec City and Toronto
• An additional investment in Boralex, a renewable energy leader specialized in wind, solar, hydroelectricity and storage, bringing CDPQ’s stake to 15%

During the judging period, CDPQ, through its power transmission platform Verene Energia, agreed to acquire a 124km transmission project from Equatorial Energia.

The project comprises 2 high-tension transmission line segments and 1 substation located in the state Pará, connecting mainly renewable energy to the grid. The lines were built in 2020.

At the end of 2023, CDPQ authorized a future capital injection of $263 million to finance AESI’s business plan. In 2024, CDPQ reinvested to facilitate the addition of 1.3GW of renewable energy capacity and the conversion of remaining coal units.