Opening infrastructure could encourage Canada’s pension funds to invest more domestically

The Government of Canada is exploring ways to increase investments in the country’s pension fund equities, but doing so sacrifices returns, according to The Economist. Over the past decade, Canadian mid and small-cap stocks have returned just 3-4% each year, while U.S. stocks have seen a 13% return annually. Opening infrastructure to investment is another way to encourage pension funds to invest more of their capital domestically. According to research by McGill Desautels Associate Professor Sebastien Betermier, Canadian funds already invest a disproportionate amount in domestic bonds, property, and stocks. However, they invest relatively little in domestic infrastructure because it is not available to them. Betermier proposes that Canada make infrastructure an asset class that pension funds can invest in, as countries like Australia and India already have.