The Ontario Pension Board (OPB) produced an investment return of 11.9% in 2012 as a result of its diverse asset mix.
“We held an overweight position in the strong U.S. equity market and an underweight position in the weaker Canadian equity and fixed income markets,” said Jill Pepall, the board’s chief investment officer, in the annual report. “We also had significant exposure to emerging markets, which performed well.”
The OPB’s emerging market portfolio returned 18.9% in 2012. It has a higher-than-average exposure of about 15% to emerging markets because it believes that developing nations will drive global growth.
She added that an increased and successful focus on private markets—particularly real estate—also played an important role.
The OPB is the administrator of the Public Service Pension Plan, a DB plan sponsored by the Government of Ontario. The membership base is made up of certain employees of the provincial government and its agencies, boards and commissions.
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