The pension giant plans to triple its Asia staff from 25 people to 75, and open offices in Mumbai and Singapore. Its London office, where the fund oversees its European investments, could grow from 30 people to 50 over the next two years. It could also shift as much as $11 billion into infrastructure and other physical assets on the two continents. Also Monday, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) reported a 1.1 per cent return on investments, as overseas investments were worth less when converted to Canadian currency, due to the strengthening dollar. (Reuters)

Talking point: OTPP’s planned asset shift follows the moves of other larger pension funds. CPPIB, Canada’s largest pension fund, currently derives the majority of its earnings from overseas. The move also comes ahead of OTPP getting a new CEO in Jo Taylor. Set to take over in January 2020, Taylor has significant experience on both continents. He was based in London and Hong Kong between 2016 and 2018, running OTPP’s operations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. OTPP is already stepping up its Asian investments. Earlier in August, the fund invested up to US$1 billion in an Indian sovereign wealth fund and participated in a US$489-million investment in Dream Cruises from Genting Hong Kong.

 

Correction: A previous version of this briefing used the pronoun she for Jo Taylor. The correct pronoun is he. The piece has been updated.