Private equity’s fall in returns is weeding out weaker players, says CDPQ chief Charles Emond

PRIVATE equity is undergoing a “structural transformation” where returns are being compressed and a process of “natural selection” is weeding out weaker players, said Charles Emond, president and chief executive of Canada pension investment firm La Caisse.

La Caisse’s portfolio comprises C$496 billion in assets, invested on behalf of 48 pensions and insurance funds and benefiting more than six million people in Quebec, Canada.

As at end-December 2024, equities’ share of asset allocation was at 44 per cent or C$219.4 billion comprising public equities (C$129.4 billion) and private equity (C$90 billion)