Plan beats 2025 emissions target early and sees gains in public equity, venture growth, and credit
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board posted a 9.4 percent total-fund net return in 2024, significantly higher than the 1.9 percent return in 2023, as it grew net assets to $266.3bn.
Despite the gain, the result fell short of the 12.9 percent benchmark by 3.5 percent, translating into a negative value add of $7.6bn.
Underperformance in private equity and real estate contributed to the benchmark gap.
The plan remained fully funded for the 12th straight year, reporting a $29.1bn preliminary funding surplus as of January 1.
President and CEO Jo Taylor said the team “worked methodically in 2024 to create value in the portfolio, delivering a 9.4 percent return.”
He added that this was significantly higher than the 2023 outcome and more aligned with long-term returns.
According to Taylor, there were positive contributions across the plan, especially in venture growth, credit, inflation-sensitive, and public equity investments.
He said the portfolio's resilience, along with a proactive approach to value creation, positioned them strongly in an unpredictable economic climate.
The plan experienced a $6.9bn foreign currency gain in 2024, mainly from the appreciation of the US dollar against the Canadian dollar. Ontario Teachers’ net exposure to the US dollar remains its largest among foreign currencies.
Long-term performance remains steady
While 2024 performance was below benchmark, Ontario Teachers’ long-term results stayed stable. Since inception in 1990, the annualized net return has been 9.3 percent. The five-year and 10-year net annualized returns stood at 6.9 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively.
|
Time period |
Net return |
|---|---|
|
One-year |
9.40% |
|
Five-year |
6.90% |
|
Ten-year |
7.40% |
|
Since inception |
9.30% |
Asset class performance
Returns varied across asset classes. Venture growth and public equity delivered the strongest results at 25.8 percent and 23.2 percent, respectively, though both trailed their benchmarks.
Private equity returned 11.7 percent, below its 23.7 percent benchmark. Commodities posted a 25.2 percent return, and infrastructure returned 9.1 percent, slightly above benchmark.
Real estate continued to underperform, reporting a negative return of 0.7 percent against a 5 percent benchmark.
|
Asset Class |
2024 Actual Return |
2024 Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
|
Public equity |
23.20% |
25.8% |
|
Private equity |
11.70% |
23.7% |
|
Venture growth |
25.80% |
29.2% |
|
Commodities |
25.20% |
25.2% |
|
Natural resources |
13.30% |
15.0% |
|
Inflation hedge |
9.80% |
9.8% |
|
Real estate |
-0.70% |
5.0% |
|
Infrastructure |
9.10% |
8.5% |
|
Credit |
17.20% |
16.8% |
|
Total-fund return |
9.40% |
12.9% |
Asset mix shifts
Ontario Teachers’ portfolio saw notable changes in its asset composition. Equity investments made up 41 percent of the portfolio, with increases in public equity (from 10 to 14 percent) and venture growth (from 3 to 4 percent).
Fixed income dropped from 39 to 30 percent, while inflation-sensitive assets grew to 21 percent from 19 percent.
|
Asset Class |
2024 Value ($bn) |
% of Portfolio |
2023 Value ($bn) |
% of Portfolio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Public equity |
37.4 |
14% |
25.4 |
10% |
|
Private equity |
60.4 |
23% |
58.5 |
24% |
|
Venture growth |
10.4 |
4% |
7.5 |
3% |
|
Fixed income |
78 |
30% |
94.9 |
39% |
|
Commodities |
28.9 |
11% |
22.2 |
9% |
|
Natural resources |
12.5 |
5% |
11.4 |
5% |
|
Inflation hedge |
12.6 |
5% |
11.8 |
5% |
|
Real estate |
29.4 |
11% |
28.2 |
12% |
|
Infrastructure |
43.2 |
17% |
39.2 |
16% |
|
Credit |
37.2 |
14% |
39.5 |
16% |
|
Absolute return |
24 |
9% |
19.5 |
8% |
|
Funding and other |
-113 |
(43%) |
(114.2) |
(47%) |
|
Net investments |
261 |
100% |
243.9 |
100% |
Major 2024 transactions
Ontario Teachers’ highlighted several investment actions during the year:
- Expanded European logistics real estate portfolio via Boreal IM
- Signed deal to sell stake in Connexa, New Zealand’s largest mobile network
- Merged Fairstone Bank of Canada with Home Trust Company
- Led $95m Series funding for Instagrid, a battery tech firm in Europe
- Agreed to co-acquire Max Matthiessen, a Nordic financial services firm
- Invested in Omega Healthcare
- Completed sale of Shearer’s Foods, a North American snack manufacturer
- Co-led $140m fundraising for SmartHR in Japan
Climate and corporate updates
Ontario Teachers’ met its 2025 interim climate goal one year early, reducing portfolio emissions intensity by 49 percent from 2019 levels. The initial target was a 45 percent reduction.
Leadership changes in 2024 included:
- Mabel Wong appointed chief financial officer
- Stephen McLennan and Gillian Brown named chief investment officers
- Jonathan Hausman became chief strategy officer
- Nick Jansa joined as executive managing director, EMEA
- Bernard Grzinic appointed executive managing director, Capital Markets
- Steve Saldanha became executive managing director, Total Fund Management
- Robert Sturgeon named senior managing director, Global Investment Strategy
- Kevin Kerr appointed executive managing director, Portfolio Solutions
Ontario Teachers’ also confirmed the retirement of Chief Operating Officer Tracy Abel after 37 years.
Following year-end, the organisation announced plans to close its Hong Kong office and consolidate its Asia-Pacific operations in Singapore and Mumbai.
