By Nivedita Balu
TORONTO, July 21 (Reuters) - Canada's biggest pension fund, CPP Investments, is tapping large foreign investors from central banks to insurance companies to grow its bond program, the pension fund's Head of Total Fund Management Manroop Jhooty said.
CPP's debt issuance program has over 1,200 investors, C$98 billion ($69.68 billion) in outstanding issuance, and issues bonds in various currencies in Canada, the U.S., and Australia, among other markets. It has issued C$14.5 billion year
to date and aims to issue about C$20 billion this year.
"We have a little bit of a home field advantage in the sense that people in Canada know us, and so it is really focusing a little bit more on the international," said Jhooty, who sees more expansion opportunities in the U.S., Europe and in Asia.
Growth in the program will be in line with the growth of CPP's overall assets, Jhooty said, adding that the bond program is expected to stay roughly around 11% to 12% of assets.
One of CPP's biggest markets in the first months of the year was Australia, where it has issued C$5 billion, followed by the United States with C$3.4 billion. In Canada, the pension fund has issued C$2.9 billion in bonds.
While investors are mostly drawn to the growth of CPP's bond program so far, Canada's profile in the international market has helped to an extent, Jhooty said. Foreign investors have bought Canada’s federal bonds in record amounts, reflecting confidence in Canada as part of a shrinking band of countries whose bonds receive a triple-A credit rating.
Jhooty and John Sim, a managing director in the total fund management group, said government efforts to attract investment and promote Canada as an investment destination had raised the country's profile. CPP is receiving more questions about Canada's investment landscape and viewed that increased interest as a positive outcome of governments' efforts to attract capital to the country, he said.
CPP reported total assets of C$793.3 billion for fiscal 2026. Its assets are projected to grow to about $4.3 trillion by 2050.
($1 = 1.4064 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Toronto; editing by Edward Tobin)
