The CPP Investments Board: Bloated Underperformer Or World-Leading Value Creator?

“To have spent all this money, more than $56 billion since 2007, in the fruitless quest to beat the market, and then to in fact deliver returns that substantially underperform what could have been achieved by a passive management strategy at a fraction of the cost, is nothing short of a massive public policy debacle. Maybe some day the Canadian media might even begin to take notice.”

Andrew Coyne, The Globe and MailMay 21, 2026

“Over the past decade, a columnist has published more than 30 articles and 120 social media posts critiquing CPP Investments, consistently advancing the same arguments about active management, high costs, and even the length of our Annual Report…. Media commentary should be grounded in fact and  reflect a clear understanding of our legislated mandate…. In that context, we set out the following facts: over the last 10 years the CPP Fund has outperformed its own deliberately demanding benchmarks. In addition, Global SWF ranks CPP Investments second among the world’s largest 25 pension funds based on 10-year returns. Our transparency is widely recognized, ranking first or second in the Global  Pension Transparency Benchmark over the last three years….. Canadians have a national pension fund in which they can take pride. The CPP Fund has grown steadily, achieving world-leading risk-adjusted returns after all costs. It remains on track to serve beneficiaries well in the future. Opinions are welcome, but facts must ground the debate. And the facts are clear: CPP Investments continues to deliver for Canadians today and into the future ”

CPP InvestmentsJune 3, 2026

What Is ‘Active Management’?

While the ‘Andrew Coyne vs. CPP Investments’ debate has been entertaining to watch over the course of the last decade, it has been dodging an important point that deserves attention: what exactly is ‘active management’ and what is it supposed to accomplish? The narrow definition focuses on the question of whether the investment goal is to simply match the performance of a financial market (i.e., passive management) or to attempt to outperform it through active management. In the latter case, the investor is willing to hold portfolios that differ from the market portfolio or proxies of it, presumably based on an  ability to distinguish between under and over-valued investment opportunities over time. There is growing recognition that this required predictive ability is rare and difficult to identify.ⁱ