Buy Canadian movement shouldn鈥檛 interfere with prudent pension fund management
The Trump administration鈥檚 tariffs have catalyzed a cross-country movement to buy Canadian products. But will that movement affect the how Canada鈥檚 big pension funds manage their portfolios? The eight largest pension plans in Canada hold more than $2 trillion in assets, but only about a quarter of those assets are Canadian. Some Canadian politicians and business leaders have called for our pension plans to invest more of their money at home, but government involvement in pension fund management can get in the way of these funds primary objective鈥攖o deliver returns for pension plan members. 鈥淚f a government can dismiss an entire board鈥攁s recently happened in Alberta鈥攊t is not as independent as you wish it to be,鈥� Prof. Sebastien Betermier told Bloomberg. 鈥淎nd that potentially affects other funds too. It鈥檚 a top-of-mind question because it affects your ability to be long-term focused.