CPP makes rare infra debt commitment

Name: Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
HQ: Toronto, Canada
AUM: C$529 billion ($393 billion; €383 billion)
Allocations to alternatives: 66%

CPP Investments has announced its first commitment to an infrastructure debt vehicle for more than a decade, according to a press release from the Canadian pension.

The C$529 billion pension has confirmed a commitment of 18.5 billion rupees ($230 million; €218 billion) to the first close of the Kotak Infrastructure Investment Fund (KIIF).

According to Infrastructure Investor data, the pension has not put capital into infrastructure debt since before 2008. KIIF is being raised by Kotak Investment Advisors and will provide senior and secured financing to operating infrastructure projects in India, across the transportation, power, water, digital infrastructure and other infrastructure-related sectors.

The fund also maintains an established ESG policy. As per this policy, the fund manager qualifies and quantifies the ESG risks and impacts of potential investees against the applicable ESG regulatory requirements in their jurisdiction of operation and good international industry practices and defines measures to align their performance with the same metrics.

Prior to CPP’s backing, the fund also received a $100 million commitment from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in September 2022.

Founded in 2005, Kotak Investment Advisors is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kotak Mahindra Bank that focuses on private equity, real estate, infrastructure and debt fund investments across India.

CPP allocates 9 percent of its total investment portfolio to infrastructure, comprising around C$47.6 billion in capital. As illustrated below, its recent infrastructure commitments have focused on core vehicles that invest in the energy and renewables sectors in North America and Western Europe.

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