Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

Originally modeled on the Canada Pension Plan, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec was established on July 15, 1965, to manage funds deposited by the Régie des rentes du Québec, the province's pension board, which was created one month earlier. The number of depositors to the Caisse, which has grown steadily since that time, currently exceeds 20 and consists primarily of public and parapublic pension funds and insurance plans.

The legal mandate of the Caisse is to increase the assets of depositors, a responsibility that traditionally it has sought to fulfil while promoting economic development in Quebec. In general, it has been successful in meeting this dual objective, with performance comparing favourably to the Canada Pension Plan, and, frequently, to other Canadian institutional portfolios and standard reference indices.

The early investments of the Caisse were essentially comprised of Quebec and Hydro-Québec bonds, a portion of which served as key backing for hydroelectric development in Churchill Falls, Labrador. In 1997, its incorporating act was modified to allow the majority of its assets under management to be invested in equities. The Caisse is currently Canada's largest institutional investor, the primary holder of TSX-listed stocks and the holder of the country's largest real property portfolio. To maximize yield, the fund has established multiple subsidiaries specializing in investments in open and closed-capital companies in communications, new technologies, small business and large corporations and real estate. Due to its size, the fund is increasingly turning to foreign investment, and has opened offices in Europe, Asia and Latin America to seek out the best investment prospects. The fund's current objectives include making Montreal a world-class financial centre and doubling its assets by 2005. It is currently prospecting worldwide to win management assignments for its skilled team of some 400 experts. The Caisse has made caution and bold action its watchwords.

Author RUDY LE COURS

0
0
Absolutely free, with over 40,000 articles in French and English, The Canadian Encyclopedia is the ultimate online resource for all things Canadian, from history, sports, arts, science, technology, and much, much more. Get started at www.TheCanadianEncyclopedia.com
Feature Articles
Maisonneuve and the Founding of Montreal

The story of the founding of Montreal is perhaps unique in history....

INSIDE TCE

Gallery
Browse the rich visual resources of The Canadian Encyclopedia through thematic galleries of Canadian Art, History, Nature, People, and Science and Technology.
Interactive Resources
Illustrations, lively text, animations, sounds and games help make learning about Canadian history, art, geography, architecture and other topics entertaining as well as informative.
Canucklehead
The ultimate test of your knowledge of Canada, trivial and otherwise. You can choose from more than 60 dynamic quizzes with visual or text clues. Your scores depend on the speed with which you answer and the number of clues you need. Results are sent to you by email and high scores are posted on the site.
Timeline
This unique resource includes more than 6000 events from Canadian and world history. It can be searched by era, subject, keyword or date. To find out what happened on your birthday, select the month and day of your birth.
100 Greatest Events
This selection of the 100 "greatest" events in Canadian history was made by editor in chief James H. Marsh to draw attention to events that have left an indelible memory in the minds of later generations.