Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) channelled over $3bn (£2.2bn) into alternative credit in the last financial year, including a $1.5bn commitment to a separately managed account (SMA) managed by Blackstone.
CPP Investments, which manages the assets of the C$793.3bn (£428bn) Canada Pension Plan Fund, reported in its full-year results for the period ending 31 March that it invested across private credit, structured and asset-backed credit, real estate debt and mezzanine-like credit strategies.
The firm’s largest investment in the space was a $1.5bn SMA managed by Blackstone, which is designed to invest globally across diversified credit strategies, including fund commitments spanning private corporate credit, asset-based and real estate credit, structured products and liquid credit, its results said.
One of CPP Investments included participation in a significant risk transfer deal, investing $75m in the first-loss tranche of a transaction issued by a scaled non-bank lender in the US.
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Other examples included a C$225m investment in a loan to construct a hyperscale data centre expansion in Cambridge, Ontario, as well as $300m commitment in the partial royalty monetisation of Leqvio, a cardiovascular drug used in the treatment of hyperlipidaemia.
Following the last financial year-end, CPP Investments also confirmed that it committed $1bn in financing to Blackstone Private Credit Fund, a US-based investment fund focused on providing senior secured loans to large, performing companies.
Alongside committing over $3bn to alternative credit, which represents nine per cent of its asset allocation, the firm also invested in real assets and private equities in the last financial year.
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Overall, CPP Investments ended the fiscal year with net assets of C$793.3bn, compared with C$714.4bn at the end of the fiscal 2025 year. The C$78.9bn increase in net assets comprised of C$56.9bn in net income and C$22bn in net transfers from the Canada Pension Plan.
“Fiscal 2026 was a strong year for CPP Investments,” said John Graham, president and chief executive. “In a period marked by geopolitical uncertainty, market volatility and currency movements, we delivered a 7.8 per cent net return and the fund grew to more than C$790bn.”
Read more: Canadian pension funds expand into private credit
