Activity Overview 1998 (CDPQ)

Summary

• Total assets managed exceeded $83 billion at the end of 1998, and the overall return was 10.2%.p.4
• Bonds made up 40.8% and Canadian equities 25.3% of investments at 31 December 1998.p.9
• The specialized bond portfolio returned 9.3% and short-term securities returned 5.4%.p.9
• The Participations Group subsidiaries achieved a return of 27.8% in 1998.p.11
• The real estate portfolio returned 9.7%, with investments of $8.6 billion, and the mortgage portfolio returned 7.1%.p.15
• Stock trading in Montreal totalled $7.8 billion, or 9.3% of all operations on that exchange, against 8.1% in 1997.p.19

Key insights

1. Capital Communications CDPQ achieved a return of 46.4% in 1998.p.12
2. Capital International CPDQ achieved a return of 17.6% in 1998.p.13
3. Capital CDPQ can invest up to $1 million in equity and $2 million in loans in promising SMEs.p.11
4. The portfolio of small-cap Quebec companies grew from $162 million in 1997 to $227 million, returning 24.5% against 14.3% for its sub-index.p.19
5. Mortgage activities produced a favourable spread of 194 basis points over Canadian bonds.p.17
6. Investments in the euro zone represent about 5% of all investments.p.18
7. The Caisse has 47 chartered financial analysts (CFA), the largest concentration in Canada.p.5